As the most popular X-Man of them all, Wolverine was a big part of the X-Men film series, with actor Hugh Jackman becoming the longest-serving actor in the history of superhero movies. While some fans thought the movies focused a bit too much on the character, moviegoers still loved him.
Wolverine would prove to be someone who can tip the scales towards victory in the movies, saving the team on many occasions. The X-Men film series helped kickstart the superhero cinema revolution that continues to this day, with movies starring the clawed Canadian mutant varying wildly in quality.
9 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Was Not A Good Movie At All
X-Men Origins: Wolverine was Wolverine's first solo movie and fans couldn't wait to see it. However, after watching it, most of them had wished they hadn't. Focusing on Wolverine's life as part of Team X, it was not a good movie, even though it often reaches so bad it's good territory. It also almost singlehandedly destroyed Deadpool's movie prospects, with Ryan Reynolds working for years to get the Merc With A Mouth another chance.
The movie tried to tell a compelling Wolverine origin story but failed in just about every way. Jackman and Liev Schrieber were great in the movie, even if it got Wolverine and Sabretooth's familial relationship completely wrong.
8 X-Men 3: The Last Stand Almost Ended The Superhero Genre
X-Men 3: The Last Stand just about killed the X-Men franchise. Its failure, combined with Spider-Man 3's lackluster reviews, almost destroyed superhero movies until Iron Man and The Dark Knight came out and saved the genre. The movie tried to not only cram "The Dark Phoenix Saga" into an hour and forty-four minutes, but also tried to introduce multiple mutants and fit a mutant cure storyline in as well.
A failure at adapting a classic story, it's easily the worst of the X-Men movies. Wolverine is probably one of the best parts of the movie and the last battle was a precursor to the big MCU battles to come.
7 X-Men: Apocalypse Was A Let-Down Compared To The Previous Films In Its Respective Series
X-Men: Apocalypse was a huge disappointment. Coming after the successes of X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days Of Future Past, fans were hoping it would continue the quality of those two movies and do justice to its titular villain, Apocalypse. It did not- it was a bloated mess of a movie, not exactly terrible but not very good either.
However, Wolverine's short appearance in the movie, when Cyclops and Jean Grey find themselves in a Weapon X facility, is worth the price of admission alone. Taking a page from Barry Windsor-Smith's Weapon X, it shows Wolverine escaping the facility in a berzerker rage but sparing Jean and made fans wish they were getting this movie instead of the one they were watching.
6 X-Men: First Class Revitalized The Series
X-Men: First Class was the first X-Men movie after the critical drumming the franchise had taken because of X-Men 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. A lot was riding on the movie and luckily, it delivered, telling the story of the early days of the X-Men and featuring great performances from James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence as Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique respectively.
Wolverine's part in the movie was very short, just part of a recruiting montage, but was among the most memorable parts of the movie, as Logan told Xavier and Magneto what they could do with themselves.
5 The Wolverine Showed Fans What A Good Wolverine Film Looks Like
The Wolverine had a lot riding on it after the failure of the mutant's first solo movie. Spinning out of X-Men 3, it saw a grief-stricken Wolverine, still beating himself up for having to kill Jean Grey, go to Japan, and get embroiled in a complicated caper with the Yashida clan and a figure from his past.
Partly an adaptation of the classic Chris Claremont-Frank Miller mini series, this movie introduced movie goers to a part of Wolverine lore the movies hadn't touched on yet- his love of Japan- and showed his skills as a martial artist. It completely redeemed the character as a solo movie star and showed fans what a good Wolverine movie could be like.
4 X-Men Sparked The Movie-Fandom's Love For Wolverine
It's safe to say that without 2000's X-Men, superhero movies wouldn't be nearly as big as they are now. The failure of multiple comic movies in the '90s almost killed the genre but the success of Blade kickstarted the whole thing, with this movie's massive success playing a huge part in showing studios just how lucrative the genre could be.
Focusing on Wolverine and Rogue joining the X-Men, fans loved Hugh Jackman's portrayal of the character right off the bat. While the story doesn't stand up very well today, it's still a great movie, with character-defining performances from Jackman, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Sir Ian McKellen.
3 X-Men: Days Of Future Past Changed The Source Material For The Better
After X-Men 3: The Last Stand completely botched its adaptation of "The Dark Phoenix Saga", fans were leery of X-Men: Days Of Future Past. X-Men: First Class and the new cast was a hit, but fans were justifiably worried. However, fan worries were proven wrong as this movie delivered the goods and became one of the best X-Men movies of them all.
While the comics used Kitty Pryde as the character sent back in time, this one subbed her with Wolverine, as he was the more popular character. While the movie took other liberties with the classic story, it was still very good and Wolverine was one of the highlights of the movie.
2 X2: X-Men United Does A Good Job Exploring The Idea Of Mutants Being A Hunted And Hated Minority In The World Of The Film
For a long time, X2: X-Men United was considered one of the best superheroes movies of all time, and for good reason. While it was a rather unfaithful adaptation of the Chris Claremont and Brad Anderson classic X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills, the story was still very well done, playing up the metaphor of mutants as a hunted and hated minority.
Again, Wolverine was a huge part of the movie but he was almost upstaged by the introduction of Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler, whose debut action scene still holds up all these years later. The movie did an amazing job of world-building and told a great story, full of wonderful performances and pulse-pounding action.
1 Logan Was An Instant Fan-Favourite Upon Release
Logan is widely considered to be the best superhero movie ever. A meditation on family and death, it showcases Hugh Jackman's best performance as Wolverine, a truly Oscar worthy performance that doesn't get enough credit for just how good it is. It's a nearly perfect movie, a hybrid Western/superhero drama that's unlike anything before it or since.
Looking at Wolverine at the end of his life, most of his friends dead, caring for a mentally ailing Professor X and trying to keep a little girl safe, it's the most Wolverine story ever told on the big screen, really getting into the pathos of the character and showing just how far he'll go to protect those he loves and the innocent.