Best Order to Watch the X-Men Movies (September 2025)

With the X-Men appearing in Doomsday, followed by a Kevin Feige–led MCU reboot in the coming decade (still a ways off, we know), there are plenty of new X-Men movies on the horizon. If you’re gearing up for a rewatch of the classics along with some of the more recent additions, here’s the best X-Men movie watch order.

What’s the best order to watch the X-Men movies?

This question often arises: Should you watch the X-Men movies in chronological order or release order? If you’re a superfan with plenty of time, try both and let us know how the viewing experience changes. However, fair warning: chronological order can be a headache. The films mess with their own timeline so much that it’s tough to keep track of it all. Here’s the rough chronological order.

• X-Men Origins: Wolverine (1845–1979)
• X-Men: First Class (alternate timeline) (1944–1962)
• X-Men: Apocalypse (alternate timeline) (1983)
• X-Men: Dark Phoenix (alternate timeline) (1992)
• X-Men (2000)
• X2: X-Men United (2003)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
• The Wolverine (2013)
• Deadpool (2016)
• The New Mutants (2020)
• Deadpool 2 (2019)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (alternate timeline) (2023–1973)
• Deadpool & Wolverine (alternate timeline) (2024)
• Logan (alternate timeline) (2029)

The best order to watch the X-Men movies is in their release order. Just watch the movies as they were intended, which you’ll see below.

X-Men (2000)

Directed by Bryan Singer, X-Men was the film that started the whole franchise. X-Men takes us to a world where mutants, that is, humans born with superpowers, exist alongside regular humans. The story begins when a 17-year-old Marie (Anna Paquin) accidentally puts her boyfriend in a coma after kissing him due to the nature of her superpowers. She runs away, only to encounter a mutant named Logan, known as “Wolverine” (Hugh Jackman), who helps her enroll in a school for mutants, created by Professor X (Patrick Stewart) to help them control their abilities. But things take a turn when his longtime friend-turned-rival, Magneto (Ian McKellan), who believes mutants should dominate humans to survive, comes for Marie to use her powers as a weapon against humanity.

X2 (2003)

A fragile peace between mutants and humans is hanging by a thread after Nightcrawler infiltrates the White House in an attempt to assassinate the president. Meanwhile, William Stryker (Brian Cox), who harbors a deep hatred for mutants, kidnaps Professor X and plans to use his psychic powers to wipe them out. To stop him, the X-Men must join forces with their longtime enemies, Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Jean Grey returns, more powerful than ever. Her alter ego, the Phoenix, has kept her alive, and she’s been recruited by Magneto to destroy a mutant “cure” being developed at Alcatraz. The X-Men arrive, leading to an epic showdown. This was the final film of the original X-Men trilogy and the only one to feature all the original team members.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine gives us Logan’s origin story, taking us back to the 1800s, when a young James Howlett witnesses the brutal death of his father at the hands of the groundskeeper, Thomas Logan. In a surge of rage, James’s mutant powers awaken, and he impales Thomas with his claws. The story follows him through multiple wars, now equipped with his signature chrome-coated claws thanks to William Stryker. Logan is eventually recruited by Stryker into a secret mutant black-ops team alongside his half-brother, Victor Creed. Without giving too much more of the plot away, things get complicated.

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Another backstory, First Class takes us back to the 1960s, introducing us to a young Professor X and Magneto, who are then known simply by their names: Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender). Together, these mutants recruit a team of other superpowered humans to stop Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a powerful mutant trying to start a world war. X-Men: First Class was directed by Matthew Vaughn.

The Wolverine (2013)

After the events of the Last Stand, Logan remains deeply traumatized by the loss of Jean Grey and his role in it. He gets an invitation from an officer he saved when he was a POW in Japan in 1945 after he shielded him during a bombing. This ultimately turns out to be a ploy to steal Wolverine’s healing powers, leading Logan into a complex web of assassins, family drama, and the Yakuza.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Slightly modifying the classic X-Men comic storyline, this Bryan Singer-directed film throws us into a future where highly efficient robot killers are hunting down mutants. Things look grim, so the team comes up with a desperate plan to send Wolverine’s consciousness back into the past. The hope is that this can stop the key event that triggers the chain reaction leading to this dystopian future.

