From their comic debut in 1963 to the extremely popular animated series in 1992, and now as mainstream movies and shows, the X-Men has been a well-known team to superhero fans everywhere for a long time. The idea of people all over the world getting special powers gave young readers the dream to imagine themselves as a “Mutant.” The primary team of mutant heroes under Professor Charles Xavier has changed multiple times, but the characters are always fun and remarkable, especially ones like the famous Wolverine, known even by those who know no X-Men. The movies, first owned by 20th Century FOX and now by Disney, are highly debated, both about the general quality and the story. I aim to provide context to that debate by helping to understand the odd timeline of events, as well as my personal opinion regarding the ranking of the movies.

Firstly, when breaking down the timeline, it is important to make the distinction between the two significant time periods. There is the 2000s period which follows the first 3 X-men movies (as they take place roughly in the year that they came out) as well as The Wolverine, New Mutants, Logan, and the Deadpool movies (following the same structure). In this time, the characters are portrayed as older, with significant examples primarily being Charles Xavier and Magneto. Then, there is the 1900s time period, ranging from 1962 to 1992. In these movies, such as First Class and Dark Phoenix, younger actors play the characters. Once again, the examples used are Xavier and Magneto. Separately, these different timelines work perfectly fine; the issue occurs when they converge. In the movie X-Men: Days of Future Past, Wolverine time-travels between 2023 and 1973, connecting the two timelines, as both sets of actors appear in the movie. This, along with a cameo in Deadpool 2 that most consider to be non-canon, causes some plot-holes that throw off the continuity of the overall story. It doesn’t help, either, that the course of history was changed at the end of Days of Future Past. Below is a diagram of the timeline, though it still leaves some confusion and logistical errors, such as the fact that Magneto is played by a 41 year old Michael Fassbender in what’s meant to be 1992, and then a 60 year old Ian McKellan in ~2001-2004. There is meant to be a time gap between those years that would explain it, but the production of the movies out of order (with the 1992 movie, Dark Phoenix, being made in 2019 and the 2000’s X-Men being in 2000) left the poor man aging 19 years in 9.

The timeline is able to be pieced together with minimal holes by looking at everything deeper and seeing how each movie sets up the events of another. Despite the inconveniences, the X-Men franchise is generally a pretty decent series. Each movie, save a few exceptions, faces a difficulty in quality in the sense that there is so much that is good and bad in any one movie. For example, X-Men: The Last Stand, the third in the original trilogy, has many parts that are exceptional, and others that are just not great. Much of that, across all of the movies, comes down to writing issues. Because of this, it’s very difficult to say if a movie in the franchise (again, with some exceptions) is definitively good. As another example, X2 is a pretty good movie, but the introduction of Nightcrawler is what carries it. The rest of the movie is somewhat forgettable compared to the incredible Nightcrawler scenes.

All of this being said, here is my official ranking of the 14 primary X-Men movies. Bear in mind that I have a few personal preferences (such as my love for origin stories or certain characters) and that I am also a huge X-Men fan regarding other media such as comics or the Animated Series. Also recognize that you as a reader are entitled to your own opinion.

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past
2. X-Men: First Class
3. Deadpool & Wolverine
4. The New Mutants
5. Deadpool
6. Logan
7. X-Men: Apocalypse
8. X2
9. Deadpool 2
10. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
11. X-Men
12. X-Men: The Last Stand
13. The Wolverine
14. X-Men: Dark Phoenix

There is room for some change here, but this is my overall general opinion. Some of the movies receive hate that they don’t entirely deserve, but at the same time, I get it. Again, almost every movie has ups and downs that affect its place. In addition, some movies I see as relatively similar, but they need to go with a number–no ties. There are writing choices made in almost every movie that I would rather be different, but it doesn’t stop the movies from being any less enjoyable (to an extent). The X-Men are one of the most lovable teams in all of comic media, and much of that is owed to the movies. The actors do an incredible job playing fantastic characters, and that’s what makes a comic book movie fun.

With Disney’s recent purchase of FOX and the development of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the X-Men are being incorporated into the other Marvel movies. This will allow for a lot of what we have already seen, where amazing decisions are made alongside horrible ones. That’s something that we as comic book fans must deal with as different directors and writers take their turns with beloved characters. No matter what happens in the new movies, the older movies will always be there to provide a nostalgic superhero feel.