Every X-Men Movie Ranked

Despite all of the buzz around the MCU right now, what with the nearing arrival of Avengers: Doomsday, and the record-breaking success of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, there’s still one team on everyone’s mind when it comes to the superhero genre – the X-Men. I’m a huge fan of the X-Men, from their comics to their modern-day rejuvenation in X-Men ’97. So, with recent casting rumours for the upcoming MCU X-Men movie igniting online discourse on the franchise, I thought it was the perfect time to look back on the most iconic superhero franchise in all of Hollywood, a franchise that was capturing the hearts of Marvel fans long before the MCU took its first steps.

So today, we’re ranking every single movie in the X-Men franchise from worst to best. This list is just my personal opinion, and there’s a couple of placements that I’m sure will raise some eyebrows, but that’s the fun of a ranking like this! The ranking will include the Fox X-Men movies, of course, but we’ll also be including the Deadpool trilogy, especially because of how much crossover the latest entry in that trilogy has to the original franchise. Without further ado, let’s kick off our list with a movie that I’m sure often finds a spot at the very bottom of many rankings…

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14. X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Image by 20th Century Fox

The X-Men franchise technically ended with 2019’s Dark Phoenix, and what a miserable way to go out it was. This was 20th Century Fox’s second attempt at adapting the infamous ‘Dark Phoenix’ comic storyline, and with any luck, it’ll be the last time we see this storyline adapted to the screen in any capacity. If this movie (and The Last Stand) are anything to go by, it simply can’t be done successfully, and it adds a predictable element to Jean Grey, a character that could, otherwise, have a lot of potential as one of the leading members of the X-Men. Visually, this movie is impressive, but in every other way, it falls completely flat.

Sophie Turner, Jennifer Lawrence, and even Nicholas Hoult, who went on to deliver an incredible performance in 2025’s Superman, feel totally zoned-out here, particularly Lawrence, who completely decimates Mystique in what genuinely feels like an act of spite. Visuals aside, I can only praise this movie for the hearty attempts of James McAvoy to salvage a dry script, a repetitive and soulless approach to the source material, and completely wooden acting. Dark Phoenix is an extremely low-point, not only for the X-Men franchise, but for the world of superhero movies in general.

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13. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Image by 20th Century Fox

Before we get further into this list, now is a good time to mention my opinion on Wolverine. Don’t get me wrong here, Hugh Jackman does an incredible job at making the character his own, breathing new life into a comic book character that I’m, honestly, not all that fond of. However, I just can’t help but be frustrated by the copious amount of Wolverine in this franchise, especially when there are so many incredible mutants to focus on instead. So, it’s unsurprising that X-Men Origins: Wolverine finds a spot so low on this list – to be fair though, even if I adored the titular hero, I don’t think it could save this movie.

I’m not really sure who X-Men Origins: Wolverine is meant to appeal to. There’s a vibe to this film that it’s only intended to be enjoyed by comic fans, given how little is explained about its cast of adapted characters, and how it leaves practically no character arcs resolved by the end. On the other hand, any comic fan watching this movie is bound to be frustrated by the decimation of infamous characters like Deadpool, Sabretooth and Gambit. This all results in a film that leaves practically every viewer unsatisfied. All the online memes about the ‘Merc with a Mouth’ having no mouth in this movie aside, at its core, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a mediocre mess, and is best forgotten when revisiting this franchise.

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12. The Wolverine

Image by 20th Century Fox

Now, here’s a more controversial placement. Personally, I can understand why someone would enjoy The Wolverine. It has fun action scenes, the atmosphere is tense and gritty, and Hugh Jackman does a very good job in the starring role, which is unsurprising given how much practice he had by this point. For me though, The Wolverine commits an unspeakable cinema sin throughout its 2-hour runtime – it’s bland. Not only was I completely sick of Wolverine as a character by this point, but he’s so disconnected from the actual story of this movie, that the entire plot feels secondary in importance to just gawking at Hugh Jackman for his sixth time in the spotlight of a franchise that is jam-packed with interesting heroes.

I can actually see myself maybe revisiting Dark Phoenix some time, just to relive how unbelievably bad it was, but I don’t think I’ll ever watch The Wolverine again, unless I’m powering through the entire franchise some day. There’s just an underlying blandness to this entire experience that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Did we really need a second Wolverine solo movie? Did we even need the first? Why does this movie need to exist? The vibe here is just so off that I can’t help but rank it this low. But hey, at least this marked the end of the Wolverine duology, right? Surely we don’t need any more movies with Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of the character front and centre. Right?

