Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the X-Men built something of a shared universe of their own. Beginning with the first X-Men film in 2000, before comic book movies were expected to treat their source material with the same level of respect as the people reading them, mutants revealed themselves to the world in an ultimately underwhelming outing that helped launch the golden age of superhero movies we’ve been experiencing for over a decade now. Those early X-Men releases had to walk so that The Avengers could fly (per IGN).
Now that the studio initially producing the X-Men films is owned by the same company that owns Marvel Studios — that is, Disney — it’s only a matter of time before the X-Men are finally shown on-screen with their comic book brethren the way it was always meant to be. To honor everything that’s come before, we’re going to take a look at the films released in the X-Men movie universe, and see where they rank based on their box offices. Some placements are surprising as they don’t always coincide with the overall quality of the film.
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13 The New Mutants — $49.2M
20th Century Fox
The New Mutants could have been the new lifeblood the X-Men movies needed to enter a new age. Just like the Wolverine trilogy and Deadpool movies before it, this movie sought to forge its own path by trying something different. Instead of trying to recreate the films that went before, the filmmakers wanted to tell a creepier, horror story about being a young mutant. The initial concept was interesting, but a whole mess of behind-the-scenes nonsense compromised the finished project, and what was finally released (after several false starts) was an okay but heavily sanitized version of what that story could have been. Then, of course, there was the COVID-19 pandemic to deal with, helping to hinder its final box office. Thus, The New Mutants is the lowest-grossing film in the series, earning a mere $49 million.
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12 X-Men: Dark Phoenix — $252.4M
20th Century Studios
Dark Phoenix was doomed to fail. Following the disappointing box office of Apocalypse, it was only natural that audiences would be less interested in another film in this current timeline. The continuity was getting confusing and how everything related to the rest of the X-Men universe was virtually impossible to decipher. Add to that the strange decision to do the Dark Phoenix story again (after failing to do so properly in The Last Stand) and you have a recipe for a boring movie very few people wanted to see. Thus, Dark Phoenix only made under $253 million.
11 X-Men — $296.3M
We would not have the Marvel Cinematic Universe if it wasn’t for the first X-Men film. Although those movies don’t exist in the same universe, X-Men was the first attempt at bringing classic Marvel characters to theaters on a grand scale, and even though the thin story was certainly lacking, it was enough to launch its own shared universe. Yes, Blade came out first, but it didn’t hit the same way this film did. The $296 million box office looks weak now, but that was a very respectable hit back in 2000, and it laid the groundwork for pretty much everything that was to come.
10 X-Men: First Class — $353.6M
Marvel Entertainment
For some, X-Men: First Class was just the kick to the system the franchise needed to get the ball rolling again. We were getting to learn more about the characters we’ve come to love while meeting new ones. The story was set during the Cuban Missile Crisis, meaning the design could be more stylized and visually interesting in order to set it apart from the rest of the movies, and it had up-and-coming names taking on well-known roles. For others, though, it was confusing. Some elements from the first three films continued, but others didn’t. Some of the returning characters and storylines were changed in confusing ways, and it ultimately failed to grip the world in the way other reboots of popular comic book movies had. That being said, it did, for better or worse, set the template for the other X-Men movies that followed.
9 X-Men Origins: Wolverine — $373.1M
Just like The Last Stand, it’s entirely possible that initial goodwill helped drive the box office of Wolverine’s first movie up to $373 million, but it could have earned so much more. By the time X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released in 2009, Hugh Jackman’s portrayal as the title character was already considered iconic, so of course audiences were pumped to see his first solo adventure. Besides, it also gave us our first (and at the time of writing, only) live-action Gambit and the aforementioned abysmal interpretation of Deadpool. Had an early, unfinished, cut of the movie not leaked ahead of time, and if the story had actually represented the comics characters with some respect, it may have brought in even more money. As it stands, this is largely considered one of the most disappointing entries in the franchise.
8 X2: X-Men United — $407.7M
201th Century Fox
As previously mentioned, the sequel X2: X-Men United set the bar pretty high for the series, even if the box office doesn’t totally reflect that. While the first film was something of a clumsy (if still effective) attempt to bring the mutants off the comic book page, the sequel is far more stable and confident. This is a grand story with big ideas that don’t necessarily pay off in the third film. While later entries may have brought in more money, this first sequel certainly surpassed the original, gaining over $407 million in ticket sales.
