X-Men - Cineverse

Ahhh, the X-Men, one of the best franchises ever created (in my opinion). But yeah… it can get pretty confusing. So let me try to break it down for you.

I’ll explain everything first, and then give you the watchlist. Just a heads up: this explanation contains spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the movies yet, you might want to skip straight to the list.

We start with X-Men: First Class, where we see the formation of the mutant group that will eventually become the beloved X-Men. In this movie, they go from working together to turning against each other, and it ends with Erik (aka Magneto) leaving Charles and taking Mystique and a few others with him.

Next is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which dives into Logan’s backstory, how he got his metal claws and how he became the Wolverine we know.

Now, you don’t have to do this, but I’d recommend watching X-Men: The Animated Series (seasons 1–5) here. It doesn’t perfectly line up with the movies, but if you’re going to watch it somewhere in between, this is a good spot. You can also watch it before or after everything else, it’s totally up to you.

X-Men ‘97 continues right where the animated series left off.

After that, it’s time for the original X-Men trilogy (yay): X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Then comes The Wolverine, which is set after The Last Stand. Logan is still dealing with the aftermath of Jean Grey’s death, and we follow him on a journey to Japan to say a final “goodbye” (wink wink).

Now… this is where things get a bit tricky but it does make sense, I promise.

Next up is X-Men: Days of Future Past. It starts in a dark future (2023), where mutants are being hunted and killed by Sentinels. Basically, everything is terrible. Wolverine is sent back in time to 1973 (11 years after the events of “First Class”) to change the past and prevent this future from happening. He teams up with a younger Professor X and Beast to fix things. This movie is very iconic because it brings together both the younger and older versions of the characters. In the end, they save the day and the timeline is changed, meaning Logan remembers the original events, but no one else does. Logan teaches history in this new future, but asks Charles’ help, since he wasn’t really there for the history that he has to teach.

Because of that, the next movies take place in this new timeline. Only First Class, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the past scenes from Days of Future Past have happened here. The original trilogy hasn’t happened in this version of events, so it’s basically a fresh start (with a few plot holes you’ll just have to ignore). I like to think these movies are Charles telling Logan what happened in the last couple of decades.

Next is X-Men: Apocalypse (set in 1983), where we meet younger versions of characters like Jean, Scott, and Nightcrawler. It also introduces Apocalypse, played by Oscar Isaac (who also plays another Marvel character that is deeply rooted in Egyptian mythology: Moon Knight).

Then comes X-Men: Dark Phoenix, where Jean Grey transforms into the Dark Phoenix and the team tries to stop her. I say I hate this movie… but honestly, I’m just still not over what happens to Mystique. It’s actually pretty good.

After that, it’s time for chaos: Deadpool and Deadpool 2. Just sit back and let Ryan Reynolds do his thing. Then there’s Once Upon a Deadpool, a more family-friendly version of Deadpool 2 with a fun Princess Bride-style twist. And finally, the short Deadpool: No Good Deed.

Next up is The New Mutants, which is generally considered to take place in the original timeline after Days of Future Past.

Then we have The Gifted, which is set in an alternate timeline where both the X-Men and the Brotherhood have mysteriously disappeared.

To wrap things up, you watch Logan where, yes, Logan dies. And then Deadpool & Wolverine… where he’s suddenly alive again. Don’t worry, it’s not a mistake, the movie explains that this is a different version of Logan, and even references the original’s death.

Okay… after all that, you’re probably a bit confused, right? Don’t worry, that’s exactly why the list below exists 🙂