X-Men Film Series Guide and Watching Order

 Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there was Fox's X-Men series. 

The one-two punch of Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000 and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man in 2002 (and to a lesser extent 1998's Blade) had a tectonic effect on the Hollywood film industry. They instigated a new wave of relatively serious big-budget superhero films after the genre had long descended into camp and self-parody, leading to a genre renaissance that we are arguably still experiencing to this day. They also placed Marvel's superheroes at the forefront of the public's consciousness, after the previous handful of successful superhero flicks had all been from the DC stable.

No self-respecting Marvel fan, or superhero movie fan in general, would go without versing themselves in the first big superhero franchise of the 21st century, especially as the original X-Men canon has seen itself slowly integrated into the main MCU since Disney's acquisition of Fox's IPs in 2019, coming to a head with the two franchises fully crossing over in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine. This page is your ultimate guide to navigating the entire X-Men movie franchise and its associated spin-offs in order and in depth, whether you're new to the series or an established True Believer.

The X-Men franchise feels different from the MCU in a number of ways. For one, it leans toward a more mature audience than the later Marvel films, with many entries being rated R and even the PG-13 installments being rather more dark, violent, and thematic than one might expect from Hollywood superhero films. The franchise also never paid as much attention to things like continuity or a unified authorial voice as the MCU, and over time this caused the series to break down into a number of loosely related sub-franchises, which I will denote in the list by color-coding the titles like so:

Original Timeline: The present-day timeline established by the original X-Men trilogy, created by Bryan Singer.

First Class Timeline: In 2011, Fox released the Matthew Vaughn-directed X-Men: First Class, a semi-prequel to the original trilogy with an entirely new cast which served as a partial reboot of the franchise, subtly contradicting the established canon in a number of ways. First Class would receive a number of sequels which would increasingly place it in its own timeline separate from the original, but still frequently referencing its parent trilogy.

Crossover: A crossover between two separate sub-franchises.

Deadpool films: The satirical spin-off series starring Deadpool plays fast and loose with canon and doesn't much care which of the established timelines it takes place in, freely referencing both.

Other Spin-offs: One-off films and television series that don't fit into any of the above sub-franchises.

Each entry in the list will include basic information such as release date, director, MPAA rating, and synopsis. I will also detail which comic stories each individual film/series draws on as source material for those interested in checking out the comics, though this is a tricky business. In general, when superhero comics are adapted, they are not treated like literature, where the story would be translated as directly and linearly from page to screen as possible while making concessions for the new medium. Rather, they are treated like mythology, where the most recognizable characters and iconography from throughout the comic's history are drawn upon and condensed together without directly interpreting any one individual author's work.

I will also make notes as to how each film/series fits into the greater continuity of the franchise, and whether each film has any post-credits scenes you may want to stick around for. I will keep spoilers to a minimum, but as this guide will discuss matters of canon and continuity, some minor spoilers might be inevitable. Without further ado:

X-Men
Release date: July 14, 2000
Director: Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, Apt Pupil)
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: In a world where a minority of the human population are born as "mutants" with unique superhuman abilities and persecuted for it, amnesiac loner Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), is recruited into a team of heroic mutants called the X-Men, led by Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart). Their mission: to stop the terrorist acts of Xavier's former friend turned mutant extremist Magneto (Ian Mckellan) and his brotherhood of villainous mutants.
Source material: Takes general characters and ideas from throughout X-Men comic history, especially the seminal 1975-1991 run on the comic by Chris Claremont. The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and they and their nemesis Magneto first appeared in X-Men #1 in 1963. However, the most recognizable rendition of the team wouldn't debut until Claremont, Len Wein, and artist Dave Cockrum resurrected the series after a five-year hiatus in 1975, introducing iconic characters like Wolverine and Storm, who feature here.
Notes on continuity: None.
Credits scenes: None.

