The Big Picture
- The X-Men franchise helped shape the superhero movie genre, with a cultural prominence that shows no signs of slowing down with the upcoming release of Deadpool & Wolverine .
- The X-Men movies are complicated due to their semi-reboots, spin-offs, and prequels, allowing different ways to watch the franchise.
- Watching the X-Men movies in release order or chronological order offers a unique twist on the franchise's timelines.
Few franchises have been as integral to the evolution of the superhero movie genre as X-Men, whichhelped usher in a new era of comic book movies alongside films like Blade and Spider-Man. The X-Men's cultural prominence has only continued with shows like Disney+'s X-Men '97, a revival of Fox's 1990s cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series, and shows no signs of slowing down. In July, Ryan Reynolds' heavily anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters, and Reynolds' third time behind the mask also marks Hugh Jackman reprising his career-making role as Wolverine for the first time in seven years.
With 2000’s X-Men, the comic book series was adapted as a story about humanity first and foremost, drawing parallels to the civil rights movement and the struggle of minorities everywhere. That combination of human drama and high-flying spectacle made X-Men wildly popular, spawning a franchise of films diverse in tone, cast, and, of course, time period. Indeed, the X-Men movies are not just fun, they’re complicated. Unraveling the X-Men timeline is a bit of a challenge due to the franchise’s malleability over the years – semi-reboots, prequels and spin-offs all kept the series fresh, but complicated its continuity. So if you’re looking to watch the X-Men movies but unsure which order to go in, we’ve put together a handy guide to your two best viewing options – chronological order of events within the films, or simply arranged by the order in which they were made. Both methods have their merits, but the chronological order offers up a bit of a unique twist on things, as the order in which events occur doesn’t always correspond to when each film was made. Here’s how to watch the X-Men movies in order.
X-Men Movies in Order of Release
X-Men – July 14, 2000
X2 – May 2, 2003
X-Men: The Last Stand – May 26, 2006
X-Men Origins: Wolverine – May 1, 2009
X-Men: First Class – June 3, 2011
The Wolverine – July 26, 2013
X-Men: Days of Future Past – May 23, 2014
Deadpool – February 12, 2016
X-Men: Apocalypse – May 27, 2016
Logan – March 3, 2017
Deadpool 2 – May 18, 2018
Dark Phoenix – June 7, 2019
The New Mutants – August 28, 2020
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – May 6, 2022
Deadpool & Wolverine – July 26, 2024
X-Men Movies in Chronological Order
X-Men: First Class
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
This prequel is the earliest-set X-Men movie in the cinematic universe, with most of the action taking place in the year 1962. X-Men: First Class follows a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), who teams up with a young Erik Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) to track down a former Nazi mutant scientist (Kevin Bacon). The film is set against the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and features other, younger versions of iconic mutants like Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult) as the group teams up to stave off a nuclear war.
X-Men: First Class
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In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik's vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Directed by Bryan Singer
This is a tricky one. So, technically, most of the action in X-Men: Days of Future Past takes place in the year 1973, but it’s also a future-set movie that simultaneously takes place in the year 2023. Future Wolverine has his consciousness sent back to his 1973 self, so he can prevent Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) from using Mystique’s blood to create indestructible Sentinels in the future. As if that wasn’t confusing enough, by the end of the movie, the future Wolverine successfully changes the past, potentially erasing the entire 2023 timeline we just witnessed as well as all the events that happened in X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last Stand. Moving forward from 1973, there is a new path forward for the mutants that may be slightly different from the one they previously traveled. As filmmaker Bryan Singer explained:
“Part of the philosophy we had at the end of Days of Future Past is that you can’t fully change the course or current of the river, but you can just divert it a little bit, and we diverted it a little bit… Any possibility could occur, but characters are still moving towards their immutable place.”
So you have two options when it comes to watching Days of Future Past — either watch it second for the 1973 setting, or watch it last as a finale that kind of undoes the entire timeline and concludes with a “New Future” where the adult Professor X and Jean Grey are still alive.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
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Release Date May 15, 2014 Director Bryan Singer Cast Hugh Jackman , James McAvoy , Michael Fassbender , Jennifer Lawrence , Halle Berry , Nicholas Hoult Runtime 131 Main Genre Superhero Writers Simon Kinberg , Jane Goldman , Matthew Vaughn Studio 20th Century Fox ExpandX-Men Origins: Wolverine
Directed by Gavin Hood
The first-ever X-Men spin-off movie was the much-maligned X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which ostensibly tells the origin story of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine/Logan. The story begins all the way back in 1845, when a young Logan's (whose name was actually James Howlett) powers first manifest, and he joins his first team of mutants, including Wade Wilson, who would eventually become Weapon XI/Deadpool. This Wade Wilson is still played by Ryan Reynolds, but he is a separate iteration of the character from that we have come to know in the Deadpool films — this Wade Wilson is actually killed by Deadpool's version of Deadpool in a mid-credits scene for Deadpool 2... get it?
