10 Movie Franchises That Just Kept Getting Better With Each Film

While many franchises declined after their first film, some actually managed to get continuously with each installment. Maintaining interest in a movie franchise is incredibly challenging, as it requires a constant balance between keeping things fresh and remaining true to the qualities that made it popular. Movies like Jaws, The Matrix, and Jurassic Park spawned franchises and, despite multiple sequels, never amounted to the great acclaim of the original. In franchises like Star Wars, James Bond, or the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a surplus of movies has resulted in fluctuating quality.

It’s very rare for a franchise to improve film after film. Some movie franchises get better after their first installment, but there are few film series where arguments could be made for steady improvement. In many cases, that improvement doesn’t necessarily mean the films are becoming more acclaimed; it means they’re improving a vital quality of their franchise. The Lord of the Rings films get more epic. The Mission: Impossible films get more action-packed, pushing the boundaries of stunt work and practical effects. The Avengers movies grow to balance bigger teams and involve more heroes.

10 The Lord Of The Rings

Each film in Peter Jackson’s trilogy grew more epic and upped the stakes.

Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings films are some of the most beloved blockbusters ever made, and each sequel is more epic than the last. To be clear, all three films are spectacular. The Fellowship of the Ring is a beautiful introduction to Middle Earth and its characters, with memorable locations like the Shire, Rivendell, and Moria getting the most screen time. The Two Towers has one of the most epic movie battles ever in Helm’s Deep. But The Return of the King stands out in its numerous emotional moments and is the perfect conclusion to the adaptations of Tolkien’s novels.

9 Captain America

Each Captain America movie had higher stakes for the MCU.

An argument could certainly be made for The Winter Soldier as the best. Still, in terms of keeping the series fresh and exciting, Marvel Studios improved with each Captain America film. The First Avenger is a wholesome introduction to the character that’s grown more enjoyable through nostalgia for Phase 1. The Winter Soldier, one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most powerful and enduring films, expanded Captain America’s story by involving Black Widow and introducing Sam Wilson. However, Civil War involves a massive cast of Marvel heroes, introduces Spider-Man and Black Panther, and sets up Avengers: Infinity War.

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8 The Avengers

Each Avengers movie balanced a larger cast of Marvel heroes.

While going from The Avengers to Avengers: Age of Ultron was a bit of a downgrade, the climb to Infinity War and End Game still qualifies Marvel’s team-up series. The latter two are enormous cinematic accomplishments, proving the merits of long-term planning established in early MCU films like The Avengers through satisfying storytelling and massive commercial success. Infinity War and End Game are some of the most beloved comic book movies ever made, with increasingly large casts of heroes.

7 The Dollars Trilogy

Each sequel in Sergio Leone’s Western trilogy grew more epic.

Sergio Leone’s Western trilogy are some of the best films in their genre, but the third installment is so good that many don’t even realize it’s part of a series. The stories aren’t technically connected, though Clint Eastwood plays the Man with No Name in each of A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The third film is commonly considered the best Western ever, and each movie in the saga heightens the stakes and grows more epic.

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6 The Before Trilogy

As Jesse and Céline grew closer to each other, the stakes grew higher.

Though not quite as massive as The Avengers or Harry Potter, Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy is a profitable film series. The beautiful romance saga follows Jesse and Céline, who have a chance meeting and decide to spend the evening together in Vienna. The first film was released in 1995, and the sequels were released in 2004 and 2013, where the two meet again, and the romance develops. The progression of their romance and heightened stakes add to each installment.

5 John Wick

Every John Wick film expanded the world, introducing new, unique assassins.

The first John Wick film is a fantastic action movie, but each installment of the franchise expands its unique premise. The part of John Wick that makes it so compelling is that it looks like the everyday world, but there’s an absurd amount of assassins constantly battling it out in streets, subway stations, and famous buildings. Each John Wick adventure gets more extravagant and wild, with Chapter 4 maximizing on the premise with a peculiar cast of characters, embracing action with various weapons, and expanding the world-building further.

4 Mission: Impossible

The Mission: Impossible franchise pushed the boundaries of action and stunt work with each film.

While the Mission: Impossible films’ improvement isn’t wholly consistent, they have consistently modernized. The original from Brian De Palma is a fantastic espionage thriller, but it’s a far cry from today’s high-action, stunt-driven movies. Each Mission: Impossible film took a step toward where they are now, continuously pushing the boundaries of practical effects to make authentic action adventures. Mission: Impossible – Fallout is one of the best action movies of all time, and it came from years of perfecting their style.

3 Harry Potter

Every Harry Potter film gets darker and more mature.

With eight films, the Harry Potter films also don’t directly improve with each installment. However, they do grow more mature and darker, corresponding to the age of the characters. The Prisoner of Azkaban is often considered the best Harry Potter film, as it notably marks the tone shift when the saga gets darker. With more heartbreaking deaths like Sirius Black and Dumbledore, the rise in screen time for villain characters, and eventually, the shift in Hogwarts becoming unsafe, each film grows more challenging and complex.

2 Mad Max

The Mad Max films continued to get better with modern visual effects.

George Miller’s Mad Max franchise has consistently improved, creating high expectations for the upcoming Furiosa film. Despite a three-decade gap between films, Mad Max: Fury Road became the best movie in the saga, proving what Miller would be capable of in bringing his dystopian saga to life with modern visual effects. Beyond the Thunderdome is arguably the worst Mad Max film, but the original trilogy is consistent enough in quality that it’s not a dramatic decline.

1 Planet Of The Apes

Each film in the Planet of the Apes prequel trilogy gets better.

Each film gets better in the modern Planet of the Apes prequel series. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a fine film, but the switch to Matt Reeves for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes took the franchise to a new level. For the first time since the original Planet of the Apes in 1968, the series had reached the quality of the original. The prequel trilogy proves that blockbusters can be both thought-provoking and entertaining, and War for the Planet of the Apes is the most epic the franchise has ever been.