9 Origin Movies That Actually Worked

9. X-Men: First Class

After The Last Stand slightly derailed the X-Men franchise and X-Men Origins: Wolverine tried its damnedest to bury it completely, Fox decided to follow their own threads backwards to the formative days of Professor X's metahuman team.

The delightfully nostalgic period piece introduces us to Xavier and Magneto as young men, filling in gaps about their backstories that were seeded in Singer's trilogy (like Erik's time in a Nazi concentration camp). Crucially, the film adds substance to already iconic characters, justifying the whole endeavour with strong story, great conflict and excellent performances by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender.

There's no attempt to step on the toes of the other versions of the characters - or to ape them - and it pays off wonderfully. And in combination with a compelling narrative, a great villain in Kevin Bacon's Sebastian Shaw it's a truly great blend.