Every Major Cinematic Universe Ranked From Worst To Best

Trying to make sense of the X-Men timeline is enough to reduce anybody's brain to mush given the sheer volume of retcons, sequels, reboots, origin stories and time-travel fans of the franchise have had to endure over the last eighteen years, and that's without even mentioning Deadpool bringing up the continuity confusion in his own solo movie.

As a whole the series has ranged from the great (X-Men 2) to the very bad (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) but has generally maintained a decent level of quality. However, as Deadpool and Logan have shown, injecting some fresh creative impetus into the formula can yield spectacular results. A fourth-wall breaking meta comic book flick and a violent, Academy Award-nominated neo-Western are not what you would usually associate with one of Hollywood's leading superhero franchises, yet they are easily two of the best movies the entire genre has seen in recent years.

The X-Men franchise operates best when allowed to take risks, something the frequently risk-averse 20th Century Fox would do well to remember. Apocalypse brought the series dangerously close to stagnancy until the one-two combo of Deadpool and Logan saw it roaring back from the brink, something the senior creatives should keep in mind as they plot the next few years of mutant adventures.