Last year, Crooked Table made the somewhat controversial decision to declare Pacific Rim the summer movie event of 2013. That Guillermo del Toro film, of course, secured enough of a response from fans to warrant development on a sequel, but it was far from the universal slam-dunk that Legendary Pictures was likely hoping for. However, this year has been perhaps best defined by one studio and one studio only: Marvel.

The 2014 release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy has proven to be the biggest one-two punch for Marvel Studios thus far. Both films have earned more than $700 million worldwide and stellar reviews of over 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Guardians has particularly been the big story this year (and we’ve hashed out our thoughts on the film), considering its impressive feat of transforming a relatively obscure title into this generation’s Star Wars, but is The Winter Soldier actually the better film?

Here’s why Joe and Anthony Russo’s Captain America sequel could, in fact, be the best Marvel film of the year:

Warning: If you haven’t seen both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, read on at your own risk. Spoilers ahead!

A Superhero Political Thriller?

Joe Johnston’s 2011 Captain America: The First Avenger told the story of how Chris Evans’ scrawny but determined Steve Rogers became the star-spangled hero we know and love. The film struck a similar old-fashioned tone as Johnston’s 1991 adventure The Rocketeer, a fitting decision given both films are period pieces set in the same era as the adventures of Indiana Jone (Raiders of the Lost Ark is largely considered the grand-daddy of modern period adventure films, after all). But, with that film’s conclusion fast-forwarding to the present day, the filmmakers had to take a fresh approach for the sequel.

With Cap working with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the morally ambiguous Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), he finds that it’s not as easy as once it was to differentiate allies from  enemies as it once was. Aside from the title villain, many of the antagonists of The Winter Soldier are not what they seem, and the political overtones that the conspiracy-tinged plot of the film drive home are far more complex and engaging than the MacGuffin-fueled chase of Guardians. In Cap’s sophomore adventure, Marvel brought superhero movies into a wholly different genre, not unlike how Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight serves as a crime epic.

The Best Villain This Side of Loki

The best villains do more than provide a challenge to our heroes. They serve as villainous examples of what would happen if the hero’s power and strengths were twisted and perverted for malicious means. Furthermore, they often provide a set of personal and emotional stakes to the hero, taking their conflict to the next level and making audiences even more invested in how the battle between good and evil will be resolve.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe already nailed this concept perfectly in Tom Hiddleston’s brilliant, multi-layered performances as Loki, an Asgardian whose power rivals his brother and arch-nemesis. The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) serves a similar function for Captain America. The brainwashed, part-cybernetic foe was once Cap’s best friend, Bucky Barnes, and his reappearance as Hydra’s greatest assassin provides a dark blast from the past that dovetails nicely from our hero’s sense of nostalgia for the friends he’s lost and the purpose he once served by their side. The result is the most compelling hero/villain relationship to hit Marvel Studios’ films since Thor/Loki and one is leagues beyond the threat provided by Ronan the Accuser in Guardians.

Marvel Films Will Never Be Quite the Same

Guardians of the Galaxy deserves credit for opening up the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (though, to be frank, Thor really introduced it first), but while Guardians had a relatively clean slate to build upon, The Winter Soldier was given the unenviable task of picking up the narrative from The Avengers and managed to both exceed and deeply subvert expectations. Moreover, while Guardians added an intriguing new branch of the MCU, the Captain America sequel changed the MCU in a huge way, setting up a ton of several key figures for future films and establishing the Marvel universe as a world (at last!) of consequence

The revelation that S.H.I.E.L.D. had, in fact, long been infiltrated by Hydra (in case you were still unclear which game-changing twist was being discussed) created a ripple effect that caused radical changes for many of The Winter Soldier‘s characters. S.H.I.E.L.D. has crumbled, Black Widow is being investigated by the government, a presumed dead Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) is fighting the good fight from the shadows and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) is working for none other than Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) himself. In addition, the twist has completely changed the nature and narrative of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on ABC and will almost certainly play into the upcoming Agent Carter show as well.

Cap Finally Grows Up

Perhaps the best feature about Captain America: The Winter Soldier, however, is how much emphasis it puts on Steve Rogers’ continuing evolution. From a scarwny New York kid to a walking piece of propoganda to a bonafide war hero, the character has grown significantly from his first film. In the sequel’s early moments, the film establishes that Cap is still adjusting to modern times (as evidenced by his comprehensive list of cultural touchstones), and both his conduct in battle and his understanding of the world around have fully matured by the time the credits roll.

Guardians ultimately does its best explore its five protagonists while maintaining the film’s brisk tone, and though it will surely delve deeper into their fascinating backstories in the 2017 sequel, The Winter Soldier does the impossible and established Cap as one of the cooler and more badass of the Avengers lineup. This is especially critical considering that his character is essentially a co-leader of the team in the comics with Iron Man, and the two superheroes are slated to clash in a big way in Captain America: Civil War in 2016. This second film has taken a hero that could have easily worn thin and made him into a full-fledged icon that has finally come into his own.

____________________________________________

With numerous hits already under its belt, Marvel Studios has developed a specialty in fun romps filled with exciting characters, but Captain America: The Winter Soldier is its most well-developed adventure yet, featuring visceral action, a plot dripping with subtext and complexity, and characters that audiences are dying to see more of. Guardians of the Galaxy, in contrast, may be a worthwhile addition to Marvel’s big-screen repertoire and a rollicking franchise in its own right. However, all things considered, no Marvel Studios release was more satisfying or gripping than Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Which 2014 Marvel Studios release did you prefer? Sound off in the comments with your thoughts, or reach out to Rob directly on Twitter @crookedtable.