All X-Men Movies, Ranked Worst To Best

Summary

• X-Men franchise launched in 2000, setting off the golden age of superhero movies with its ensemble cast and fully-formed superhero team.
• X-Men movie timeline varies in quality, but the best films rank high among the greatest superhero movies ever.
• Franchise's R-rated spinoffs were met with critical and box office acclaim, but not every movie fared well. The MCU X-Men movie is expected to bring a new era for beloved Marvel characters.

The X-Men franchise launched in 2000 and helped kick off the current golden age of superhero movies - naturally leading audiences to wonder which X-Men movie is best of them all. All in all, there have been 13 X-Men movies and spinoffs over the course of the Fox X-Men era, with the MCU X-Men movie tantalizingly close to bringing in a whole new era for the beloved Marvel characters.
The X-Men movie timeline is all over the map in terms of quality, although the best X-Men films also rank high among the greatest superhero movies ever. Even within the genre they helped redefine, the X-Men films stand apart. The original X-Men film introduced an ensemble cast led by Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen and a fully-formed superhero team before Wolverine received his first spinoff in 2009; this is the opposite of the MCU's method of solo superhero films building up to The Avengers. With the rise of the family-friendly MCU and the DCEU, the X-Men franchise's R-rated spinoffs were met with critical and box office acclaim, though not every movie fared so well.