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Want to watch all X-Men movies in chronological order ahead of Avengers: Doomsday? Here is our complete guide to do so.
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After decades of one of Marvel‘s most iconic groups steering clear of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the time fans have been eagerly waiting for is finally upon us. After Disney bought back the rights to all X-Men characters in 2019, audiences waited with bated breath to see the likes of Magneto, Wolverine, Rogue and Beast join the MCU.
Ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday, it’s pivotal to go back and rewatch all the old Fox X-Men films. After all, the upcoming film is set to feature almost all of the major players from this universe, with James Marsden back as Cyclops, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Iam McKellen as Magneto and many more.
Unfortunately, the X-Men movies have arguably the most convoluted cinematic timeline of all time. Honestly, it makes watching the MCU in chronological order child’s play. That said, we’ve made consuming all X-Men movies in chronological order nice and easy for you with this comprehensive list.
Without further ado, here is every X-Men film you need to watch before Avengers: Doomsday releases, in chronological order.
All X-Men Movies in Chronological Order
1. ‘X-Men: First Class’
- Release Year: 2011
- Timeline: 1962
- Director: Matthew Vaughn
- Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon
When rebooting the X-Men, director Matthew Vaughn chose to do so by going right back to the beginning. X-Men: First Class serves as an origins story to many of the beloved and iconic characters comic book fans and audiences have already come to know and love.
Here, we see a young Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr, Raven, and McCoy meet under testing circumstances, forging an unlikely alliance to take down the villainous Sebastian Shaw. While the film opens with a flashback set in 1944 during WWII, the majority of the story takes place in 1962.
2. ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’
- Release Year: 2014
- Timeline: 1973 – 2023
- Director: Bryan Singer
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
While X-Men: First Class is an easy film to place in the timeline, Days of Future Past is anytime but. The main premise of this film is simple. The X-Men of the future are facing impending doom, so Hugh Jackman‘s Wolverine is sent back in time to find the younger versions of the X-Men and prevent a key event from 1973 that leads to their demise in the future.
The film jumps between two major stories and timelines, including both the younger and older versions of characters. You’ve got James McAvoy playing Professor X in 1973, but you also have Patrick Stewart for the storyline set in 2023. However, given you’ve yet to watch the original X-Men films from the 2000s (as they’re set much later in the timeline), you can also choose to skip Days of Future Past for now and revisit it later on.
Alternate Watching Placement: After X-Men: Last Stand
3. ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’
- Release Year: 2009
- Timeline: 1979 (1845)
- Director: Gavin Hood
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds, Liev Schreiber, Lynn Collins
When you think of Wolverine’s standalone films as side quests for the character, then placing these movies in the greater chronological timeline of the X-Men Universe makes a bit more sense. X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s opening scene is set in 1845, but the crux of the story is firmly placed in 1979.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is loosely based on the 2001 comic miniseries Origin and the famous 1991 Weapon X storyline. It covers the initial discovery of his bone claws and how he came to possess an adamantium skeleton. There is, of course, the introduction of Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, but we need not mention that any further…
4. ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’
- Release Year: 2016
- Timeline: 1983
- Director: Bryan Singer
- Cast: Oscar Isaac, James McAvoy, Evan Peters, Michael Fassbender
Jumping back into the main story, X-Men: Apocalypse forces our favourite mutants to face their biggest threat yet in Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse. An ancient mutant whose origins date back to 3600 BC, Apocalypse enters 1983 in search of other powerful mutants to serve as his horsemen and, you guessed it, bring about an apocalypse that will destroy the world.
As well as marking the return of McAvoy and Fassbender as Professor X and Magneto, Apocalypse introduces plenty of other familiar characters into the fray. Sophie Turner plays a young Jean Grey, with Evan Peters stealing the show as Quicksilver. While the movie itself may not be the most critically beloved in the franchise, it’s almost universally agreed upon that any scene Peters is in is epic.
5. ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’
- Release Year: 2019
- Timeline: 1992 (1975)
- Director: Simon Kinberg
- Cast: Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jessica Chastain
Okay, stay with me here. While X-Men: Dark Phoenix is technically the second adaptation of the famous comic book series of the same name, it falls first on the list chronologically.
When a rescue mission in outer space goes terribly wrong, Jean is almost killed after being hit by a powerful, mysterious cosmic force. When she returns home with the rest of the X-Men, she discovers that this force has not only made her powers stronger, but completely unstable.
Professor X and company try to help and also stop Jean before she spirals too far out of control, all the while Jessica Chastain’s mysterious character enters the scene, showing great interest in Jean herself. Chastain’s character is mysterious throughout the majority of the film, so in order to avoid some spoilers, let’s draw a veil there.
6. ‘X-Men’
- Release Year: 2000
- Timeline: 2000
- Director: Bryan Singer
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin
The movie that started it all, X-Men was the first live-action introduction audiences were given to the iconic band of mutants. Released in 2000, the film follows Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) wandering on his lonesome before a chance encounter with Anna Paquin’s Rogue leads him toward Professor X and the rest of the X-Men.
At this point in the timeline, Magneto and Professor X find themselves on opposing sides, despite their mutual respect and longstanding history. This creates a mix of mutant-on-mutant action while humanity, in its fear of mutants, looks to destroy them all. In the midst of all this, Wolverine finds himself besotted with Fanke Janssen’s Jean Grey, who happens to be dating Cyclops (James Marsden). Awkward!
7. ‘X2: X-Men United’
- Release Year: 2003
- Timeline: 2003
- Director: Bryan Singer
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming
In X2: X-Men United, the threat to the mutant kind forces uneasy alliances to band together against Colonel William Stryker. Stryker, long known for harming mutants in experiments as a way to control and kill the rest, manages to capture and brainwash Professor X.
With the Professor’s power at his disposal, the X-Men are forced to work with Magneto and Mystique in order to rescue Professor X and stop Stryker using his powers to kill every mutant on Earth. This sequel takes place only a few years after its predecessor and is a direct sequel to the X-Men film released in 2000.
8. ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’
- Release Year: 2006
- Timeline: 2006
- Director: Brett Ratner
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen, James Marsden
As the final film in the original X-Men trilogy, the remaining mutants find themselves in a relatively peaceful state before, naturally, things take a major turn for the worse. The Last Stand adapts the Phoenix Saga from the comic books, so if you’ve been following this list correctly and already watched Dark Phoenix, then you already get the drift of the plot of this film.
The Last Stand introduces other mutants into the mix, such as Beast (Kelsey Grammer) and Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones). While not the best movie out of the original trilogy, there are some fantastic and emotionally charged moments in the film. Some that will no doubt tug on the heartstrings.
9. ‘The Wolverine’
- Release Year: 2013
- Timeline: 2013 (1945 flashback)
- Director: James Mangold
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Tao Okomato, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rila Fukushima
The Wolverine is the second standalone Hugh Jackman X-Men film and operates as a sequel to the original X-Men trilogy. With the titular character still processing the events of The Last Stand, The Wolverine shifts the setting to modern-day Japan. There is a historical prologue in 1945 Nagakasi, but the rest of the film takes place in contemporary locations across Japan, including Tokyo.
Supporting Jackman includes the likes of Japanese acting royalty, with Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun) starring as Shingen Yashida. While The Wolverine may be a very different X-Men movie in style and location, it still sports the same action and emotional appeal one would have already come to expect from previous movies in the franchise.
10. ‘Deadpool’
- Release Year: 2016
- Timeline: 2016
- Director: Tim Miller
- Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, Gina Carano
After years of audiences begging for a proper, mature Deadpool film, Ryan Reynolds was finally given his chance to shine as the Merc with a Mouth in 2026. After test footage was “accidentally leaked” online, Fox greenlit the project in less than 24 hours, and what a great decision that was.
Reynolds embodies Deadpool with all the gusto, charisma, and brutality that fans of the character have come to expect from his turn in the comic books. While Deadpool largely stands apart from the rest of the X-Men universe, there is enough wall-breaking and awareness from Deadpool to presume he knows about the other X-Men. However, if you’re expecting to go into this movie thinking it’ll have a similar tone to previous X-Men films, definitely think again.
11. ‘Deadpool 2’
- Release Year: 2018
- Timeline: 2020s (unconfirmed)
- Director: David Leitch
- Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, Julian Dennison
A direct sequel to the first Deadpool movie, this follow-up is very much more of the same, and that’s not a bad thing at all. While an exact year is never confirmed for the movie, various spoiler-heavy details position it a few years after the first film and very much still after the events of previous X-Men projects.
Josh Brolin serves as the film’s main villain. Excuse the fact that Brolin also plays Thanos, though, as the two are completely unrelated. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time an actor played a Marvel character in both the Fox Universe and the MCU.
12. ‘The New Mutants’
- Release Year: 2020
- Timeline: Late 2020s
- Director: Josh Boone
- Cast: Blu Hunt, Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton
The New Mutants was doomed before it ever released. After being delayed for years due to reshoots and other scheduling problems, the movie finally released in 2020. Similarly to Deadpool, The New Mutants is largely a standalone story. While it also never really confirms when it is set in the X-Men timeline, spoilers from Logan can allow us to firmly plant this movie at this point in the timeline.
The New Mutants is a darker, more indie-like X-Men movie and boasts an impressive cast in a young Anya Taylor-Joy and Maisie Williams, as well as Stranger Things’ Charlie Heaton.
13. ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
- Release Year: 2024
- Timeline: 2024 (unconfirmed)
- Director: Shawn Levy
- Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Dafne Keen
Deadpool & Wolverine is a hard one to position in the X-Men chronology. Now that Deadpool is officially part of the MCU, the character’s fourth-wall breaking knows no end. Therefore, there is an almost endless amount of references to past films and events that make this movie technically come after all other X-Men movies.
Also, the Wolverine in this film isn’t really the one from the actual X-Men timeline but rather a variant. Still, there is one final X-Men film to round off this list, and it’s undeniably the final piece of the X-Men timeline.
14. ‘Logan’
- Release Year: 2017
- Timeline: 2029
- Director: James Mangold
- Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen, Stephen Merchant
Logan is, in many ways, the perfect send-off film for Fox’s X-Men series. While Avengers: Doomsday may be bringing many of the characters back, Logan feels like the spiritual end. Set in 2029, the film follows Wolverine and Professor X in a world where almost every mutant has already been killed.
Devoid of hope and any sort of real fight left, Wolverine’s world is turned upside down when he meets X-23 (Dafnes Keen). One of the most critically acclaimed X-Men films in the franchise, wrapping up this list with anything other than Logan would be wrong.
The Complete X-Men Franchise in Release Order
| # | Title | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | X-Men | July 14, 2000 |
| 2 | X2 | May 2, 2003 |
| 3 | X-Men: The Last Stand | May 26, 2006 |
| 4 | X-Men Origins: Wolverine | May 1, 2009 |
| 5 | X-Men: First Class | June 3, 2011 |
| 6 | The Wolverine | July 26, 2013 |
| 7 | X-Men: Days of Future Past | May 23, 2014 |
| 8 | Deadpool | February 12, 2016 |
| 9 | X-Men: Apocalypse | May 27, 2016 |
| 10 | Logan | March 3, 2017 |
| 11 | Deadpool 2 | May 18, 2018 |
| 12 | Dark Phoenix | June 7, 2019 |
| 13 | The New Mutants | August 28, 2020 |
| 14 | Deadpool & Wolverine | July 26, 2024 |
Frequently Asked Questions About the X-Men Movies
Both work. Release order, starting with the original X-Men film from 2000, is best for newcomers because it preserves the surprises and lets the storytelling evolve as audiences first saw it. Chronological order, like the guide above, is ideal for rewatches and for anyone who wants to follow the timeline as one continuous story.
There are currently 14 X-Men movies. However, now that Disney have the rights to all X-Men characters, there are plans to reboot the mutant series in the live-action world.
Every film in this guide is available to stream on Disney+ in Australia.
Watching all 14 Fox-era X-Men and Deadpool films takes just under 30 hours to complete.
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