You'll Never Believe How Different 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' Could've Been
One of the best X-Men movies underwent massive shifts during development.
While Logan's iconic claws are shown to originally be made of his bone, in this film, his skeleton is reinforced with adamantium in order to make him even more powerful. X-Men Origins: Wolverine offers valuable insight into Logan's backstory, but the film largely takes place in the year 1979 and reveals how Logan lost his memory.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
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The early years of James Logan, featuring his rivalry with his brother Victor Creed, his service in the special forces team Weapon X, and his experimentation into the metal-lined mutant Wolverine.
Release Date May 1, 2009 Director Gavin Hood Cast Hugh Jackman , Liev Schreiber , Danny Huston , Will i Am , Lynn Collins , Kevin Durand Runtime 107 minutes Main Genre Superhero Writers David Benioff , Skip Woods ExpandX-Men: Apocalypse
Directed by Bryan Singer
CloseSo this “prequel” most closely follows the events of X-Men: First Class and the 1970s stuff in Days of Future Past.X-Men: Apocalypse is set in the year 1983 and finds the young adult versions of the X-Men — including Alexandra Shipp's Storm and Sophie Turner's Jean Grey — battling the world-ending (and centuries-old) villain, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). While it's widely considered to be one of the weakest installments in the X-Men franchise, Isaac's performance and Jean's backstory make it a movie worth watching.
X-Men: Apocalypse
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In the 1980s the X-Men must defeat an ancient all-powerful mutant, En Sabah Nur, who intends to thrive through bringing destruction to the world.
Release Date May 18, 2016 Director Bryan Singer Cast Jennifer Lawrence , Michael Fassbender , Nicholas Hoult , Rose Byrne , Oscar Isaac , Evan Peters Runtime 136 Main Genre Superhero Writers Michael Dougherty , Dan Harris , Simon Kinberg , Bryan Singer Studio 20th Century Fox ExpandDark Phoenix
Directed by Simon Kinberg
The last film to feature the “young” X-Men cast is X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which takes place in the year 1992 and adapts the iconic Dark Phoenix comics storyline. By the end of the film, Jean Grey (again played by Sophie Turner) has transformed into a Phoenix, which somewhat muddles how this film connects to the next film (the first X-Men movie) chronologically.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
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In this continuation of the rebooted X-Men movie series, Jean Grey begins to develop incredible powers that corrupt and turn her into a Dark Phoenix. Now, the X-Men will have to decide if the life of a team member is worth more than all the people living in the world.
Release Date June 7, 2019 Director Simon Kinberg Cast James McAvoy , Michael Fassbender , Jennifer Lawrence , Sophie Turner , Tye Sheridan , Jessica Chastain , Nicholas Hoult Runtime 114 minutes Writers Simon KinbergX-Men
Directed by Bryan Singer
So for X-Men to work, you kind of have to ignore the events at the end of Dark Phoenix – but otherwise, it fits quite well. The first X-Men movie to be made roughly takes place in the year 2000, as it was set in the present-day when it was released. After protecting Rogue (Anna Paquin), a young runaway mutant whose touch extracts another individual's abilities, from Magneto's (Ian McKellen) Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Jackman's Wolverine encounters the good guys: Charles Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) X-Men. The latter's team members include adult versions of Cyclops (James Marsden), Storm (Halle Berry), and a non-Phoenix Jean Grey (Famke Janssen).
X-Men
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Release Date July 14, 2000 Director Bryan Singer Cast Hugh Jackman , Patrick Stewart , Ian McKellen , Famke Janssen , James Marsden , Halle Berry Runtime 104 minutes Main Genre Action Writers Tom DeSanto , Bryan Singer , David Hayter ExpandX2: X-Men United
Directed by Bryan Singer
The first X-Men sequel, X2: X-Men United, takes place roughly three years after the events of X-Men, in the year 2003. Now a reluctant X-Men member, Wolverine must confront the mysteries of the traumatic past he's forgotten after Colonel William Stryker (Succession's Brian Cox) attacks Xavier's School and sends its residents, children, and adults, on the run. Stryker intends to destroy every mutant in existence, a calamitous threat that forces the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to join forces. Often regarded as the best film of the original trilogy, X2 introduces Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), Pyro (Aaron Standford), and Lady Deathstrike (Kelly Hu); of whom the latter two will appear in Deadpool & Wolverine.
X2: X-Men United
PG-13ActionAdventure Sci-FiThrillerRelease Date April 24, 2003 Director Bryan Singer Cast Patrick Stewart , Hugh Jackman , Ian McKellen , Halle Berry , Famke Janssen , James Marsden Runtime 133 Main Genre Action Writers Zak Penn , David Hayter , Bryan Singer , Michael Dougherty , Dan Harris ExpandX-Men: The Last Stand
Directed by Brett Ratner
The final sequel in the original franchise line, X-Men: The Last Stand, takes place in the year 2006. After sacrificing herself to save her loved ones at the end of X2, Jean Grey returns to life possessed by the Dark Phoenix Force, a suppressed part of her personality. The Phoenix wreaks havoc upon the X-Men, leading Magneto to take her in as his final weapon in his crusade against humanity until she is mercifully killed by a distraught Logan. Simultaneously, a human science group weaponizes a supposed "cure" that will remove a mutant's gifts, exciting people like Rogue, and leaving others fearful of losing their abilities.
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
PG-13SuperheroAction Release Date May 24, 2006 Director Brett Ratner Cast Hugh Jackman , Halle Berry , Ian McKellen , Famke Janssen , Anna Paquin , Kelsey Grammer , James Marsden , Rebecca Romijn , Shawn Ashmore Runtime 104 Main Genre SuperheroThe Wolverine
Directed by James Mangold
20th Century Fox tried again with something of a reboot for the Wolverine character, as The Wolverine serves as a sequel to both X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: The Last Stand. It takes place in the year 2013 and finds Logan wrestling with the trauma of Jean Grey’s death in The Last Stand. In the first X-Men movie directed by James Mangold, Wolverine travels to Japan and reunites with his old friend Ichirō Yashida (Haruhiko Yamanouchi). Wolverine runs for his life alongside Ichirō's granddaughter Mariko (Tao Okamoto) after Ichirō's power-hungry son, Shingen (Shōgun's Hiroyuki Sanada), targets them both.
The Wolverine
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Based on the 1982 comic event "Wolverine," The Wolverine takes place after X-Men: The Last Stand and follows Logan on a journey to Japan at the behest of a former acquaintance. Living in isolation after the world-changing events in the prior movie and haunted by the death of the woman he loved, Logan is found and asked to travel to Japan to meet with a man named Ichiro, who he had saved during World War II. At the end of his life, Ichiro offers Logan a chance to free himself of his healing abilities to finally die by taking them for himself. However, Logan soon learns that Ichiro's intentions for immortality are far less honorable than he had expected, leading him to struggle to face off with a former ally.
Release Date July 26, 2013 Director James Mangold Cast Hugh Jackman , Tao Okamoto , Rila Fukushima , Hiroyuki Sanada , Svetlana Khodchenkova , Brian Tee Runtime 126 minutes Main Genre Action Writers Mark Bomback , Scott Frank , Christopher McQuarrie ExpandDeadpool
Directed by Tim Miller
The R-rated Marvel Comics adaptation of Deadpool is only tangentially connected to the X-Men timeline, but if you want to be a completionist, it takes place in the year it was released – 2016. Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) makes a name for himself as a smart-ass vigilante after a serum gives him enhanced physical abilities, curing him of an aggressive cancer but leaving him permanently scarred.
Deadpool
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Release Date February 12, 2016 Director Tim Miller Cast Ryan Reynolds , Karan Soni , Ed Skrein , Michael Benyaer , Stefan Kapicic , Brianna Hildebrand Runtime 108 minutes Main Genre Superhero Writers Rhett Reese , Paul Wernick Studio 20th Century Fox ExpandThe New Mutants
Directed by Josh Boone
The New Mutants is a weird one. Director Josh Boone initially wanted the long-delayed Fox-Marvel movie to take place in the 1990s, but after the box office disappointment of X-Men: Apocalypse, he was asked to make it set in the present day. Now, Boone contends that the story “started being in the original X-Men timeline” but is now its own thing with tangential connections to the X-Men universe. So roughly, this movie takes place in 2017, but there are no major timeline ramifications for what happens within the story.
