Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve actually done this list before.

I’m not even going to link to it because it was years and years ago, and a lot has changed since then. I’ve watched and re-watched a lot more movies. And new movies have come out, affecting some franchises’ positioning on the list… for better or worse. Also, the previous list had one glaring omission… which is now rectified, as it is my #2 franchise of all time according to this updated iteration.

Anyway, beyond that confession, I don’t have much of a preamble here, so let’s see what makes my top ten!

10. Back To The Future

BEST MOVIE: Back To The Future

WORST MOVIE: Back To The Future Part 2

Back To The Future did not make my previous incarnation of this list for one simple reason: at that time, I had not seen any of the movies since I was a kid! That has since been remediated, and I’ve seen all of them again in recent years.

The only reason BttF is this low–I do love all three entries in this series a great deal–is just that: there are only three flicks to judge here. And there only ever will be three entries in this franchise according to the rights’ owner. And while a trilogy is the bare minimum of what I’d count as a franchise, it is hard to rank a three-movie outing ahead of some others that have had many more offerings.

9. Harry Potter

BEST MOVIE: Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire

WORST MOVIE: Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince. Or probably the Fantastic Beasts movies. I forget those exist, never saw them, and am not counting them.

Something something JK Rowling is a piece of shit. Something something transphobia. Look, I agree. And I hate giving her any credit for anything. But these are still magically delightful movies with a cast of absolute legends turning in perfect performances. This is the franchise that launched Daniel Radcliffe’s career, and I can never be mad about that, because that dude does some excellent films. Trying to imagine a world without his picking obscure properties and lifting them up on his name value is an exercise in sadness.

But aside from that… yeah, these are still mostly great flicks. The series loses a LITTLE steam at the very end (oddly, my favorite book is my least favorite of the movies), but the first five films are all a treasure. It’s just… ugh. It’s so unfortunate that everything here is inexorably linked to She Who Should Not Be Named.

8. The View Askewniverse

BEST MOVIE: Boy, this is hard. But my FAVORITE is Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back

WORST MOVIE: Probably the Jay & Silent Bob Reboot. It’s the only movie on this whole list I haven’t seen to judge, though.

Unless you count the Fantastic Beasts movies for last entry (and… don’t), then this is the only item on the list that includes a movie I have not seen, that being the aforementioned Reboot. It’s actually on my Watchlist to get to someday, but I’ve heard such bad things about it that it constantly gets skipped over.

But if you remove the reboot from consideration, you are left with… what?… seven movies, and of those, only Clerks 2 am I not a big fan of. They are almost all endlessly quotable and enjoyable. Even the aspects that haven’t aged well (I love Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, but it’s, like, 80% gay jokes) still feel more lovingly archaic than offensive.

When I was college-aged, these movies meant the world to me, though. And I can still enjoy them to this day.

7. Halloween

BEST MOVIE: Halloween (1978)

WORST MOVIE: Halloween: Resurrection

If not for one simple reason, this entry would be much lower on the list, because the overall quality of Halloween movies genuinely averages out to be pretty low, all things considered. But that reason is that I’ve watched offerings from this franchise more than any other movie in the world. I’d venture to guess I’ve seen Halloween, Halloween 2, Halloween 4, and Halloween 5 more than anything else. They are at least — at LEAST — once per year watches for me.

(Yes, I watch, and love, Halloween 5 once a year. Do something about it!)

Unfortunately… WOW are there are a lot of bad Halloween movies. This series never equaled the heights of its first outing, which is only the greatest horror movie ever made. But damned if it didn’t keep trying. So… points for that? I guess?

Also, you know what’s sad? I’ll watch even the bad Halloween movies over and over. It’s sick comfort food, and I am a sucker.

6. X-Men/Fox Universe

BEST MOVIE: Deadpool

WORST MOVIE: X-Men: The Last Stand

Speaking of a franchise where the quality is all over the map… the Fox Universe of X-Men and X-Men-adjacent properties sure liked to dole out flicks that were both excellent and very poor. Sure, we got X2… but we also got Dark Phoenix. They gave us Logan… but they also handed over X-Men: Apocalypse. There was Days Of Future Past… and there was New Mutants.

There are enormous discrepancies between the very best and the very worst of the Foxverse of X-movies. But the good ones are so darned good, you know? So I’ll slot the whole shebang in here and hope for the best.