X2: X-Men United
Release date: May 2, 2003
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: The X-Men and Magneto's (Mckellan) Brotherhood strike up an uneasy alliance (uniting, one might say) as they face a new mutual threat with ties to Wolverine's (Jackman) mysterious past in the form of mutant-hating military scientist Colonel William Stryker (Brian Cox).
Source material: Borrows broad strokes from both Wolverine's backstory as detailed in the 1991 "Weapon X" arc in Marvel Comics Presents by Barry Windsor-Smith and the iconic 1982 graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills by Claremont and artist Brent Anderson, which introduced the character of William Stryker, there a genocidal reverend rather than a military colonel.
Notes on continuity: Direct sequel to X-Men and early high point for the franchise. Simple enough so far.
Credits scenes: None.

X-Men: The Last Stand
Release date: May 26, 2006
Director: Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Red Dragon)
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: The discovery of a so-called "mutant cure" which robs mutants of their abilities tears the mutant community asunder. Meanwhile, a long-lost teammate of the X-Men returns with a destructive new personality.
Source material: Combines cues from the then-recent 2004 "Gifted" arc by Joss Whedon and artist John Cassady that kicked off Whedon's run on Astonishing X-Men, and the epic "Dark Pheonix Saga" written in 1980 by Claremont and artist John Byrne in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men.
Notes on continuity: A controversial conclusion to the original X-Men trilogy (which many blame on the departure of Singer in the director's chair) that most later films would make an effort to distance themselves from. Things start getting messy here.
Credits scenes: One of the earliest superhero post-credits scenes, this one didn't foreshadow any project in particular and was mostly never followed up on in later films except by implication.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Release date: May 1, 2009
Director: Gavin Hood (Tsotsi)
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: This fast-paced prequel details the mysterious origins of the titular leading X-Man over the course of several decades, from the recruitment of Logan (Jackman) and his brother Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) into a covert mutant strike force, to his time as a test subject for Weapon X, to his subsequent escape and attempts to go into hiding from his former colleagues and estranged brother.
Source material: This movie takes elements from multiple different renditions of Wolverine's backstory, particularly the aforementioned "Weapon X" and the 2001-2002 limited series Wolverine: Origin by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, and artist Andy Kubert.
Notes on continuity: This movie brazenly ignores and contradicts what little we learn of Wolverine's past in the original trilogy. An early exercise in superhero franchise building, this movie was intended to be the first in a series of X-Men Origins films, including one focused on Magneto, but its critical failure and lackluster box office returns led to the idea being mostly nipped in the bud. It is perhaps telling that the video game tie-in, X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Uncaged Edition, was received more warmly by fans and critics than the film itself. This film was mostly ignored by subsequent installments in the franchise.
Credits scenes: One of the first superhero films to have multiple credits scenes, with different ones playing in different theaters. One reveals the fate of one of the film's villains after the end of the movie, another vaguely suggests the return of Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool in his own spin-off film, and one foreshadows the eventual second Wolverine spin-off film. All are available on the home media releases.

X-Men: First Class
Release date: June 3, 2011
Director: Matthew Vaughn (Stardust, Kick-Ass)
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: A period piece set in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, this prequel/reboot of the X-Men franchise shows the first meeting of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) as they recruit the first ever team of X-Men to take down a mutant supremacist named Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) who plots to wipe out humanity by jumpstarting a nuclear war.
Source material: Borrows its title and basic premise (showing the early adventures of the original team of X-Men) from the 2006-2007 limited series X-Men: First Class by Jeff Parker and artist Roger Cruz, but with a wildly different team line-up, tone, and story.
Notes on continuity: Marketed as a prequel, though Vaughn considered the film to be more like Marvel's Ultimate Comics line, which offered reimagined interpretations of their existing heroes for a new, younger audience. This film freely homages and contradicts the original trilogy in equal measure, and its success led to a number of sequels featuring this same cast, effectively rebooting the franchise.
Credits scenes: None.

