X-Men fans unite! Ever since Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019, Marvel Studios has gained characters that could finally be seen battling alongside The Avengers. With the live-action X-Men slowly making their way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we assembled a Deadpool & Wolverine watch order guide so you’re caught up, refreshed, and prepared before diving into the highly-anticipated, R-rated action-adventure film on July 26.
X-Men Movies by Release Date
The Original ‘X-Men’ Trilogy
Starting our Deadpool & Wolverine watch order are the first three live-action X-Men films. X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) are essential viewing, as these films are what initially introduced audiences to Hugh Jackman‘s Wolverine.
From the X-Men’s constant encounters with Magneto (Ian McKellen) to witnessing their own Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) embody the Phoenix Force, the trilogy plays out the many battles the X-Men will go through together, just as they did in the comics.
Wolverine is a major factor in this trilogy, so the storylines from these films are crucial to understanding the character arc that ultimately connects to his future stories, including the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine. If you’re starting your X-Men journey or rewatch, this trilogy is a must-have on your list!
‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ (2009)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine might be the most controversial film on this list because you either really love it or hate it. Regardless, it’s important in this Deadpool & Wolverine watch order, since it’s the first film that brought together Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds‘ Deadpool.
As the title indicates, this film is the origin story of how Logan Howlett became known as the X-Men hero, Wolverine. I’d get into plot details, but it’s best if watched for the context of where Logan is from, how his mutant powers are activated, and what led to him getting his infamous Adamantium claws.
There are also a few Marvel characters introduced, including Remy LeBeau/Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), Fred Dukes/The Blob (Kevin Durand), and of course, Ryan Reynolds’ infamous appearance as Wade Wilson/Deadpool. Reynolds would go on to make fun of this version of his character in his standalone Deadpool films. All in all, this X-Men: Origins film is worth watching to witness a glimpse of the classic Deadpool and Wolverine banter performed hilariously by Jackman and Reynolds.
‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)
Similar to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class focuses on the origins of a few headlining X-Men characters. Matthew Vaughn took the director’s chair for this X-Men prequel film after the now-disgraced Bryan Singer, who directed the first three X-Men films, took a step back to produce; Singer later came back to direct X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.
Set during the early 1960s, X-Men: First Class presents Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender) before they took on the mantles of Professor X and Magneto, forming a group of mutants, including Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and Raven Darkhölme/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) to save a world on the cusp of a nuclear war. This situation leads to the classic ongoing rivalry between Charles and Erik explored throughout the X-Men franchise and other X-Men media.
One of the most notable reasons this film connects to Deadpool & Wolverine is the appearance of the mutant Azazel (Jason Flemyng) in the official trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine, which hints that the new flick won’t shy away from bringing back variants of different X-Men heroes and villains.
‘The Wolverine’ (2013)
At this point, it’s clear that 20th Century Fox promptly wanted more films centered on Wolverine as he became the most popular X-Men character from the original trilogy. This led to James Mangold taking a shot at directing a new Wolverine film focused on Logan’s time in Japan.
The Wolverine follows Logan after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, as he struggles to overcome the guilt of losing his fellow X-Men member and true love, Jean Grey. He encounters old acquaintances from his past, leading him to a modern-day battle in Japan against samurai that tests his immortality and limits as a hero.
Exploring a more violent version of the character allowed Jackman to play Wolverine differently than in the previous X-Men films. Moreover, the character Yukio appears played by a different actor than Deadpool 2. Much like Jason Flemyng’s return as Azazel, there’s a possibility that Rila Fukushima could return as her Yukio, possibly meeting up with Shioli Kutsuna‘s Yukio from the Deadpool films.
‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014)
X-Men: Days of Future Past allows Wolverine to once again take the lead alongside the X-Men to save the world. One of the most well-received and regarded X-Men properties, the concept of Days of Future Past involves… you guessed it, time travel!
The film opens in a dystopian world, where the X-Men and their fellow mutants face extinction. This is caused by Dr. Bolivar Trask’s (Peter Dinklage) creation of Sentinels — killer robots made to detect and terminate mutants. With the mutants’ present day at stake, Wolverine volunteers to go back in time and assemble the X-Men of the past to change history and prevent a pivotal moment from happening for the future of both mutants and humans.
