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This article was co-authored by Trash Pickins and by wikiHow staff writer, Devin McSween. Trash Pickins is a media critique YouTube channel and content studio, known for its cultural commentary, deep dives, and balanced takes on pop culture’s wildest trends, most viral moments, and trashy media. Trash Pickins specializes in viral internet trends, movie and TV reviews, and meme culture. The creative minds behind Trash Pickins are Lisa, Sara, and Frank. Lisa is a professional writer and has a PhD in Communication from UC Santa Barbara. She focuses on media literacy, critical analysis, intersectional critique, and reality TV. Sara is a professional artist and video producer, and received a degree in fine art and animation. She specializes in internet trends, focusing on memes, online debates, and influencer news. Frank is an entrepreneur and has a degree in computer science; he specializes in nerd culture, fantasy, sci-fi, and anything featuring birds.
There are 18 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.
This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.
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Over the span of 24 years, there have been 14 films released as part of the X-Men series, including spin-offs about Wolverine, Deadpool, and the New Mutants. If you’re curious how to watch them all in order—whether you’ve never seen them, you’re due for a rewatch, or you’re prepping for Avengers: Doomsday—we’re here to help! We partnered with pop culture and media analysts to help us put together this guide on watch orders. For first-time watchers, we highly recommend following the release order, but if you’re rewatching, we’ll explain how to check out the movies by the timeline they’re set in or by the chronological year they’re set in.
What is the best way to watch the X-Men movies?
Pop culture and media analysts Trash Pickins suggest this order for the best emotional impact: original X-Men trilogy, Wolverine spin-offs, First Class, Deadpool, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, Dark Phoenix, New Mutants, Logan, and Deadpool & Wolverine. Other great watch orders include:
- Release order: Best for new watchers. Start with X-Men (2000) and end with Deadpool & Wolverine (2024).
- Timeline order: Best for streamlining the various timelines. Watch the original timeline (First Class to DoFP) then the reboot timeline (starting with Apocalypse).
- Chronological order: Best for repeat watchers who want to follow the years the movies are set in, in-universe.
Steps
Chronological Watch Order
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X-Men: First Class First Class has the earliest, consistently held timeline of all the X-Men movies. Plus, it details the creation of the X-Men and the beginnings of the complex relationship between Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr) and Professor X (Charles Xavier), so it’s just a natural place to start! Most of the events of the movie take place during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.[2]- Time period: 1962 (some flashbacks to 1944)
This watch order follows the years the movies are set in, in-universe. It doesn’t account for the timeline reboots, which makes it full of narrative inconsistencies that can make it very confusing for first-time watchers (plus, it contains spoilers)! We recommend watching the release order before trying this order.
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X-Men: Days of Future Past Days of Future Past is a hard movie to place chronologically, as the entire plot involves time travel from the future to the past and ultimately ends in a timeline reboot. While the movie starts in 2023, we decided to place it second in the watch order since most of the movie takes place in 1973.[3]- Time period: 1973 and 2023 (separate timelines), but the bulk of the movie is in the early 1970s
- Note: Since part of Days of Future Past does take place in 2023, feel free to watch it later if you prefer—it slots in nicely after Deadpool 2. Plus, it will have more of an emotional impact since it features characters from the original X-Men movies and the reboot.
