The X-Men series has been going on for nearly two decades now. Some of the films fell flat story-wise, while others really changed the game for the superhero genre. So which ones are total failures, as opposed to the others that shined in the franchise? Here are all of the X-Men movies ranked from worst to best.
9. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine attempts to go into the origin story of Wolverine, but it was redundant since it was already covered in the previous movies. It notoriously ruined Deadpool, and a bunch of other characters we never see again. This movie could easily be skipped without X-Men fans missing a single thing.
8. The Wolverine
The Wolverine takes on Japan, which leads to fights with ninjas. Once again the character gets his own movie, but he isn’t the most interesting character of the franchise, so his success in a standalone movie can only go so far. The story itself isn’t that compelling, but it’s action sequences are entertaining enough.
7. X-Men: The Last Stand
A cure ends up threatening mutants and raising the stakes in the war for their freedom. The story has great potential and shows what team Professor X and Magneto will do to save the world. But the downfall in X-Men: The Last Stand is that it kills off very important main characters. Also, the movie falls flat due to director Bryan Singer‘s absence.
6. X-Men: First Class
After The Last Stand, the series gets the reboot it needed with this prequel. X-Men: First Class is great because it tells the backstory of our beloved Magneto and Xavier. If you love those characters, then the story will most likely pull at your heart strings and get you ready for the future movies. It also introduces the younger versions of the original cast. Besides the misstep in casting some of the characters, it was a much needed breath of fresh air.
5. X-Men: Apocalypse
The newest installment really shows the first class coming into their own. Faced with their first mission, they start forming important relationships and trusting their powers. X-Men: Apocalypse also tries to give the audience a deeper message about humanity, but that message and Apocalypse’s goal isn’t fully formed. Because the movie tried to pack so many origin stories the it’s a bit too “overstuffed,” for avid X-Men fans.
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past
Wolverine goes back in time to prevent destruction caused by The Sentinels. What makes X-Men: Days of Future Past so good is that it blends the original trilogy with new story-lines. The movie sort of throws the continuity out of wack due to time travel, but it is a way for Bryan Singer to wash away old mistakes. The X-Men are also fighting for equality in a meaningful way.
3. Deadpool
The R-rated movie is pretty fresh in everyone’s minds, so the hype is still there. The story itself is quite simple and isn’t really revolutionary. Since it’s the first movie to focus on the character, it was also very limited in the X-Men characters it could include. However, Deadpool relaunched the character in a perfect way to respect the comics, and is probably the most fun installment. It also helped assure the movie studio to push the envelope with their films, because it was so successful despite the R-rating.
2. X-Men 2
X2: X-Men United has the greatest opening scene of the trilogy with Nightcrawler trying to assassinate the President. It’s also the first time we see Magneto and Professor X partner up as a team. The movie is at the top of the list given the fact that it provides backstory to Wolverine, and has deeper themes that make it much more than an action movie.
1. X-Men
X-Men is often forgotten but it was so great because it was a completely original story that wasn’t taken from the comics. It also got the ball rolling for the franchise and set traditions like the Stan Lee cameo. It’s not perfect, especially with Halle Berry‘s terrible accent. But it’s a great story and it set a great standard for future movies.
