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Felix Quinonez: I think it's still early to tell where Guardians of the Galaxy will fit as a success story because it's only been out for a few days. I agree that it was a risky project but it still has a huge benefit from the post-Avengers marvel brand name. I think I need to see how well it holds up from here to make a more precise decision but I'd still say top five, easily.

As far as #1, I'd give that to Iron Man, hands down. Robert Downey Jr is a huge star now but his casting was a total gamble at the time. Iron Man is an A list character now but in 2008, he was a C-lister. And most people who didn't read comics weren't familiar with him. Yet his movie was a total smash and it was literally the foundation for all of this. Iron Man's success paved the way for Disney buying Marvel and the entire marvel cinematic universe.

Bruce Hall: I'm with Felix on this one. When I first heard they were making an Iron Man movie, let's say I politely scoffed. It's not that I wouldn't want to see Robert Downey Jr. get drunk and fly around in an indestructible suit of armor. In fact, Downey's involvement was the only thing that piqued my interest about it at all. I assumed we'd see something around the quality level of Daredevil, and it would die a quiet death, and an afterlife in basic cable purgatory. All that talk about Marvel's "phases" sounded like grandiose doubletalk to me, and I just couldn't bring myself to nerdgasm about it the way a lot of people were.

I wouldn't say that I was wrong, so much as I'd say that the thing I said and believed were ultimately the complete opposite of what happened in reality. That's totally different.

Be that as it may, I would place Thor at number two. Okay, so Iron Man worked out. But Thor? That's where I draw the line. I had a couple of friends who read Iron Man back in the day, but Thor? Nobody read Thor, except the weird guy who runs the hobby shop in the strip mall and also runs a Dungeons and Dragons league on the weekends. What hubris, to think that such a dull character, played by an actor as blandly fortifying as unflavored Malt-o-meal, could also be a success? Well, it was, and by the time Avengers came around, I'm really not sure there was any question it would be a success. If people around the world were willing to pay half a billion dollars to see Thor save New Mexico by waging one of the most boring boss battles ever put to film, why wouldn't they be willing to see the whole team in action at once?

As for Guardians of the Galaxy, I think that it is a very well written and constructed movie. And it's one that benefitted from a well-coordinated marketing campaign and more important, the gushing wellspring of goodwill that audiences have for the Marvel Brand right now. It doesn't matter what it is, people will go see it. And if you can get them to consistently walk out smiling, it won't matter that you're making a movie about a guy who dresses up like an ant. They will come back, and the only question will be when the sequel is coming out.

Jay Barney: I think it is too early to tell, but this is very significant. As a success story, Avengers had the momentum of Iron Man's popularity, the okay Hulk films, and expanding with Thor. Avengers also had the benefit of the coveted early May time slot, which is where the big boys usually come out to play. What it did was incredible but it was expected to open big. At the time, everyone was shocked that a film could start out of the gate with over $200 million on its first weekend.

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