Deadpool (2016)

This R-rated, raunchy X-Men spinoff movie takes the superhero genre and lights it on fire. Deadpool follows former Special Ops soldier Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) after he’s diagnosed with terminal cancer. He’s offered the chance at an experimental cure and agrees, only to be tricked into a brutal procedure meant to activate dormant mutant genes. The process leaves him horribly disfigured, but with some insane new powers. Armed with his twisted sense of humor (and a few katanas), Wade sets out to hunt down the man responsible and find a cure.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

X-Men: Apocalypse pits the young mutant team against their most powerful enemy yet, the world’s first mutant, En Sabah Nur (Oscar Isaac), also known as Apocalypse. Awakened after thousands of years, he recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a grief-stricken Magneto, to purge humanity and reshape the world in his image. As the planet faces destruction, Professor X, Mystique, and the next generation of X-Men join forces to stop Apocalypse and his Horsemen.

Logan (2017)

Based loosely on the Old Man Logan comic storyline, Logan is keeping a low profile in the future when the mutant bloodline has disappeared and remaining mutants are in hiding. While caring for an aged Professor X, Logan comes into contact with a girl named Laura who has some mysterious powers of her own. A series of events turns the film into a race to get Laura, played by a brilliant Dafne Keen, to a refuge for mutants near the Canadian border. But all the while, they’re being tracked by cyborg mercenaries determined to hunt them down. 

Deadpool 2 (2018)

After a brutal personal tragedy and the inability to end his life with superhealing powers, Deadpool reluctantly joins the X-Men on a mission that leads him to cross paths with a young mutant named Russell, who’s being hunted by the time-traveling soldier Cable. To protect the boy, Wade assembles his own ragtag team of heroes, X-Force. Though things don’t go quite as planned. In addition to this being another fun time, Deadpool 2 goes meta enough to give us footage of Deadpool killing Ryan Reynolds after just reading the Green Lantern script. Again, lots of blood in this movie. Lots of profanity. You get it.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)

One of the least well-reviewed entries by fans and critics, Dark Phoenix begins in 1975 with a young Jean Grey, whose telekinetic abilities erupt during a fatal car crash that leaves her orphaned. Professor X takes this remarkable child to his school for young mutants, promising to teach her to control her powers. Played by Sophie Turner, Jean later transforms into the Dark Phoenix after being exposed to a mysterious force during a space mission. The X-Men must confront their friend and teammate while also facing a powerful alien race intent on exploiting her powers to conquer Earth.

The New Mutants (2020)

After a near-death experience, Dani Moonstar (Blu Hunt) finds herself in a creepy facility run by Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga). She’s joined by four other teenagers, Sam Guthrie (Charlie Heaton), Illyana Rasputin (Anya Taylor-Joy), Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams), and Roberta da Costa (Henry Zaga), each with their own unique abilities. All of the teens have been brought to the hospital after tragedies caused by their powers, though we’ll say most of those people had it coming. While Dr. Reyes insists she’s keeping them safe until they can control their abilities, the teens begin to suspect that their supposed protector may not be as trustworthy as she seems. 

The New Mutants was directed by Josh Boone from a script by Boone and Knate Lee.

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Directed by Shawn Levy, Deadpool & Wolverine is the most recent addition to the X-Men movie catalogue. Set six years after the events of Deadpool 2, Wade Wilson has abandoned his mercenary lifestyle and is leading a quiet life. That’s all disrupted when the Time Variance Authority recruits him to help safeguard the multiverse. Wade soon realizes that his universe faces a threat due to the death of Wolverine. To rectify this, Wade sets off to find a variant of Wolverine from another universe.