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11. The New Mutants

Image by 20th Century Studios

I’m a fan of the X-Men, and during August 2020, I was stuck at home like everybody else. With that in mind, I have no idea how, but I completely missed the release of this movie, and found out about its existence around 2 years after it debuted. Well, as you can see from its spot on this list, I didn’t miss much, despite the fact that The New Mutants solves the franchise’s problem of focusing on a limited number of characters. This movie should have worked on paper. Magik, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Mirage, and Sunspot are all fun characters, bursting with potential if handled right. If only The New Mutants had done anything with all of that potential.

There’s some good stuff here, particularly Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance as Magik, and the horror elements that are somewhat faithfully adapted from the comics (though with a lot less success). However, The New Mutants is overwhelmingly generic where it counts, proving that when there’s no soul or passion behind a movie, not even the most promising cast can make it happen. Maisie Peters, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton and more, all starring in a movie about some of the most woefully underrated X-Men characters? It should have been something special, and instead, it falls remarkably flat.

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10. X-Men: Apocalypse

Image by 20th Century Fox

X-Men: Apocalypse boasts one of the best speedster sequences in all of superhero media, so it does gets points for that. Outside of this, it’s hard to say much good about X-Men: Apocalypse. It gets points for its willingness to include a huge number of X-Men characters in its cast, but it loses points all the same for how overcrowded it all feels. Jubilee is technically a main cast member in this movie, and yet her screentime is almost comically minimal. Interesting characters, like Nightcrawler and Psylocke, are reduced to little more than plot devices, notable in the story only for their mutant ability.

All of this before we even start to mention Apocalypse himself. As the world’s first mutant, there’s a strong case to be made that Apocalypse is the most terrifying and powerful of the X-Men’s foes. What we got in this movie however, was Oscar Isaac, caked in so much make-up that he can barely emote. Between his lacklustre representation in X-Men ’97, and this draining appearance, it seems that Apocalypse is destined to experience the same fate as the ‘Dark Phoenix’ storyline when it comes to screen adaptations. It might be best to just stop trying. Still, this movie’s cast and action sequences are enough to elevate it above the rest of this list, albeit only slightly.

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9. X-Men: The Last Stand

Image by 20th Century Fox

I have a troubled relationship with X-Men: The Last Stand. On the one hand, it’s a pretty bad movie, a victim of Hollywood’s insistence on trying to make the ‘Dark Phoenix’ storyline work in movie format, and the film makes some extremely questionable decisions when it comes to some of the franchise’s major characters, particularly Cyclops. On the other hand, X-Men: The Last Stand acts as the finale of the original Fox trilogy, and retains a lot of the great elements from those first two movies. Certain characters are at their absolute best here – Famke Janssen gets a lot of time to shine as Jean Grey, this is arguably the best showing for Ian McKellen’s Magneto, and Kelsey Grammer’s Beast is the exact character from the comics brought to life.

In this sense, X-Men: The Last Stand does creep up my ranking ever so surely, but it does so on the merits earned by its predecessors. Anything that this movie does for itself falls pretty flat. Nightcrawler’s absence is really felt, and the ending is a little too depressing for the conclusion of this trilogy, even if Days of Future Past eventually rectified some of the most glaring issues. Still, Juggernaut is a fun addition to the cast, albeit corny, and the conclusion of Jean Grey’s arc is bound to elicit at least some emotion from X-Men fans. Ultimately, X-Men: The Last Stand feels like a genuine misstep, one that had good intentions, but simply missed the mark, unlike some of the earlier entries on this list.

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8. Deadpool & Wolverine

Image by Walt Disney Studios

Now, this placement might stir up some trouble. Here’s the thing, I’m not immune to the fun of movies like this. Did the perfect dynamic between Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine make me smile multiple times throughout this movie? Sure. Was it amazing to see the return of X-23, Elektra, and Blade, as well as the debut of Channing Tatum’s Gambit? Absolutely! Was Cassandra Nova a very solid villain? Yes! So, why did this movie land here, in the middle of this ranking, placed only marginally higher than notoriously weak films like The Last Stand?