This film brings back the cast of the 2000s and 2010s X-Men films, including Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy as Professor X and Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender as Magneto. It’s worth noting Evan Peters appeared as Quicksilver in Days of Future Past, so fans were excited when he was revealed to be in WandaVision — though he turned out to be Westview resident Ralph Bohner (the jury’s still out on this).
Because of Marvel’s rules on variants, it’s possible that any of the Fox Universe actors could appear in Deadpool & Wolverine as alternative versions of their respective characters or new ones from different universes.
‘Deadpool’ (2016)
At last, we’ve reached a film that doesn’t involve Wolverine (it only mentions someone who rhymes with Polverine), but instead, a cheeky, swears-like-a-sailor mutant named Deadpool. With an R-rated origin story separate from the main X-Men characters, the film was refreshing to see during a time of continuous superhero storytelling.
Deadpool follows Wade Wilson (Reynolds), a former Special Forces operative turned mercenary, who gets offered to undergo a brutal experiment to help cure his cancer. The experiment not only leaves him with accelerated healing powers but also a scarred physical appearance. Deadpool, using his newfound abilities and sick humor, goes on a revenge mission to hunt down the man who almost destroyed his life.
Coming off his horrific run as the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Reynolds attempted a bold approach in this solo film which paid off, as both Deadpool and its sequel became two of the highest-grossing R-rated films of all time. This movie is worth watching for Deadpool’s unhinged, fourth-wall-breaking humor, which viewers should be familiar with by the time they see the team-up film this summer.
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ (2016)
2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse brings back the younger version of the X-Men as they go against one of their biggest foes in Marvel Comics: Apocalypse. The film explores the awakening of En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), the world’s first and most dangerous mutant, who upon discovering the world is controlled by humans, intends to erase everything from existence.
In another mission to save humanity, Professor X (McAvoy) leads the young X-Men to stop this powerful enemy from destroying the fate of the world. With the MCU exploring the concept of multiversal variants from alternate timelines, characters including Ororo Munroe/Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Scott Summers/Cyclops (Ty Sheridan), and Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) were portrayed before by different actors in the X-Men films. This concept could be addressed if Deadpool & Wolverine more deeply fleshes out the concept of the multiverse.
‘Logan’ (2017)
Playing Wolverine for over two decades earned Hugh Jackman the Guinness World Record for “the longest career as a live-action Marvel superhero.” Logan was meant to be the final film that Jackman would appear as the character, yet he’s back once more in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Based on the “Old Man Logan” comics, Logan takes place in the distant future of 2029 and in a world where the X-Men are dead. Our titular hero, now more aged up, lives with Professor X (Stewart) in a remote area near the United States-Mexico border. While wanting to hide from the outside world, Logan meets a young mutant named Laura (Dafne Keen) who he finds to be just like him. Due to the nature of Laura’s arrival, Logan must protect her and fight those who are on the hunt to capture her.
In the September 2022 announcement video of Jackman’s return, Ryan Reynolds and Jackman stated that Deadpool & Wolverine won’t touch the events that happened in Logan. The film itself serves as the conclusion and celebration of Jackman’s legacy as Wolverine.
‘Deadpool 2’ (2018)
While Deadpool focuses on the origins of the character, Deadpool 2 embraces the concept of a found family. The sequel to Deadpool also contains an element that this X-Men universe knows all too well, and it’s something relevant to have in mind leading up to the events in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool 2 centers on the foul-mouthed mercenary Wade Wilson meeting a stubborn, teenage mutant named Russell (Julian Dennison). As a result of his reckless behavior, Russell becomes the target of Cable (Josh Brolin), a dangerous time-traveling cyborg from the future who’s on a mission to assassinate the mutant. Realizing this, Deadpool forms a group of mutants, including Domino (Zazie Beetz), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), and Bedlam (Terry Crews) to protect Russell from Cable.
The element that this X-Men universe is familiar with is time travel. During the Deadpool 2 end-credits sequences set to Cher‘s “If I Could Turn Back Time,” we find Wade using Cable’s time-traveling device to go back in time to save Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) from a heartbreaking situation.
