The X-Men films were a unique superhero franchise. They weren't standalone stories focused on a single hero like Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, nor were they a big, interconnected epic like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Instead, they were series between the two dominant styles, focusing on one of Marvel Comics' best-known and beloved superhero films – with inconsistent results.
The X-Men movies were notorious for their inconsistency. They had excellent films like X2: X-Men United and X-Men: Days of Future Past, and then they had films like X-Men Origins: Wolverine or Dark Phoenix. The franchise as a whole, while well-liked, had several aspects that disappointed fans.
10 They Never Explored Their New Future Timeline
One of the X-Men films set in the furthest future was Days of Future Past. It told two parallel storylines. One focused on Wolverine attempting to change history, while the other focused on the last remnants of mutantkind making a final stand against the Sentinels. The film's ending showed a new timeline in the future, one where Xavier's school still stood and many beloved characters were alive again.
The films then never followed up on this timeline. Despite its exciting possibilities, they ignored it in favor of new timeline prequels like X-Men: Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix. The only film set later than it was Logan. That film was ambiguous about its timeline, and was set in a similarly grim future.
9 X-Men Origins: Magneto Got Cancelled
Although he was a frequent villain, Erik 'Magneto' Lehnsheer was a fan-favorite character throughout the X-Men films. He had a sympathetic backstory and goals, a deep and respectful relationship with Charles Xavier, and was portrayed fantastically by both Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender.
X-Men Origins: Magneto was a planned prequel focusing wholly on Magneto. It would have put him first rather than having him share time with an ensemble. The film was hotly-anticipated, but entirely contingent on the success of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Origins: Magneto was unfortunately canceled before it began.
8 The Overall Lack Of Connectedness
The X-Men films did superhero ensembles long before The Avengers, but used very different storytelling to the MCU. The MCU is a continuity-heavy franchise where every film tells a single ongoing story. Although nominally in continuity, the X-Men films told largely-separate stories with the same characters and themes.
This approach worked for many films, but threw up several complications. In particular, X-Men: First Class had many continuity inconsistencies with the other films, necessitating Days of Future Past to try and smooth them over. Furthermore, the second timeline's frequent jumps through time and lack of connection to each other strained the suspension of disbelief for many.
7 The Dark Phoenix Saga Failed Twice
The Dark Phoenix Saga was one of the most iconic Marvel Comics story arcs ever. It pushed the X-Men further than any other event ever had, and was a seminal moment in the characters of Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and more. Unfortunately, two different X-Men movies attempted to bring it to the big screen, and both failed.
X-Men: The Last Stand used parts of the Dark Phoenix Saga, but didn't give it enough of a spotlight in the film, and changed key elements. Dark Phoenix put Jean Grey and the Phoenix at the film's forefront, but failed overall as a movie. Seeing the iconic story fail twice disappointed a great many fans.
6 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Blundered An Easy Premise
Wolverine was the single most prominent character in the X-Men films. So he was the logical choice when the time came to do a prequel origin story. The film had all of the ingredients for success. It would detail Wolverine's war-ridden history, and include fan-favorite characters like Gambit, Sabretooth, and Deadpool.
Both fans and critics then panned the film. Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber's performances as Wolverine and Sabretooth were praised, but they were the only thing. The story was cliched, the film wasted its best characters, and it failed to do anything compelling with a fascinating character.
5 Magneto Never Got A Full Film As A Hero
Magneto appeared as the villain in the original X-Men, and then spent the rest of the franchise occupying different roles. In X2: X-Men United, he formed an alliance with the X-Men before betraying them. In Apocalypse, he became one of Apocalypse's Horsemen before changing sides. In Days of Future Past, he first sided with the heroes in both timelines before betraying them in the past.
Magneto occupied every role, from full-on villain to wary ally, to anti-villain. However, he never got to spend an entire film on the side of good. Days of Future Past hinted at a long-standing alliance between him and Xavier with plenty of stories to tell. However, the audience just got to see him change sides a lot.
4 Apocalypse Stopped The Franchise Having A Single Beloved Trilogy'
The X-Men films' biggest flaw was inconsistency. Some were excellent, some were terrible, and some were mediocre. One result of this inconsistency was that there was no single trilogy where every film was good. The original trilogy suffered with The Last Stand, and Wolverine's trilogy only hit home with Logan.
Fans had high hopes for the first trilogy of prequel films. Both X-Men: First Class and Days of Future Past were beloved, and considered a return to form for the franchise. Then Apocalypse came out. Although it had its good moments, it was ultimately a disappointment. Despite many good films, the franchise couldn't have three consistently-good ones in a row.
3 The Constant Shoehorning Of Wolverine
Wolverine has long been a focal point for the X-Men in comic books and film. The movies made him one of the central characters of X-Men, and then continued to foreground him throughout the franchise. This wasn't a problem in and of itself. The character was well-written, and had excellent casting in Hugh Jackman.
The problem came when movies cast other characters aside for Wolverine or included him just to include him. His brief cameo in X-Men: First Class was considered hilarious. A lengthy forced sequence breaking continuity to have him in Apocalypse was not. Some films felt like Wolverine solo films even when they included other characters, such as The Last Stand.
2 New Mutants Ended The Franchise On A Low Note
Fans considered Dark Phoenix a poor way to end the alternate timeline and cap off the story of the franchise's central characters. However, they still held out hope that the franchise would end on a high note. The New Mutants was the last film released for the franchise. It told an original new story, had horror elements, and starred names like Maisie Williams and Anya Taylor-Joy.
It proved one of the franchise's least-successful movies. Critics and fans panned it for being generic and lacking any tension, and for lack of memorable moments or characters. After the heights of several beloved movies, the franchise ended on a distinct whimper.
1 Constantly Underusing Fan-Favorite Characters
Wolverine was beloved in the X-Men films. So too were Magneto, Professor X, and Mystique. Fans had no problems seeing those characters receive a lot of focus. However, those characters tended to crowd out other, equally well-liked characters – a persistent complaint about the franchise's underuse of its best characters.
An early example was Cyclops, who went from a significant character in X-Men to a bit player in the rest of the franchise. Other examples included Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine; any of the cast of First Class besides Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique; and Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse.