With more than a half-dozen films based on Marvel and DC Comics characters alone, 2016 may prove to be the biggest year to date for superhero cinema. In particular, Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse appear poised to round out their respective trilogies in top form, as both chronicle game-changing events that will shake our heroes to their core. Although superhero franchises are often designed to be infinitely open-ended, a few film trilogies have managed to center on a certain character or group of characters. Here are the five most successful (albeit imperfect) examples, listed here by release date.

Blade Trilogy (1998-2004)

When Wesley Snipes burst onto the scene for his first of three turns as the day-walking vampire hunter, films based on comic books were anything but a sure thing. After all, Stephen Norrington’s Blade hit theaters just one year after Batman and Robin left the industry questioning if superheroes were a viable long-term investment. Right from the blood-soaked rave that opens the trilogy, the Blade films raised the bar for what comic book movies could be, ushering in the modern era that would explode in years to come. Guillermo del Toro’s Blade II "“ while a bit lighter on plot "“ added the director’s stylistic edge and expanded the series’ mythology. As for the messy Blade: Trinity, at least the film paved the way for Ryan Reynolds to star in a Deadpool solo film.