The Wolverine
Release date: July 26, 2013
Director: James Mangold (Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma)
Rating: PG-13, with gorier unrated director's cut (Mangold directed the film with the intent of it being rated R, but the final product was censored by the studio to earn a PG-13 for theatrical release; the "Unleashed Extended Edition" restores the cut violence and language, along with other deleted footage.)
Synopsis: Haunted by the events of The Last Stand, Wolverine (Jackman) retreats to Japan where he gets embroiled in shady clan politics involving an old World War II acquaintance in this homage to classic samurai films.
Source material: Primarily a loose adaptation of the 1982 Wolverine limited series by Claremont and Frank Miller.
Notes on continuity: A direct sequel to The Last Stand that largely ignores the previous Wolverine stand-alone. Has its own couple of continuity-related plot holes but is largely consistent with the original trilogy.
Credits scenes: One post-credits scene foreshadowing the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
Release date: May 23, 2014
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: In the distant future of 2023 (just go with it), mutants have been rendered all but extinct by a race of super-advanced killer robots called Sentinels. The X-Men's last hope for survival is to send Wolverine (Jackman) back in time to 1973 to change the past and prevent this dystopic future from ever occurring. Why yes, it is basically X-Men-meets-Terminator.
Source material: A relatively faithful, by this series' standards, adaptation of Claremont and Byrne's classic 1981 "Days of Future Past" storyline from the pages of The Uncanny X-Men, with changes made to allow the story to fit the universe established by the films.
Notes on continuity: Considered something of a return to form for the franchise by critics and fans, a turn often attributed to the return of original director Bryan Singer. This installment serves as essentially a crossover between the original and First Class versions of the characters, attempting to patch up the holes in continuity created by the latter film. At the same time, it uses its time travel premise to erase a number of controversial plot developments from the post-Singer films and allow the First Class timeline to take over as the primary continuity for the series moving forward, in something of a passing of the torch. Don't miss the superior "Rogue Cut" version, which restores a large amount of cut content, most notably reinstating the series mainstay character of Rogue (Anna Paquin), whose story was almost entirely removed from the theatrical version.
Credits scenes: One post-credits scene foreshadowing X-Men: Apocalypse.

Deadpool
Release date: February 12, 2016
Director: Tim Miller
Rating: R
Synopsis: Mouthy, flamboyant, and oh-so-violent mutant mercenary Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) hunts down the people responsible for his traumatic past, much to the chagrin of the strait-laced X-Men trying to stop him, in this gory and irreverent superhero send-up for adults only.
Source material: Deadpool was technically created by infamous comic auteur Rob Liefeld and debuted in a 1991 issue of The New Mutants, but this film draws more on the later work of Fabian Nicieza and Joe Kelly, who established the character's backstory and fleshed him out from Liefeld's two-dimensional rip-off of DC's Deathstroke into the fourth wall-breaking lunatic fans know and love. Kelly and artist Ed McGuinness's 1997 series offers the definitive take on the character.
Notes on continuity: This mostly stand-alone comedy really only requires a passing familiarity with X-Men lore, though fans are rewarded with a number of subtle in-jokes. Reynolds reprises his role as the Merc with a Mouth from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but in a wildly different and far more comic-accurate interpretation of the character that ignores his appearance in the other film except to poke fun at it. Colossus, the one other returning character in this film, is played by a different actor (Stefan Kapicic taking over from Daniel Cudmore) and is also depicted wildly differently (and again, more comic-accurately) than in previous films. The film's parodic tone and general contempt for the fourth wall mean that it isn't worrying too much about canon or continuity, so probably neither should we.
Credits scenes: One tongue-in-cheek post-credits gag.

X-Men: Apocalypse
Release date: May 27, 2016
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: Set ten years after the past segments of Days of Future Past, this film sees the young X-Men taking up arms against the megalomaniacal supervillain Apocalypse, a near-godlike being from Ancient Egypt who is said to be the first ever mutant and who has arisen from his slumber to destroy the Earth and remake it in his image.
Source material: Apocalypse was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jackson Guice and debuted in 1986 as the main villain of their run on X-Factor. This film draws much of its inspiration from the 1988 "The Fall of the Mutants" storyline from said run, which saw the team's first major run-in with Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen. As with Days of Future Past, this is in many ways a more direct and faithful adaptation of the storyline than the series usually musters. The film also features an extended sequence that once again references Windsor-Smith's "Weapon X" story.
Notes on continuity: The third film in the First Class continuity, and the last to be directed by Singer. This film picks up on storylines from both First Class and Days of Future Past and introduces the younger First Class renditions of a number of characters from the original films, including Cyclops, Jean Gray, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Angel, all played by new actors. Indeed, other than some aesthetic similarities, an extended cameo by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine remains the film's only palpable connection to the original series.
Credits scenes: One post-credits scene vaguely foreshadowing Logan.

