The shiny dome of the X-Men’s leader Professor Charles Xavier first came to the silver screen in 2000. Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stewart, played the cue ball-headed psychic then. Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, and many other talented actors also gave incredible performances. Perhaps most memorable was supermodel Rebecca Romijn-Stamos’s costume, or rather her lack thereof. The X-Men film franchise has seen highs and lows since this strong start.
The next chapter in the saga seems set to be the best yet. The 13th movie about these gifted youths, The New Mutants, is due out April 3. In it, Maisie Williams plays the badass Wolfsbane. Her werewolf-like superpowers seem perfect for the Night King-slayer herself. If the anticipation is just too much, we’re here to help. We’ve ranked all the X-Men and mutant movies for you. This list covers it all, from the cringy X-Men Origins: Wolverine to the truly epic Logan.
Cover Photo: Marvel Entertainment
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X-Men Movies Ranked
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12. 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'
The less said about 2009’s unwatchable cinematic disaster X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the better. From stitching shut our favorite assassin’s mouth to the awful CGI, this lacks any redeemable qualities whatsoever.
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11. 'X-Men: The Last Stand'
The third film in the X-Men franchise almost sank the whole series. Trying to squeeze the Dark Phoenix Saga and the cure for the mutant gene into one flick was too much, which is a bummer because Kelsey Grammer as Beast was an inspired casting choice.
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10. 'X-Men: Apocalypse'
X-Men: Apocalypse has some really cool scenes but screwed the pooch overall. Perhaps the worst part of the whole movie was Oscar Issac’s weird, dumb costume with Olivia Munn’s Psylocke outfit being the best.
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9. 'Dark Phoenix'
The franchise tried to take a mulligan on the Dark Phoenix Saga, casting the first Stark sister to become a mutant, the ginger beauty Sophie Turner. Despite some stellar performances from Turner, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, this movie never quite gelled, leading to its ranking as the fourth worst in the series.
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8. 'The Wolverine'
If you haven’t seen The Wolverine, you totally are missing out. Hugh Jackman epically battles samurais, ninjas and even survives a nuclear bomb, almost making up for his previous solo outing.
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7. 'X-Men'
2000’s X-Men is the one that started it all. Despite boring costumes and taking itself a little too seriously, this flick helped usher in the comic book movie renaissance.
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6. 'X2: X-Men United'
The second of the X-Men films, X2: X-Men United showed the franchise truly hitting its stride. They really let the mutants kick some ass in this flick, and seeing Ian McKellen’s Magneto as a good guy, however briefly, was very well done.
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5. 'Deadpool 2'
This is Deadpool’s first, but not last, appearance on this list. Ryan Reynolds superbly delivers his fourth-wall-breaking antics again, though it doesn’t quite surpass his first film.
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4. 'X-Men: First Class'
The fifth X-men film chronologically was part reboot and part prequel, but all awesomeness. The young, player-version of Prof. X was a fun departure, as was Jennifer Lawrence’s sassy but lovable Mystique.
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3. 'Deadpool'
Ryan Reynolds was born to play Deadpool, and at last he got to do it his way. Ultra-violent, seriously funny and always utterly ridiculous, this 2016 film rewrote the rules for comic book movies.
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2. 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'
X-Men: Days of Future Past was the culmination of the series, unifying both casts in a time-travelling romp for the ages. This movie has got it all, from Quick Silver’s comic relief to the awesome heel turn of Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask.
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1. 'Logan'
Coming in at No. 1 is 2017’s Logan, which looks at a bleak alternate future where the good guys didn’t win. Jackman and Stewart don’t disappoint in their final X-Men outing, delivering their most memorable performances of the entire franchise.
