Every X-Men Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Is there a new Mutey MVP?

XMen Movies
Fox

Given the well-publicised issues the X-Men movie franchise has had with its timeline and the perceived diminishing returns of some of the sequels, it's impressive to see how strong the mutant brand is. And as we currently stand on the edge of a precipice in terms of the brand's future, with Disney likely to bring them into the MCU, times may be a-changing for the better again.

Over the past couple of decades, the "awkward allegory for 60s racial tension" to paraphrase Deadpool in his new movie has offered some of the comic book movie genre's greatest ever moments and in a couple of cases some of the very best movies under that umbrella.

We've seen different actors tackle different versions of the same character, veterans like Hugh Jackman make a character their own and a whole new generation of actors emerge as the future of the series, and Fox's plans show no signs of slowing, even with the Disney deal looming.

Now, there's a new, redder, more outrageous MVP of the franchise, happy to take on Wolverine's prestigious position. And he's already stolen a march on his rival by having two solo movies that are both great, so that's one in the eye for old scratchy claws. But how does Deadpool 2 stack up against the rest of the franchise?

11. X-Men Origins: Wolverine

XMen Movies
Fox

No matter how much goodwill there is to Wolverine for teaching the world that there was space for a Ryan Reynolds-shaped Deadpool, there's not a great deal to love about the first (and only) X-Men Origins.

The opening sequence that sees Logan and his newly cast brother (Liev Shreiber, who is mostly as excellent as Reynolds, in all honesty) is great, but pretty much everything else is provocatively bad. There's not even kitsch value (aside from the ludicrous cameo by Kevin Durand's Blob), and pretty much every decision looks like a mistake in retrospect (especially casting Will i.Am and fatally sidelining Gambit).

Yes the Weapon X story was a good foundation, but it didn't go far enough, and the brief sequence in X-Men Apocalypse on the same subject makes this entire film look shoddy by comparison.

Unfortunately for Fox, the film was so badly received it partly killed the potential for the superior sounding X-Men Origins: Magneto. But at least we did get to see part of the Nazi-hunting plot at the start of First Class.

Contributor
Contributor

WhatCulture's former COO, veteran writer and editor.