Well, as much as I like the highs of Deadpool & Wolverine, this movie has a lot of issues, and most of them come from its connections to the MCU. Beneath its charming exterior, the core of Deadpool & Wolverine is swept up in the goings-on of the MCU’s multiverse saga, which has gradually become a convoluted mess ever since its inception. Deadpool & Wolverine suffers from an identity crisis somewhat. The ideas presented here are huge in concept, and had the potential to deliver quite an experimental movie, and yet, all of the madness is confined to your typical MCU story structure. I’m also a little biased here, based purely on how sick I am of seeing Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in everything X-Men related, but I have a lot of genuine issues with this movie. It made a lot of money, and there’s a ton of fun to be had, but at its core, this is a fairly run-of-the-mill MCU movie, one that relied on nostalgia bait more than any of its predecessors, yet many fans seemed to turn a blind eye.

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7. X-Men

Image by 20th Century Fox

It’s the movie that started it all – but that doesn’t mean it’s the best. X-Men is a movie that hasn’t aged all that well, even if its aesthetic is absolutely sublime. There’s a 2000’s cheesiness to the whole affair that you always have to keep in mind before diving in, but that aside, there’s so much to love here. The casting is stellar, and introduced some of the most iconic portrayals in live-action superhero media. A ton of narrative exposition is covered in a graceful and non-overwhelming way, with a huge amount of new characters being introduced at once, and never feeling overly-stuffed. Take notes X-Men: Apocalypse!

The movie also keeps the plot simple, yet sweet. Things get pretty crazy in the later X-Men movies, so it’s nice to revisit a time when Magneto and his followers were the team’s greatest foes, Magneto’s rage driven by widespread discrimination against mutants. I will admit, it’s a movie that feels like a stepping stone to its far superior sequel, so I can’t say if I would’ve loved this movie in 2000 or not. However, watching it back, it’s a very solid introduction to an iconic superhero ensemble, even if Wolverine is, once again, far too central to the plot for my liking. Come on Marvel! There’s so many more interesting X-Men characters to work with!

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6. Deadpool 2

Image by 20th Century Fox

Despite my opinions on Deadpool & Wolverine, I actually really liked the Deadpool movies that came before it. Ryan Reynolds is not an actor that I would put a huge amount of trust in, and yet, I think he did an incredible job bringing Deadpool to life. The movies are both juvenile in nature, but both hit on some very strong emotional notes, and the action is a great time in both outings. The reason that Deadpool 2 falls lower on this list is that it leans heavier into the juvenile side of things than its predecessor, but it’s still a very good time.

There are moments in Deadpool 2 that really frustrate me. X-Force is used as a joke, and as an actual character, Russell isn’t all that investing. I also don’t love the cop-out ending, which is perhaps the greatest example of the movie’s insistence on embracing the juvenile side of the franchise. In short, when Deadpool 2 is at its best, it’s a shockingly good time, but it hosts no shortage of eye-roll inducing moments, knocking it down this ranking a little. A far less consistent effort than the first Deadpool movie, but a very strong outing all the same.

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5. X-Men: First Class

Image by 20th Century Fox

After The Last Stand, it was time for a fresh start for the X-Men, and I’m not sure that there’s even been a more successful restart for a superhero franchise than First Class. This journey back in time was so strong that many still think of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as their Professor X and Magneto, despite how strong Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were as the characters. The film manages to juggle high stakes and emotional moments with a heart-warming familiarity, staying loyal to the comics except in moments where such loyalty wouldn’t work. X-Men: First Class is an emotional rollercoaster, and I’m on board the entire time – well, maybe not the entire time…

For as excellent as so much of the casting here is, there are a few stinkers in the mix, and these select stinkers really bring down the vibe. X-Men: First Class marks the debut of Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique in the franchise, and the less said about that at this point in the list, the better. At this point though, it felt like Lawrence was at least semi-interested in the role. The real disaster comes in the form of January Jones’ Emma Frost, a role that killed her career. Emma Frost is one of my personal favourite X-Men characters, so my disappointment in this performance is immeasurable, enough to make First Class lose some major points, and make it difficult to truly love the movie unless I ignore her presence. Samara Weaving, save us! All the same, First Class is a stunning new start for a franchise in decline, and for that, it will always hold a place in my heart.

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4. Deadpool

Image by 20th Century Fox

For a while, people believed that we would never see Deadpool take to the big screen. To properly pull-off an adaptation of the character, Marvel would need to let the movie be R-rated, which didn’t feel like it was on the table in the mid-2010s. Against all odds, 2016 saw the arrival of Deadpool, and to say that this movie lived up to expectations would be an understatement. Much like its sequel, the original Deadpool movie managed to capture an incredible balance between juvenile humour and genuine emotion, and this first movie struck the sweet spot more effectively than Deadpool 2.