The New Mutants
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Five young mutants, just discovering their abilities while held in a secret facility against their will, fight to escape their past sins and save themselves.
Release Date August 26, 2020 Director Josh Boone Cast Anya Taylor-Joy , Charlie Heaton , Maisie Williams , Alice Braga , Happy Anderson , Henry Zaga Runtime 94 minutes Main Genre Superhero Writers Josh Boone , Knate Lee Studio 20th Century Fox ExpandDeadpool 2
Directed by David Leitch
The sequel Deadpool 2 actually features a very brief cameo from the young X-Men cast, as it takes place in the year 2018. The movie features some great additions, like Zazie Beetz as Domino and Josh Brolin as Cable, and showcases meta time-travel jokes when, as we mentioned before, Deadpool goes back in time to the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and kills Ryan Reynolds’ previous iteration of the Deadpool character.
Deadpool 2
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Release Date May 10, 2018 Director David Leitch Cast Morena Baccarin , Ryan Reynolds , Josh Brolin , T.J. Miller , Brianna Hildebrand , Zazie Beetz Runtime 119 minutes Main Genre Superhero Writers Rhett Reese , Paul Wernick , Ryan Reynolds , Rob Liefeld , Fabian Nicieza Studio 20th Century Fox Expand Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Directed by Sam Raimi
Another brief cameo, Patrick Stewart's appearance as Charles Xavier/Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness gave fans hope that mutants were on their way to the MCU. This Xavier is not the version we've come to know in the X-Men films but is rather a member of the Illuminati alongside the likes of Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) and The Fantastic Four's Reed Richards (John Krasinski). This variant also has obvious callbacks to the 1992 animated Xavier with his floating wheelchair. While the Illuminati (including Xavier) is viciously killed by Wanda Maximoff/the Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), it's still exciting to see Professor X in the MCU in some capacity.
Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness
PG-13Doctor Strange teams up with a mysterious teenage girl from his dreams who can travel across multiverses, to battle multiple threats, including other-universe versions of himself, which threaten to wipe out millions across the multiverse. They seek help from Wanda the Scarlet Witch, Wong and others.
Release Date May 6, 2022 Director Sam Raimi Cast Elizabeth Olsen , Benedict Cumberbatch , Benedict Wong Runtime 2 hours, 6 minutes Main Genre Superhero Writers Michael Waldron ExpandLogan
Directed by James Mangold
A high-water mark for the franchise, the R-rated drama Logan was James Mangold's second time behind the X-Men camera. The movie's action mainly takes place furthest in the future in the year 2029, when mutants are no longer being born and Logan is taking care of an ailing Charles Xavier. It serves as a finale of sorts, featuring worthy canonical deaths of major characters and introducing Logan to a young girl named Laura (Dafne Keen), who turns out to have a lot more in common with the titular mutant than previously thought.
Logan
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Release Date March 3, 2017 Director James Mangold Cast Hugh Jackman , Patrick Stewart , Richard E. Grant Runtime 137 minutes Writers Scott Frank , James Mangold , Michael GreenDeadpool & Wolverine
Directed by Shawn Levy
The newest installment in the X-Men franchise, Deadpool & Wolverine, slashes its way into theaters on July 26, 2024. The first R-rated movie in the MCU, the hotly anticipated sequel promises an epic team-up between the merc with a mouth and the iconic mutant himself. Reluctantly partnering up for a universe-saving mission assigned by the Time Variance Authority (TVA), the two (anti) heroes face off against Emma Corrin's Cassandra Nova in what promises to be the blockbuster event of the summer.
Deadpool & Wolverine
SuperheroActionComedy Sci-FiRelease Date July 26, 2024 Director Shawn Levy Cast Ryan Reynolds , Matthew Macfadyen , Morena Baccarin , Hugh Jackman , Karan Soni , Rob Delaney Main Genre Superhero Writers Rob Liefeld , Fabian Nicieza , Paul Wernick , Wendy Molyneux , Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin Studio Marvel Studios ExpandncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kxW65xKdkpqemnrK0ecinZKiqlJq%2FcA%3D%3D