Every X-Men Movie Ranked, From Worst to Best

“Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet.”

Thus begins the very first X-Men movie from the year 2000. Nearly a quarter century later, the big-screen X-Men saga stands as one of the most important superhero franchises in history. Along with Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, it was one of two massive comic-book-inspired hits that made Hollywood finally take notice of Marvel’s blockbuster potential.

Those films were crucial in getting Marvel into the movie business itself, and in helping to inspire their Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney bought Marvel in 2009, and then a few years ago, they bought Fox too, bringing the X-Men under the company’s control. Now two of Fox’s biggest X-Men stars, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, are officially in the MCU, thanks to Deadpool & Wolverine.

In other words, this franchise about mutation has undergone quite a bit of mutating itself through the years, from a humble underdog one-off about a bunch of spunky superheroes in black leather to a multipronged universe with spinoffs, prequels, solo projects, and sequels, to Marvel’s biggest summer tentpole in years. And that’s before Marvel has made a full-fledged X-Men movie of its own!

Here’s ScreenCrush’s list of all of those movies, from the very first X-Men all the way to Deadpool & Wolverine, with every X-related movie in between, ranked from worst to best.

READ MORE: The Most Dated Parts of the First X-Men Movie