5. Batman

BEST MOVIE: The Dark Knight

WORST MOVIE: Batman Forever

Yes! I said Batman Forever was the worst. I actually think Batman & Robin was a step UP for the franchise in the 1990’s. I was just getting into this with my buddies over at The Contrarians podcast when they reviewed Batman Forever.

Either way you rank them, the point is that Forever and B&R are the only real low points of this series. Nolan’s trilogy is unimpeachable. The Batman was a really good movie whose length is all that kept it from true greatness. Batman and Returns are both wonderful Tim Burton outings. And hell, the Adam West flick from the 1960’s is dumb enough fun.

Oh, and I’m not counting Batman Vs Superman because it’s my list, and I don’t want to.

I’m very eager, but patient, for Matt Reeves’ sequel to The Batman to see what he gives us next time, but overall? This franchise has generally rewarded us with each new movie, so I have high hopes.

4. Mission: Impossible

BEST MOVIE: Fallout

WORST MOVIE: Ghost Protocol

There’s not a bad entry in the entire Mission: Impossible series, as even my least favorite is a 3 star hit for me. To that point, Mission: Impossible shares something in common with #3 on my list. And you have to appreciate a franchise that just delivers bangers every time it is up to bat.

I just recently ranked the whole M:I series, so if you want my in-depth thoughts, check out that link. But yeah, everything here is great. Well deserving of a spot in the top four.

3. John Wick

BEST MOVIE: John Wick Chapter 4

WORST MOVIE: John Wick Chapter 2

See, this was unpleasant.

Finding a “worst” John Wick movie is like finding your least favorite popsicle. They’re all good. Ultimately, I bumped Chapter 2 slightly beneath Ballerina, but if you put either one in front of me, I’m watching them immediately and without reservations.

This is arguably the greatest action franchise of all time. It’s amazing that five films have come out and each one has gifted us memorable and intense fighting scenes and action set pieces. Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski were born to work together, and even the spin-off, which had minimal help from both of them, was equal to the task.

I have basically no reason to believe any future pictures from this series won’t be absolute gold. I’m all the way in on John Wick until they start giving me reasons not to be. But they haven’t done that yet!

2. Friday The 13th

BEST MOVIE: Either Part 2 or Jason Lives, depending on my mood

WORST MOVIE: Jason Goes To Hell

You would think that, after Mission: Impossible and John Wick, we’d be into franchises with only good movies, right? Well… not so much. Make no mistake: there are bad Jason movies. Not nearly as egregiously so as there are across the Halloween franchise, but there are some stinkers. So what gives? How do I justify putting Jason over Ethan Hunt and Wick?

I just love this franchise so much, you guys.

Like with Halloween, I’ll watch even the few bad Jason movies with supreme happiness. And the good ones? The great ones? I can’t stress this enough when I say there is always a small part of me that, when I am picking out a movie to watch, is saying “Fuck this, let’s just watch Friday The 13th Part 7 again!”.

I was raised on Jason and his adventures killing camp counselors (and sometimes astronauts). I’ll always have an affinity for this series.

1. The MCU

BEST MOVIE: Avengers: Endgame

WORST MOVIE: Iron Man 3

As the world’s foremost MCU fan and apologist, I have no qualms with putting it at #1. Honestly, #1 and #2 were really easy calls for this list, then I had to settle in and work out the rest from there. But there was never any doubt about what was the top of my rankings.

I still love the MCU, even as so many others are jumping ship from Phases 4 and 5. But I love the serialized storytelling in cinematic form. It really reminds me of the comic books I read growing up. Some are GREAT. Some are less so. But they all play their part in the whole.

And that’s it… I love seeing where everything is going and how the next movie will affect the ones that come after it. I know that’s frustrating for people; I get it. But it’s what I’m used to. Spider-Man never ENDS. He just has a new issue coming out next month.

Is the MCU still as good as it was in Phase 3? Probably not. But I still love the sheer idea of it all.

All right, there’s my updated list! This time I was mostly strictly keeping it to franchises where I have seen every movie. Last time I had some entries where I have not, like Star Wars and The Terminator (among others). But I decided to forego those this time and be a little more faithful to grading out entire works instead of just what I’ve seen.

But enough about that. It’s YOUR turn: What are your favorite franchises ever? Let me know in the comments below!

Until next time… take care!