20th Century StudiosDespite cameoing in a handful of projects in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, it’s been five years since the X-Men have united in live-action. Marvel recovered the rights to adapt X-Men comics way back in 2019, and since then, the studio has teased the arrival of mutants in the MCU in every way possible. It’s even bringing back the original X-Men to help end the Multiverse Saga with a bang in Avengers: Doomsday and, presumably, Secret Wars. As exciting as that is, though, it doesn’t distract from the elephant in the room: the world needs a new X-Men movie, and development has been slow, at best.Fortunately, there’s plenty to watch while we wait for Marvel to get its act together. Apart from the fantastic animated shows and the live-action Legion, there’s a whole saga of X-Men films to revisit (or watch for the first time) in the interim. But after nearly 30 years, said saga has grown unwieldy, to the point where its most recent installments have turned its confusing continuity into a punchline. It’s made the idea of returning to the franchise for a casual rewatch into a less-than-appealing task: how does one make sense of a 14-film series that retcons and reboots its main timeline at every opportunity?It’s not without its challenges, but it is possible to watch the X-Men saga without turning a blind eye to canon entirely. Here are all the ways to watch the X-Men movies, and the best possible option for completionists.The X-Men movies in release orderThere are 11 films total in the main X-Men saga, and some are more important than others. | 20th Century StudiosFox’s X-Men franchise is essentially broken up into three trilogies: the originals, the Wolverine saga, and the prequels. While the buck generally stops with Logan, Fox would continue its attempts to keep the saga alive with a few other films. X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants are additions to the franchise that fans would rather forget — but a true completionist will likely want to watch those films either way. Here’s the X-Men saga, in all its checkered glory, in order of release.X-Men (2000)X2: X-Men United (2003)X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)X-Men: First Class (2011)The Wolverine (2013)X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)Logan (2017)Dark Phoenix (2019)The New Mutants (2020)The X-Men movies in chronological orderWith Days of Future Past, the X-Men timeline gets a bit unwieldy. | 20th Century StudiosThe X-Men timeline hasn’t always been a tangled mess. Its original trilogy kept things totally linear, but a growing emphasis on Hugh Jackman’s nigh-immortal Wolverine allowed the franchise to get a whole lot bigger. His adventures begin in the mid-1800s and stretch into the near future, though their place in canon has since become the subject of heated debate. It gets even more complicated after Days of Future Past, which created a branched timeline to thwart the end of all mutantkind (and the franchise’s imminent demise). But if we can put canon to the side, the timeline isn’t too difficult to follow. Here are the films in chronological order.X-Men Origins: Wolverine (begins in 1845; ends in the 1970s)X-Men: First Class (set in 1962, with some flashbacks in 1944)X-Men: Days of Future Past (set in 1973, with a flash-forward to 2023)X-Men: Apocalypse (set in 1983)Dark Phoenix (set in 1992)X-Men (set in “the not-so-distant future,” but most likely 2000)X2 (set in 2003)X-Men: The Last Stand (set in 2006)The Wolverine (set in 2013)The New Mutants (set in 2020)Logan (set in 2029)What about Deadpool?Oh yeah — Deadpool is technically part of the X-Men saga too. | Marvel StudiosThe Deadpool trilogy is technically part of Fox’s old X-Men Universe, though its regard for continuity is fuzzy. Before Deadpool & Wolverine, it would have been safe to assume that Ryan Reynolds’ merc with a mouth was part of the X-Men continuity: Deadpool and Deadpool 2 contain enough references to the X-Men themselves to bridge the gap between the characters.The end of Deadpool 2 does throw a wrench in canon with some time-traveling shenanigans, as does Deadpool & Wolverine, which takes its titular duo through the multiverse. All that makes the Deadpool trilogy more of an accessory to the X-Men franchise, but you can include it in your X-Men binge without things getting too messy. Here are all the films integrated in order of release.X-Men (2000)X2: X-Men United (2003)X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)X-Men: First Class (2011)The Wolverine (2013)X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)Deadpool (2016)X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)Logan (2017)Deadpool 2 (2018)Dark Phoenix (2019)The New Mutants (2020)Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)The Deadpool trilogy is more of an accessory to the X-Men films, but it can be included without muddying the timeline. | Marvel StudiosAnd here are all the films organized in chronological order:X-Men Origins: Wolverine (set in 1845—1970s)X-Men: First Class (set in 1944; 1962)X-Men: Days of Future Past (set in 1973; 2023)X-Men: Apocalypse (set in 1983)Dark Phoenix (set in 1992)X-Men (set in 2000)X2 (set in 2003)X-Men: The Last Stand (set in 2006)The Wolverine (set in 2013)Deadpool (set in 2016)Deadpool 2 (set in 2018)The New Mutants (set in 2020)Logan (set in 2029)Deadpool & Wolverine (set in 2024, the 2030s, and the Void outside of time)Which order is best?Here’s where things get complicated. | 20th Century StudiosBecause of the narrative mess that came with all the erasing and retconning, a “chronological” watch just isn’t recommended for the X-Men saga. There are so many inconsistencies from one film to the next: First Class, for example, asserts that Professor X and Magneto fell out in the ‘60s, the same time the former lost the use of his legs. That directly contradicts a flashback in The Last Stand, which introduces a still-walking Charles and Magneto recruiting a young Jean Grey. Days of Future Past also resets the timeline, wiping out any storytelling choice that was poorly received. There’s no way to watch every single movie without running into an error or oversight of some kind. With that in mind, the easiest, cleanest watch order includes only the original trilogy and the prequels, with Logan attached as an official farewell to the X-Men:X-MenX2X-Men: The Last StandX-Men: First ClassX-Men: Days of Future PastX-Men: ApocalypseDark PhoenixLoganWatching in order of release is your best bet for the X-Men films. | 20th Century StudiosA more completionist viewing would include the Wolverine trilogy, and can be enjoyed in order of release, more or less. Just make sure you save Logan for the very end: again, it’s a perfect way to close the book on the X-Men saga.The original X-Men trilogy: X-Men, X2, and X-Men: The Last StandThe prequels: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, and The WolverineThe “new” timeline: X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark PhoenixThe coda: LoganThe Deadpool trilogy, along with New Mutants, can be watched separately — or, in the case of New Mutants, not at all. Where to stream the X-Men franchiseDisney’s long-gestating acquisition of 20th Century Fox has more perks beyond the gonzo madness of Deadpool & Wolverine. It also allowed Disney to acquire the vast library of X-Men titles. You can stream every film in the saga on Disney+.