7 The Wolverine — $414.8M
It took two underwhelming (if not downright bad) movies to produce one decent film and one great film. The latter, of course, is Deadpool rising from the ashes of X-Men Origins. The former is The Wolverine serving as a hybrid sequel to both Origins and The Last Stand. Instead of picking up immediately following Origins, The Wolverine updates us on what’s going on with Logan after the events of The Last Stand. He’s living off the grid, failing to cope with the loss of Jean, when a Japanese businessman he rescued from the blast at Nagasaki brings him out of hiding. Overall, it plays like a really well-made action exploitation film from the late-80s, but it was good enough to earn $414 million and justify a third installment.
6 X-Men: The Last Stand — $460.4M
Perhaps the most shocking entry on the list is the third in the series X-Men: The Last Stand. When the film was released, it was largely considered a dud. The previous film had set the bar for comic book adaptations so high that a follow-up was almost bound to be perceived as inferior. However, goodwill earned from X-Men United must’ve been so strong that people showed up to the theater in droves for this energetic, if ultimately subpar, “finale” to the original X-Men trilogy. Though the film isn’t entirely without its strengths, the casting alone was pretty stellar and at least it tried to tell a story with consequences rather than continuing to set things up. Ultimately, the film grossed a surprising $460 million. Which, at the time, was a favorable take.
5 X-Men: Apocalypse — $543.9M
Based on the success of Days of Future Past and the fact that it was tackling a huge storyline from both the comics and the popular 90s cartoon, X-Men: Apocalypse should have been a bigger hit. Not that $543 million is anything to sneeze at. Unfortunately, though, in this modern blockbuster world, where the goal is to get as close to a billion dollars as possible, only making it halfway there just doesn’t cut it. The problem was that early leaked images (where the main titular villain resembled a Power Rangers villain) put a sour taste in the audience’s mouth, and there were simply too many characters without much going on. It had another stellar Quicksilver sequence, but it just wasn’t enough to bring people back for more.
4 Logan — $619.2M
It took three tries, but an X-Men spin-off solely devoted to the character of Wolverine finally paid off with Logan. After the initial attempt was an utter disaster in terms of well-crafted and engaging storytelling that lives up to the source material, a much better, if still a tad mediocre, sequel followed. With the third film, simply titled Logan, the decision was made to go in an entirely different direction, favoring a more grounded and grittier story about aging and loss. The risk paid off big time as audiences ate it up, resulting in an impressive $619 million at the box office.
3 X-Men: Days of Future Past — $746M
After the X-Men franchise experienced something of a soft reboot via First Class, it sought to bring these disparate timelines together with X-Men: Days of Future Past. The prospect of seeing both young and current Charles Xavier share the screen together was too much to pass up. Not only that, but it also adapts a highly-regarded storyline from the comics, though this time, it’s Wolverine traveling to the past to stop mutant-hunting Sentinels from proliferating and threatening all mutant kind in the future. So, it’s an interesting story that brings in iconic comic book characters and elements while also undoing some of the events of The Last Stand — thus, it earned $746 million. Plus, it has that incredible Quicksilver sequence that makes the entire movie even better with its inclusion.
2 Deadpool — $782.6M
For years, the character of Deadpool had been seen as something of a Bugs Bunny character in Marvel Comics. He was the quippy wise guy who broke the fourth wall and was often dubbed “The Merc With a Mouth,” seeing as he was a mutant mercenary who rarely shut up. Thus, it was incredibly confusing when the character finally made the jump to film with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and his mouth was literally taken away from him. Thankfully, Ryan Reynolds (the actor playing Deadpool) was a big enough fan to will a solo movie that treated him properly into existence. Deadpool brought in $782 million, rising above the Wolverine movie’s box office like a big, mangled middle finger.
1 Deadpool 2 — $785.8M
It’s incredible what can happen when you make a film that honors an already-existing character. After his abysmal debut in the equally bad X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool got a second chance at life with his own violent, raunchy, and hilarious solo outing in 2016. The equally raucous and gory sequel Deadpool 2 doubles down on everything that made its predecessor such a huge hit with audiences. Not only is it every bit as funny and action-packed as the original, it utilized time travel to bring in the fan-favorite character Cable as the primary antagonist and cast the incredible Josh Brolin to play him. The creative decisions paid off at the box office as this sequel earned over $785 million, topping its predecessor (with an additional $6 million if you loop in the holiday-friendly re-edit titled Once Upon a Deadpool). With Wolverine set to appear in Deadpool 3, there’s a very good chance that this sequel’s reign will come to an end.