At the point in time that Deadpool was released, the superhero genre was in desperate need of something new, something that was willing to make a mockery of the stalest elements of superhero storytelling. In this sense, Deadpool arrived at just the right time, and managed to appeal to the parts of superhero movies that people love, while mixing up the more repetitive aspects. Much like its sequel, Deadpool feels like a complete departure from the genre that the rest of the X-Men franchise thrives within, but it’s an incredibly enjoyable detour all the same.

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3. Logan

Image by 20th Century Fox

I’ve spent a lot of this list complaining about how much Wolverine hogged the spotlight during the height of the X-Men franchise. So, considering my grudge against the character, Logan ranking this high on my list is really saying something. The strengths of this movie are undeniable though, and I would be surprised if anyone, superhero-haters an all, can walk away from this movie saying that they didn’t enjoy it. I understand the need for comic book movies to appeal to a younger audience, but I think that Logan is just the type of movie that Wolverine needed – a gritty, neo-noir, jam-packed with violence and heartbreak.

The movie can be a little overly-heavy at times, but I’m not particularly averse to this. If it weren’t for Deadpool & Wolverine cashing in on easy nostalgia points, this would’ve marked the climax of Wolverine’s story, and what a climax it was. I’m sure for many, this would top the ranking with ease. After all, many have pointed to Logan as the greatest superhero movie of all time, not excluding The Dark Knight or any of the blockbuster Avengers flicks. For me though, I still appreciate some of the necessary cheesiness that comes with superhero movies, so Logan is a little too self-serious for me at times. Still, it’s a masterfully-crafted conclusion to the story of one of the most beloved characters in the superhero genre. A must-watch for not only superhero fans, but any movie-lover.

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2. X2

Image by 20th Century Fox

Remember how I said the original X-Men put all of the pieces for a masterpiece of a sequel in place, but didn’t quite capitalise on all of the potential it set-up in the first place? Well, X2 not only cashes-in on the hype, it goes completely above and beyond, proving alongside Spider-Man 2 that the superhero genre was a force to be reckoned with, and deserved to be taken seriously in a growingly-sceptical industry. X2 benefits from being a film that is both grounded, and incredibly consequential. The stakes aren’t quite as high as they are in the likes of Avengers: Endgame, but for this cast of characters, it felt like the very world they knew was at stake.

X2 contains some of the most iconic scenes in the entire franchise – Nightcrawler’s attack on the White House, Magneto’s escape from prison, Wolverine vs. Lady Deathstrike, and Jean Grey’s piloting of the X-Jet. Is the acting a little cheesy in spots? Undeniably. However, when it comes to heart and dedication to the source material, X2 is supreme, and was in serious contention for the top spot on my ranking. That was, at least, until I watched through the series again, and re-experienced what is potentially my favourite superhero movie of all time…

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1. X-Men: Days of Future Past

Image by 20th Century Fox

In my opinion, X-Men: Days of Future Past is a flawless superhero movie. Not only are both eras of the X-Men blended together in a flawless balance, but it is easily the X-Men movie with the highest stakes, and the one that touches the most on the true enemy of this franchise – the dark side of the human race. Yes, there is a lot of messing about with timelines in this movie, but considering quite a mess had been made of the original X-Men timeline anyway with The Last Stand, it didn’t bother me in the slightest. I will always feel that this was the true end of the Fox X-Men franchise, and as long as I stick to that idea, the franchise feels complete in my mind.

Boliver Trask remains one of the most vile villains in the entire franchise, brought to life perfectly by Peter Dinklage. On paper, I shouldn’t love Days of Future Past as much as I do. Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence are front and centre, but for both characters, I think they play a perfect role in the story. I think the only flaw with this movie is that the plot might be a little too complicated for non-devoted fans to follow, but for any X-Men fan, this is the absolute pinnacle of the franchise, and a movie that the MCU adaptation of the team should strive to equal.

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Conclusion

That’s the end of our ranking! I’m excited to see where the MCU’s take on this iconic team will end up, but it seems we’ve got quite a wait ahead of us. What do you think of the recent X-Men casting news? Do you agree with our ranking of the franchise? What’s your favourite X-Men movie? Be sure to let us know, and thanks for reading!

See also: The Best Comic Books for Adults

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