X-Men movies in order – X-Men timeline
While the x-men series as we know it ended with the new mutants, there’s a reason interest in it will have increased since the release of doctor strange in the multiverse of madness.
The MCU sequel brings back Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, aka Professor X. We’re still waiting for news of an X-Men movie in the MCU, but the Doctor Strange sequel at least establishes the existence of X-Men mutants in the MCU.
You can choose to watch the series in release date order, which would be pretty simple and straightforward. however, if you want to be truly dedicated and watch in chronological order, it’s not the easiest task.
thanks to x-men: days of future past, there are two timelines in the overall series (plus the cameo in doctor strange in the multiverse of madness adds more… an infinite number of timelines to mix). Unless you want to have a two-screen setup, you’ll probably have to step through one timeline in its entirety and then back to continue with the other timeline at the point of divergence.
given the way they play with time, you could watch the two deadpool movies in any timeline. the same goes for the new mutants, which is quite separate from anything that has come before.
Before you get too bored, don’t worry about where Doctor Strange fits into the multiverse of madness in the watch order. that charles xavier is from a totally different universe (earth 838 to be precise) and has no relation to the timelines below.
There’s also the upcoming x-men ’97 to consider, but we’re still short on details on that and how it will (or won’t) fit into this timeline. So far, it’s considered separate from the MCU, but whether it’s separate from this X-Men universe remains to be seen.
We’ve put together a comprehensive guide on the best order to watch movies, even taking timeline divergence into account. It will make sense when you see it, honestly.
(while we got you, were you looking for the star wars timeline? we got that covered. mcu movies in order? help yourself. what about the chronological order of dc comics movies? easy. harry potter?timeline accio!)
1. x-men: first class
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In 1962, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and his childhood friend Raven Darkholme/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) first meet Holocaust survivor and fellow mutant Magneto (Michael Fassbender).
They form the original X-Men team and help avert disaster during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but Mystique and Magneto disagree with Professor X about the future of mutantkind and leave him. A stray bullet hits Charles, paralyzing him.
2. x-men: days of future past
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In 1973, military scientist Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage) creates an army of robot “sentinels” to control the perceived mutant threat.
Xavier, Beast (Nicholas Hoult), and Quicksilver (Evan Peters) break Magneto out of his prison under the Pentagon, while Mystique attempts to assassinate Trask after discovering he’s been experimenting on mutants.
—timeline divergence alert—
chronology to
mystique fails. she is captured and experimented on (oh, the irony), leading decades later to the development of adaptive sentinels that will eventually bring mutants to the brink of extinction.
3a. x-men origins: wolverine
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We meet Logan (Hugh Jackman), who was born in a remote part of Canada in the 19th century. He and his half-brother Victor/Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) fight wars throughout the 20th century and are eventually recruited into Team X of the military mutant squad, led by William Stryker.
Logan becomes disillusioned with the team and quits, but is later tricked into having adamantium bonded to his bones to help him capture a sabertooth rogue. he avoids being turned into a mindless weapon, defeats the military’s ‘mutant killer’, but ends up with amnesia thanks to a bullet to the brain.
4a. xmen
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Wolverine meets a young mutant with uncontrollable powers named Rogue (Anna Paquin). They are rescued from an attack by Magneto (now Ian McKellen) and his ‘brotherhood of mutants’ by Xavier (now Patrick Stewart) and his new team of X-Men.
Logan falls in love with Jean Gray (Famke Janssen), argues with Cyclops (James Marsden), Storm (Halle Berry) electrocutes a toad, and they foil Magneto’s plan to turn world leaders into mutants.
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5a. x2: united x-men
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william stryker (brian cox), the military’s anti-mutant wacko, returns and attacks xavier’s school with the help of jason, his mind-controlling mutant son.
Wolverine learns some secrets about his past with Stryker and joins forces with Magneto, who has been broken out of jail by Mystique. They stop Stryker from forcing Xavier to kill all the mutants on Earth with his powers. Jean is believed to be dead after staying behind to let the rest of the X-Men escape.
6a. x-men: the last stand
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jean returns under the control of her powerful and psychotic alternate personality, ‘phoenix’. she kills cyclops and xavier and bonds with magneto.