Using the MCU’s multiverse logic, Wade going back in time to pivotal moments could possibly have caused a branch in the Sacred Timeline. The Deadpool & Wolverine trailers showcase the TVA (Time Variance Authority) from the Loki series taking Wade away to have him join the MCU. This is similar to how Loki, who escaped with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame, was apprehended by the TVA for disrupting the flow of the timeline.
‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ (2019)
Despite having done a modified version of the “Dark Phoenix Saga” storyline in X-Men: The Last Stand, director Simon Kinberg wanted to return to the story once more, but this time with the younger version of the original X-Men who were introduced in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Apocalypse. Unfortunately, the film wasn’t received very well by critics due to its forgettable storyline and misuse of its characters.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix puts the X-Men in a catastrophic situation: having to face one of their own. During a rescue mission in space, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is hit and nearly killed by a cosmic force, transforming her into the powerful mutant Phoenix. While battling with this new powerful force along with her inner turmoil, Jean goes out of control, leaving the X-Men to save her and fight aliens who want Jean’s new abilities to take control of the universe.
With the wreckage of the 20th Century Fox logo appearing in the background of Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s safe to assume that this film will likely be brought up when Deadpool and Wolverine make their transition into the MCU, especially since Wolverine’s love interest is center stage in Dark Phoenix.
‘The New Mutants’ (2020)
The New Mutants went on a rollercoaster of events before the film was finally released. From the Disney-Fox acquisition to multiple release date changes, the best thing the movie managed to do was introduce audiences to a lesser-known batch of heroes.
The horror-thriller introduces five teenage mutants: Danielle Moonstar/Mirage (Blu Hunt), Rahne Sinclair/Wolfbane (Maisie Williams), Sam Guthrie/Cannonball (Charlie Heaton), Roberto da Costa/Sunspot (Henry Zaga), and Illyana Rasputin/Magik (Anya Taylor-Joy), who undergo treatments at a secret facility to cure them of their dangerous mutant abilities.
When they’re asked by Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga) to share how their powers manifested, the five learn that they’re part of a class of people who have been historically marginalized and feared by society. As they grow to learn who they really are, they start to question the reasons why they’re being held in this terrifying reality.
If there’s one element to look out for when watching The New Mutants before Deadpool & Wolverine, it’s the commonality of how these five mutants like Deadpool and Wolverine have been experimented on by secret institutions. In addition, the beyond-failed production of this film as stated above, is likely to be mentioned in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Deadpool & Wolverine might comment on the similar nature of the experimentation these mutants and Wade received, but if there’s one thing to listen for it’s the beyond-troubled production of The New Mutants.
‘Loki’ (2021)
There’s one TV series in particular that you must watch before Deadpool & Wolverine: Loki. Given the TVA’s prominence in the plot of Deadpool & Wolverine, watching Loki can help bring context to the role of the organization in the MCU.
Matthew Macfadyen appears in the Deadpool & Wolverine trailers as Paradox, a TVA representative who recruits Deadpool with the promise of making him an MCU hero. The exact relevance of the TVA and Macfadyen’s agent to the upcoming film remains unclear, yet it’s the purpose of the TVA — which includes protecting the multiverse by pruning timelines and dealing with variants — that should be studied in advance of Deadpool & Wolverine.
X-Men Movies in Chronological Order
- X-Men: First Class (2011)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
- X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
- X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
- X-Men (2000)
- X2 (2003)
- X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
- The Wolverine (2013)
- Deadpool (2016)
- The New Mutants (2020)
- Deadpool 2 (2018)
- Logan (2017)
Up Next: ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’
The X-Men franchise played a significant role in shaping the landscape of modern superhero films and TV shows. It has also helped define the careers of many talented actors like Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. These films’ impact on pop culture can’t be understated and how the actors brought these characters to life ushered in a new generation while speaking to long-time fans.
With this massive X-Men-filled list, you should be ready to watch Deadpool and Wolverine make their way alongside their fellow mutants into the MCU. As a warning, there will be countless speculations and cameos floating around the internet before the film’s release, so be careful!
Deadpool & Wolverine arrives in theaters on July 26. Follow the Agents of Fandom socials for all the latest entertainment news and reviews.
