The X-Men franchise has been a thriving film universe since 2000. The series helped to set the standard for what an interconnected superhero franchise should look like, influencing many other superhero films and TV shows in the 21st century. Although not every film in the series has been met with financial and critical success, each X-Men movie consistently generated hype and gave fans something to look forward to.

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With the characters now in Disney's hands, fans are interested to see how the MCU will incorporate the X-Men. Whether this version of the X-Men crosses over with the MCU or the MCU decides to recast them, the iconic comic book characters will soon be back on the big screen.

13 The New Mutants Was The Final Film In The Series - 5.3

The New Mutants X-Men

The most recent entry in the X-Men franchise is also its lowest-rated film. The New Mutants was released in 2020 and is the lowest-grossing movie in the franchise, earning less than $50 million. While still a superhero film, The New Mutants includes several elements of the horror genre.

The movie remained mostly separate from the other X-Men films, focusing on a group of young mutants being held against their will at a hospital. They eventually escape at the end of the film, hoping to find a purpose in the world.

12 Dark Phoenix Ended The Prequel Series - 5.7

The Dark Phoenix Cast

Released in 2019, Dark Phoenix finished the story of the X-Men's earlier days. Dark Phoenix attempts to once again adapt the classic X-Men story, "The Dark Phoenix Saga." Jessica Chastain plays the villain known as Vuk, a D'Bari alien searching for Jean Grey. Jean is gradually taken over by the Phoenix Force and accidentally kills Raven.

Professor X leaves the school at the end of the movie, but his complicated friendship with Magneto continues. The film was met with mostly negative reviews and made just over $250 million.

11 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Was Logan's First Solo Film - 6.6

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After the release of the original trilogy, a solo film based on Wolverine's backstory was made in 2009. The movie showed how Logan got his adamantium claws and explored his relationship with his brother, Victor Creed. The ending of X-Men Origins: Wolverine sees William Stryker shooting Logan in the head with an adamantium bullet, causing Wolverine to lose his memories.

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine had a box office total of nearly $400 million on a budget of $150 million. The film also marks Ryan Reynolds' first appearance as the character of Deadpool.

10 X-Men: The Last Stand Concluded The Original Trilogy - 6.7

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After her death at the end of X2: X-Men United, Jean Grey returned thanks to her Phoenix Force. Throughout the film, Jean ends up killing Scott Summers (aka Cyclops) and Charles Xavier (aka Professor X), two of the most popular members of the X-Men.

The final moments of the film show Wolverine being forced to kill Jean, who is using her powers to destroy everyone and everything in her vicinity. X-Men: The Last Stand brought in over $450 million, becoming the highest-grossing of any of the original trilogy films.

9 The Wolverine Saw Logan Travel To Japan - 6.7

Logan In The Wolverine 2013

The 2013 film gave Wolverine his second solo adventure. A flashback scene at the beginning of the film showed how Logan saved a man from the explosion of an atomic bomb in Nagasaki during World War II.

Several years later, the man Wolverine saved, Yashida, invited Logan to visit him in Japan. It is later revealed that Yashida only wishes to steal Wolverine's powers in order to become immortal, but Logan puts an end to Yashida's plans. After the film ends, a mid-credits scene sets up the next movie in the series, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

X-Men: Apocalypse Movie

As a follow-up to X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse takes place in 1983 and features the younger iterations of the Marvel Comics team. X-Men: Apocalypse also featured the introduction of the younger versions of Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey, in addition to the death of Alex Summers, aka Havok.

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Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse serves as the villain of the film, alongside his Four Horsemen, made up of Psylocke, Angel, Storm, and Magneto. While it was met with mixed reviews, X-Men: Apocalypse ended up making over $500 million at the box office.

7 X-Men Started The Franchise On A High Note - 7.4

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Released in 2000, X-Men launched one of the most successful franchises in history. Not only was the movie well received by fans and critics, but it also proved that a superhero movie could be financially prosperous. Many other superhero franchises that followed owe much of their success to this film, such as the MCU and the DCEU.

X-Men also introduced some of the most iconic big-screen superheroes and supervillains, like Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, Patrick Stewart's Professor X, and Ian McKellen's Magneto. Needless to say, the film that started it all left fans wanting more.

6 X2: X-Men United Continued The Success Of The Original - 7.4

Wolverine brandishes his claws against numerous soldiers in X2: X-Men United.

The success of the first film prompted the studio to make a sequel. Releasing in 2003, X2 proved to be even more successful than its predecessor, making over $400 million at the global box office.

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The movie featured the film debut of Nightcrawler, a fan-favorite member of the X-Men, and Colonel William Stryker, the man responsible for Wolverine's adamantium claws and memory loss. The film ends with the emotional death of Jean Grey, who is revived in the following film, X-Men: The Last Stand.

5 Deadpool 2 Brought In Josh Brolin's Cable - 7.7

Cable holding Deadpool in his arms

After the first film became a massive hit, Fox decided to make Deadpool 2, which was released in 2018. The movie also featured Josh Brolin's Cable, a soldier from the future attempting to kill a young mutant named Russell Collins, aka Firefist, who was responsible for the murder of Cable's family.

It also featured several cameos of previously established X-Men characters, including Professor X, Quicksilver, and Storm, among others. Deadpool 2 made even more at the global box office than Deadpool and was the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, until the release of Joker in 2019.

4 X-Men: First Class Introduced Younger Versions Of The X-Men - 7.7

First Class Wolverine

X-Men: First Class tells the origin story of the X-Men and its members. The film takes place in the midst of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and shows how Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr met for the first time.

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X:Men: First Class helped to rejuvenate the series and launched 3 prequel-based sequels, including X-Men: Days of Future PastX-Men: Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix. Hugh Jackman's Wolverine makes a small cameo in which he refuses to join the team being formed by Professor X and Magneto.

3 X-Men: Days Of Future Past Combined The Casts Of The Originals & Prequels - 7.9

X-Men DOFP Movie

Released in 2014, X-Men: Days of Future Past acts as the sequel to X-Men: First Class. The film sees the X-Men sending Wolverine back in time to stop Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask. Trask's death caused dangerous robots called Sentinels to rise to power and eliminate most of the mutant population in the future.

Wolverine teams up with the younger versions of the X-Men, like Professor X, Magneto, Quicksilver, and Beast, to accomplish this goal. The X-Men finally succeed and are able to stop the dystopian future from ever happening.

2 Deadpool Gave Ryan Reynolds A Second Chance At Playing The Character - 8.0

Deadpool touching his lips

After his brief appearance as the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds returned for his own film in 2016. The film was a surprise success, both critically and commercially. Reynolds' Deadpool teams up with the X-Men's Colossus and faces the villainous Ajax, an individual with powers similar to Deadpool's.

The movie offered fans a superhero film with a more comedic tone while still including many of the same elements from a typical X-Men movie. Deadpool became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time until its sequel, Deadpool 2, surpassed it.

1 Logan Was Hugh Jackman's Final Performance As Wolverine - 8.1

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The highest-rated movie in the series was Hugh Jackman's last film in the series, however, Hugh Jackman did make cameos in other future X-Men movies afterward via archive footage. Taking place in 2029, the film follows Logan attempting to fight off villains while protecting his newly discovered biological daughter, Laura.

The film also features an elderly Professor X, who is killed by X-24, an evil clone of Wolverine. Logan ended with Wolverine sacrificing his life to save his daughter. Fans of the X-Men series most likely found this film to be a quite emotional conclusion to Logan's story.

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