The creation of a ‘mutant cure’ leads to a climactic battle at Alcatraz between Magneto’s allies and the X-Men. Magneto is stripped of her powers and Jean convinces Wolverine to kill her. The cure is destroyed, though it is hinted that Magneto’s powers are returning and Xavier has been resurrected.
7a. the wolverine
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Logan lives as a hermit in the remote Canadian wilderness, haunted by the death of Jean Grey.
Contacted by a man whose life he saved during the bombing of Nagasaki in World War II, Wolverine heads to Japan, where he becomes embroiled in a plot to steal his healing factor.
8a. x-men: days of future past (future sequence)
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In a future where mutants are all but extinct, the Sentinels have the X-Men on the run. Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) sends Wolverine’s consciousness back into her younger body in 1973 to prevent his horrible future from happening. which is when you get…
timeline b
3b. x-men: days of future past (past sequence)
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logan prevents mystique from killing trask and being captured, creating a new timeline in which the sentinels will not eradicate the mutants (future wolverine finds himself back at xavier’s mansion in his ‘present’, with all his x-men friends still alive).
Mystique saves President Nixon from Magneto and is hailed as a hero, altering public opinion about mutants. The Wolverine from 1973 is captured by a young Stryker (Josh Helman).
4b. x-men: apocalypse
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In 1983, mystique has become a legend among mutants. She reluctantly becomes leader of the X-Men to help fight the ancient mutant Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), who has transformed Magneto into one of his horse-riding henchmen (not including horses) after the former villain’s family was killed.
Stryker captures the team and the young, new X-Men Jean (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit McPhee) set out to rescue them, freeing a wild and seemingly mindless wolverine in the process. . apocalypse tries to steal xavier’s body, but jean transforms into the phoenix and destroys it.
5b. x-men: dark phoenix
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x-men: dark phoenix offers a fresh take on jean gray’s corruption by the phoenix, which begins after a mission in space goes awry and jean absorbs a cosmic force she can’t control.
Following the pattern of recent movies, it’s set in the 1990s (1992 to be precise, with a prologue set in 1975) placing it between the 1980s apocalypse and more modern deadpool adventures.
6b. deadpool
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Sometime in the 21st century, motor-mouthed mercenary Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) falls in love with a sex worker named Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). Upon discovering that she has terminal cancer, she agrees to an experimental cure to awaken her dormant mutant genes.
surviving horrific torture and an assassination attempt, the now disfigured wade (aka deadpool) teams up with some b-list x-men (sorry guys) to take down his nemesis ajax (ed skrein ).
7b. deadpool 2
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Reynolds’ sequel gives the appearance of being set in the present day, not long after the previous entry, and includes cameos that cement it in the new timeline.
However, thanks to cable’s time machine and a post-credits sequence that blatantly crosses the old timeline, things could get very confusing down the line. director david leitch admitted they “never had many conversations” about how the timeline works.
8b. the new mutants
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In truth, you could place the new mutants in any timeline, since it’s mostly separate from everything that came before. It’s “timeless contemporary” according to producer Karen Rosenfelt and “completely its own” according to director Josh Boone. useful!
The story follows a group of young mutants who are held in a secret facility and must learn to master their powers when faced with a terrifying threat. we probably won’t see them again in the future, despite the original plan for future movies (sorry guys).
since there is some sort of logan connection when we see glimpses of the facility where x-23 was created, we’re going to put the new mutants in this timeline. however, in all honesty, watch it wherever you want.
9b. x-men: days of future past (future sequence)
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yes, this movie again. After Logan saves the day, she wakes up in 2023 at the X-Men Mansion to find all of her friends alive and well. that’s good.
10b. logon
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an elderly professor x loses control of his powers, killing most of the x-men, and a sinister government plot suppresses gene x through the distribution of genetically modified corn, leading to essentially eradication of all the mutants.
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Wolverine works as a chauffeur while trying to take care of the sickly Xavier. When he comes into contact with a girl (Daphne Kein) created from her DNA, he sets out on a quest to find a safe haven for them. Xavier and Logan don’t survive the journey, but at least they manage to lead a new generation of young mutants to freedom.
