Marvel or X-Men, Spider-Man vs. Batman, Star Wars or Harry Potter: which of Hollywood’s 27 biggest movie franchises did the critics like best, according to Metacritic?

Apr 3 , 2021

Indiana Jones, Spider-Man 2, The Dark Night and Die Hard. Photo: Paramount Pictures, Sony, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox

Bourne, Bond, Die Hard and Mission: Impossible battle for the top spot – still on lockdown and looking for a new film series to binge? This list is just for you

Much-loved fantasy and sci-fi series like Aliens, Terminator and Middle-earth make the cut – but which get a higher rating than the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Over the past decade, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has built an expansive roster of films while raising the commercial expectations for ongoing movie series.

But extensive film franchises are nothing new, and several older series – like the film adaptations from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth books – have received more positive critical acclaim on average than Marvel’s. And some are only getting better as time goes on, like the Mission: Impossible franchise which reached its critical zenith with 2018’s sixth installment Fallout.

Screenshot from video game Star Wars: Squadrons (2020). Photo: Electronic Arts

Stretching from the first James Bond film, 1962’s Dr. No, to the latest MCU and Star Wars entries, we looked at how each film in Hollywood’s biggest franchises fared on critical rating aggregator Metacritic – and compiled the series average. If you’re still on lockdown and looking for a new cinematic series to binge – this list is made for you.

Many of the franchises that made the cut have more movies on the way. This year alone sees Marvel’s Black Widow, the James Bond movie No Time to Die, and Mission: Impossible 7 arrive after long delays due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick in John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum. Photo: Summit Entertainment

Metacritic only included franchises that had four or more films with scores on its site (so no John Wick, for instance) and it excluded horror films and animated franchises.

Here are the 27 greatest movie franchises of all time, according to critics: