Summary

  • The Fox Marvel movie universe spanned 20 years, from X-Men (2000) to The New Mutants (2020), ushering in the modern superhero age.
  • Following the X-Men movies in release order can get complicated due to prequels and reboots spanning multiple time jumps and timelines.
  • The best viewing order for X-Men movies might be to watch each sub-series within the broader X-Men continuity together instead of in chronological order.

The X-Men movies are rising in relevance again as mutants continue to appear throughout the MCU's Multiverse Saga, but for anyone who wants to revisit the Fox films, there are a couple of possible viewing orders to choose from. The Fox Marvel movie universe spanned 20 years, starting with X-Men (2000) and closing with The New Mutants (2020). The X-Men movies have highs and lows, but there's little doubt that the franchise was instrumental in ushering in the modern age of superhero movies.

The thirteen X-Men movies contain multiple time jumps, showing footage from 1944 to 2029. The number of prequels and reboots this timeline includes can make it difficult to follow the continuity of the Fox X-Men movies. There's no avoiding the series' many internal contradictions and inconsistencies (particularly with Wolverine's X-Men movie timeline), but understanding which movie falls where can help deliver the best possible X-Men viewing experience.

How To Watch X-Men Movies In Release Order

X-Men Movies In Release Order

X-Men (2000)

X2: X-Men United (2003)

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

X-Men: First Class (2011)

The Wolverine (2013)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Deadpool (2016)

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Logan (2017)

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Dark Phoenix (2019)

The New Mutants (2020)

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

The X-Men movie release order starts out simple enough with a number of direct sequels and a prequel. However, things do get a bit muddied as the X-Men prequel series and Wolverine solo movies begin to intertwine. Deadpool continues the trend of the franchise timeline jumping around, and, by the time Logan, Deadpool 2, Dark Phoenix, and The New Mutants released between 2017 and 2020, the X-Men franchise is covering several different decades simultaneously.

Every X-Men movie so far does take place within the same continuity.

However, even though the Wolverine and X-Men prequel movies don't make much sense with the timeline established in the original movies, every X-Men movie so far does take place within the same continuity. This is perhaps most difficult to reconcile with Deadpool 2, which offers very different takes on previously established characters Colossus and Juggernaut.

How To Watch X-Men Movies In Chronological Order

X-Men Movies In Chronological Order

X-Men: First Class

X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men: Apocalypse

Dark Phoenix

X-Men

X2: X-Men United

X-Men: The Last Stand

The Wolverine

Deadpool

Deadpool 2

The New Mutants

Deadpool & Wolverine

Logan

Following the franchise in chronological order does offer a different viewing experience as it opens with early years and origins before continuing into massive battles between armies of mutants. The first half of the list shows the formation of the X-Men up until their final battle in X-Men: The Last Stand. After that, it's heavily focused on the characters of Wolverine and Deadpool, and doesn't necessarily move forward with the overall group. Despite being put into chronological order, the timeline of these movies is still very difficult to follow.

The New Mutants doesn't really affect the franchise's overall timeline. It focuses on its own story outside the X-Men, which is very similar to how the two Deadpool films are in this universe. Those three movies can be watched at any point without spoiling the remaining movies, though some Deadpool references may be far harder to parse without the context of the previous movies that came before it in the X-Men movie release order.

While Deadpool & Wolverine is the last movie released in the Fox X-Men universe, it is interestingly set largely before Logan, though the plot does travel forward in time to explore the ramifications of Logan's ending, which is shown to be destroying the entire timeline. This may make a chronological viewing a more complicated overall experience as a result, since Deadpool & Wolverine is clearly intended to be watched with an understanding of what happens in Logan, even if timeline-wise Logan is still the most far-flung in the future due to its 2029 setting.

How Deadpool & Wolverine Changes The X-Men Movie Viewing Order

Deadpool & Wolverine makes the Deadpool series a more integral part of the overall X-Men series by bookending the franchise with the movie, despite it coming years after the last Fox X-Men release, and notably debuting as part of the MCU. Deadpool & Wolverine is rife with references to and cameos from the X-Men movie series, and shows the aftermath of Wolverine's fate in Logan - which is confirmed to be absolutely final - on the X-Men timeline, albeit in a complicated manner since much of the events of the movie appear to be set well beforehand.

Deadpool & Wolverine also acts as a Logan sequel by featuring Daphne Keen's Laura - also known as X-23 - some time after the events of the prior movie, with it strongly suggested that this is either a very similar variant of the character, or outright the same character from that chapter of the X-Men timeline. Deadpool & Wolverine's ending leaves the door open for Laura to appear again in future releases, drastically changing how the ending of Logan appears, and allowing Marvel to potentially build upon the story further, even if this is in a more abstract fashion.

Notably, this also makes watching Logan as the last movie in the order far harder if Deadpool & Wolverine is also in the viewing list, resulting in a chronological viewing being a yet more complicated experience in terms of legibility. That said, the Deadpool series not being as tied to the overall events of the X-Men timeline otherwise means that watching it after the rest of the roster does make sense, particularly now that the third Deadpool movie provides a great deal of closure for the overarching series.

The Best Viewing Order For X-Men Movies

Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool in snowy forest in Deadpool & Wolverine trailer
Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool in snowy forest in Deadpool & Wolverine trailer

It works particularly well to focus on viewing each sub-series in the broader X-Men continuity at once.

Ultimately, it comes down to preference, but the messy X-Men movie timeline means that there isn't as much to gain from a chronological viewing experience as there may be with other franchises. However, a third option may, in fact, be better than either approach. With multiple continuities that crossover but also work well as individual viewing experiences, it works particularly well to focus on viewing each sub-series in the broader X-Men continuity at once.

The ideal viewing order would thus be watching the X-Men original trilogy, then the prequel series, then the Wolverine movies, then the first two Deadpool movies, The New Mutants, and finally Deadpool & Wolverine. This also ensures the meta commentary on superhero movies made in the Deadpool series all makes sense - as things like the X-Men Origins: Wolverine references and Logan references in the second and third movie could otherwise prove more confusing.

While this breaks up the Deadpool sub-series, watching Deadpool & Wolverine as the final movie in the roster is arguably the best approach. The release does allude to huge swathes of the overall timeline, and is seemingly the final film set in the universe, making it a more significant finale to the overall viewing experience than The New Mutants may be.

The Deadpool & Wolverine end credits sequence - that goes back through the X-Men movies and provides some behind the scenes glimpses about their filming - is also inherently made to suit the instalment being the last in the viewing order. As such, it's the ideal ending to watching the X-Men movie catalog, even if the release is also an MCU movie in its own right at the same time.

The X-Men movies, including all spin-offs bar Deadpool & Wolverine, are all available to stream on Disney+.