Legion
Premiere date: February 9, 2017
Creator: Noah Hawley (Fargo)
Rating: TV-MA
Synopsis: David Haller (Dan Stevens) is a powerful mutant, that much is certain, but how much of the strange, horrific experiences he's lived through are the result of his mutant heritage and how much are the delusional product of his schizophrenic, disassociated mind? He joins an X-Men-like team of misfit mutants to find out in this psychedelic sci-fi psychological horror series (3 seasons, 27 episodes).
Source material: Professor X's insane antiheroic son Legion debuted in a 1985 issue of The New Mutants written by Claremont and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz and got his own series in the 2012 version of X-Men Legacy by Simon Spurrier, but this show's trippy aesthetics and most of its idiosyncratic characters are 100% Noah Hawley.
Notes on continuity: Legion is the result of an early team-up between Fox and Marvel Television, and the first season keeps it deliberately ambiguous how much this show is canon to the films, keeping it vague enough that it could go either way. However, as the show goes on it becomes increasingly unlikely that it is in-continuity, and by the time flashbacks in the third season introduce a young Charles Xavier played by Harry Loyd with a wildly different history than the McAvoy version, it is clear that Legion takes place in its own weird little universe that only sometimes nods toward the X-Men films, mostly in its aesthetics. 

Logan
Release date: March 3, 2017
Director: James Mangold
Rating: R
Synopsis: As much an homage to 50s Westerns as The Wolverine was to 50s samurai films, Logan sees the titular former superhero (Jackman) become an aging muscle-for-hire caring for an elderly and senile Charles Xavier (Stewart) in a future where the X-Men are dead and mutants have gone largely extinct. Logan's heroic instincts are reignited one last time when he comes into the custody of a little girl (Dafne Keen) with powers similar to his own and must protect her from the evil scientists who created her and want her back.
Source material: The film borrows its basic premise from the 2008-2009 "Old Man Logan" Wolverine storyline by Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven, though offering a wildly different take on the concept. It also adapts a version of Laura Kinney a.k.a. X-23's 2006 origin story "Innocence Lost" from her self-titled series by Christopher Yost and artist Craig Kyle.
Notes on continuity: Serves as something of a bittersweet swan song for the versions of these characters introduced in the original X-Men. I might even recommend saving this movie for very last in watching order to allow the X-Men series a proper grand finale rather than the whimper it would actually die on. Don't miss the gorgeous black-and-white Logan Noir version of the film which serves to deepen the retro genre homage.
Credits scenes: None.

The Gifted
Premiere date: October 2, 2017
Details coming soon!

Deadpool 2
Release date: May 18, 2018
Director: David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde)
Rating: R (and unrated "Super Duper Cut")
Synopsis: After a startling loss, a depressed and apathetic Deadpool (Reynolds) finds new meaning in his life when he takes it upon himself to protect foulmouthed young mutant Russell Collins (Julian Dennison) from time travelling assassin Cable (Josh Brolin), who wants Russell dead for crimes he will commit in the future.
Source material: While Cable debuted in a 1986 issue of The New Mutants by Liefeld and Simonson, the concept of a Deadpool/Cable team-up, and the pair's general comedic dynamic, originates in Nicieza's classic 2004-2008 Cable & Deadpool series. The movie also sees the formation of X-Force, a team created by Liefeld in the pages of The New Mutants in 1991.
Notes on continuity: A direct sequel to the original Deadpool, and just as much in its own little corner of the universe (though the X-Men: Apocalypse version of the X-Men do make a very brief cameo, for what it's worth, even if that makes no sense from a timeline perspective). Like Colossus, the Juggernaut returns for the first time since The Last Stand and is reworked from the ground up to more closely resemble his comics counterpart.
Credits scenes: A plethora, most of them brief tongue-in-cheek gags.

X-Men: Dark Pheonix
Release date: June 7, 2019
Details coming soon!

The New Mutants
Release date: August 28, 2020
Details coming soon!

For future live-action adventures by Marvel's mutant characters, see the MCU.