With mutants about to enter the MCU in a big way, you might be wondering how to watch the X-Men movies in order. Fair warning, catching up on the past adventures of Logan, Professor X, and Cyclops is a pretty tall order. There are jumps back (and forward) in time, epilogues, recastings, and parallel universes. It all makes for one of the more confusing marathons in comic book movie history.
But we've got our claws into the best way to watch the X-Men movies in order and broken it down for you into easy-to-follow lists. First up, we've got how to watch the X-Men movies in release order, followed by a slightly more convoluted (OK, a lot more convoluted) chronological order.
And, no, before you ask, we don't know how Deadpool 3 (starring Hugh Jackman's Wolverine) fits into the X-Men story just yet. Watch this space.
In case you're in the wrong place and only want MCU adventures, then be sure to check out our guide on how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
How to watch the X-Men movies in order: release order
Best for: Our recommended viewing experience.
By watching the X-Men movies in release order, newcomers get to experience the stories as everyone else did, plus it's simply much easier than attempting to make any kind of sense of the time-traveling and parallel universes. Trust us.
- X-Men
- X2: X-Men United
- X-Men: The Last Stand
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- X-Men: First Class
- The Wolverine
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
- Deadpool
- X-Men: Apocalypse
- Logan
- Deadpool 2
- X-Men: Dark Phoenix
- New Mutants
Side note: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut takes place in a future that is erased by the time the credits roll, so don’t beat yourself up if you’d prefer to watch the theatrical cut or don’t want to give up precious hours to watch them both.
And, don't forget, nearly all the X-Men movies are on Disney Plus, so be sure to catch them on there.
How to watch the X-Men movies in order: chronological order(s)
Things are about to get a little complicated. Now, there are a few ways this can be done. First up, we have The Easy Way, which puts all the X-Men movies into a strict order of when they are set – so we go from the '60s to the far future. This, unfortunately, leads to some issues as Dark Phoenix does not lead particularly nicely into the first X-Men, and then you also have the fact the Dark Phoenix catastrophe happens again with Jean Grey in The Last Stand... This one's a very literal chronological order without taking in varying timelines.
Instead, you're perhaps better off taking into account the multiple timelines that are caused when Days of Future Past erases the future we knew in the original trilogy. This one starts with X-Men: First Class, which technically applies to both timelines, and goes right up until the far future and the catastrophe that prompts Wolverine to travel back to 1973 and stop the Sentinels. It will perhaps make more sense if we show you the order – but, in short, there are two timelines that don't line up...!
The Easy Way
Best for: No one, really... This one's just a literal timeline of events without taking into account multiple timelines.
- X-Men: First Class
- X-Men Days of Future Past
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- X-Men: Apocalypse
- Dark Phoenix
- New Mutants
- X-Men
- X2: X-Men United
- X-Men: The Last Stand
- The Wolverine
- Deadpool
- Deadpool 2
- Logan
It could be argued that Days of Future Past should be last here, in its setting of 2023, but a whole lot of it takes place in 1973, so switch that about as you like according to taste. And Deadpool 2 also references Wolverine’s death in Logan, the latter of which is set in 2029, so let’s just assume Deadpool marches to the beat of his own drum.
The two X-Men timelines
Prime timeline
- X-Men: First Class
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- X-Men
- X2: X-Men United
- X-Men: The Last Stand
- The Wolverine
- X-Men: Days of Future Past
Second timeline
- X-Men: First Class
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (past events)
- X-Men: Apocalypse
- X-Men: Dark Phoenix
- New Mutants
- Deadpool
- Deadpool 2
- Logan
There are a lot of issues with the X-Men timelines, so many that they probably warrant a whole article of their own. Yet, by taking the series as two timelines, which almost works in release order, you can just about grasp and understand the series.
We would suggest simply ignoring any inconsistencies. The X-Men series, after all, came way before the MCU, which established how movies should relate to one another. It’s therefore no use trying to apply real-world logic to a world of mutants and mad scientists (we’re looking at you, Bolivar Trask), but that’s what’s so special about the X-Men: they’re a microcosm for real-world prejudice in a fantasy world full of superheroes – and we love them for it.
For more on your favorite superheroes, check out our guides to all the upcoming superhero movies to be excited about.