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine As the movie title suggests, X-Men Origins: Wolverine follows the origin story of Wolverine, which mostly focuses on his run-ins with William Stryker in the late 1970s. Technically, the beginning of the film shows a young Wolverine in 1845 and goes over his involvement in the Civil War, World Wars, and Vietnam War, but these scenes are brief.[4]- Time period: 1979 (some flashbacks to the 1840s, 1920s, 1940s, and 1960s)
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X-Men: Apocalypse Apocalypse follows the young X-Men cast as they battle the titular villain, Apocalypse (aka En Sabah Nur). There’s a brief scene showing Apocalypse’s rule in Egypt in 3600 BCE, but the rest of the movie takes place in 1983.[5]- Time period: 1983 (some flashbacks to 3000 BCE)
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X-Men: Dark Phoenix Dark Phoenix is a sequel to Apocalypse, so it naturally follows in the chronological timeline. It adapts the famous Dark Phoenix Saga from the comics and serves as an origin story for Jean Grey. There’s a brief flashback to her childhood in the 1970s, but besides that, this is a pure 90s movie.[6]- Time period: 1992 (some flashbacks to 1975)
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X-Men This is the first X-Men movie that started the whole franchise! The movie was released in 2000 and takes place in the “present day,” so we can assume that it’s set in the 2000s, too. It involves a fight between Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants and the X-Men after the US government attempts to force mutants to register their identities.[7]- Time period: Early 2000s (with a flashback to 1944)
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X2: X-Men United X2 is a direct sequel to X-Men and follows the movie chronologically. While there’s not an explicit date given, it’s set a few months after the events of the previous movie, so it takes place in the 2000s, too. The movie sees the return of William Stryker and involves a plot to take down all the mutants (which naturally, the X-Men have to stop).[8]- Time period: Early 2000s
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X-Men: The Last Stand The Last Stand is a direct sequel to X2, so it’s naturally next in chronological order. It’s technically the first movie to adapt the Dark Phoenix Saga, but it’s the second to feature Jean Grey’s storyline about the cosmic entity in this watch order. You can decide which movie did it better, as most people have strong opinions about this![9]- Time period: Early 2000s (with a flashback to 1986 and the 1990s)
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The Wolverine The Wolverine serves as a sort of sequel to The Last Stand, as it directly follows the events of the previous movie and involves how the aftermath affects Wolverine. It’s another movie set in the “present day,” so since it came out in 2013, we can infer that it takes place in the 2010s.[10]- Time period: 2010s (with a flashback to 1945)
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Deadpool Deadpool is a spin-off of the X-Men series, and while it doesn’t take place in the main timeline, it is set in the same universe. It features several X-Men characters and, of course, involves Deadpool making many fourth-wall-breaking jokes about the previous X-Men movies. The movie doesn’t make any direct references to the year, so we’re assuming it takes place around the time it was released, in 2016.[11]- Time period: 2010s (likely 2016)
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Deadpool 2 As the sequel to Deadpool, Deadpool 2 is the natural movie to follow next in the chronological timeline. It’s set a few years after the first movie, so it likely takes place in the late 2010s, too. It once again makes funny references to previous movies and even features some cameos of the young X-Men cast![12]- Time period: 2010s (likely 2018)
- Warning: Deadpool 2 features a pretty big spoiler about Logan. So once again, if you haven’t seen the X-Men movies before, we highly suggest you watch the release order before checking out this watch order (or, at the very least, watch the Deadpool movies after you watch Logan).
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The New Mutants The New Mutants is another spin-off of the X-Men main series and is pretty much a standalone film, but it does build on some easter eggs laid in Apocalypse, Logan, and Deadpool 2. Supposedly, sequel films were planned to further tie it to Logan, but those were scrapped. So, it’s safe to place it here, right before watching Logan.[13]- Time period: 2020
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Deadpool & Wolverine Deadpool & Wolverine is another weird movie to place chronologically, as it involves multiverse shenanigans and variants of lots of different characters (with very fun cameos). The plot kicks off after the events of Logan, but due to the canonical years these movies take place in, technically, this movie is set first. It’s a little confusing for sure, but that’s just part of the fun when you’re dealing with various timelines![14]- Time period: 2024
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Logan Logan is firmly set in 2029, making it the last movie to watch in chronological order. Plus, it’s probably the most emotionally impactful movie in the X-Men series, which makes it a great film to end on. It’s another Wolverine-centric story that features an aged Wolverine, an ailing Professor X, and mutants on the brink of extinction.[15]- Time period: 2029
Expert Q&A
Video
Tips
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If you still want more X-Men content, definitely check out X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997) and the revival, X-Men ‘97 (2024)!Thanks
References
- ↑ https://xmenmovies.fandom.com/wiki/X-Men:_Days_of_Future_Past
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270798/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877832/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458525/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3385516/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6565702/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120903/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0290334/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376994/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376994/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1431045/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5463162/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4682266/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6263850/
- ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3315342
- ↑ https://xmenmovies.fandom.com/wiki/X-Men_Movies_Wiki
- ↑ Trash Pickins. Pop Culture and Media Analysts. Expert Interview
- ↑ Trash Pickins. Pop Culture and Media Analysts. Expert Interview
- ↑ Trash Pickins. Pop Culture and Media Analysts. Expert Interview
- ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/avengers-doomsday-cast-announced-1236172556/
- ↑ https://www.ign.com/articles/upcoming-new-next-marvel-movies-2026-tv-shows-release-dates
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