Before the MCU became the biggest film series in the world, the X-Men movies were one of the few Marvel movie adaptations that did well with both audiences and critics. Under Fox, the franchise consisted of 13 movies in total, which was made up of prequels, sequels, and standalone hero installments. With Disney having bought 21st Century Fox back in 2019, the X-Men movies as we know them have ostensibly come to an end. However, over the last few years, the MCU has included a few nods and cameos to the X-Men ahead of their formal debut later down the line.

It goes without saying that the X-Men films wouldn't be half as popular as they are if it weren't for their inclusion of one of the most popular comic book characters of all time: Wolverine. Also known as Logan, he is one of the biggest heroes to come out of the franchise and quite possibly the most powerful. Played by Hugh Jackman, he’s an integral part of some X-Men movies and is often seen as the main character, which has also led to him starring in three solo movies.

For someone who has advanced healing powers, though, it’s no surprise he shows up so much because it’s nearly impossible to kill him. Instead of exploring all the X-Men movies in chronological order themselves, let's take a closer look at Wolverine's appearances in order throughout the X-Men franchise and what exactly it means for his character as he develops through this unique series of films.

Update February 15, 2024: Following the trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine, this article has been updated to include it within Wolverine's timeline.

Wolverine Movies in Chronological Order

• X-Men: First Class
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• X-Men
• X2: X-Men United
• X-Men: The Last Stand
• The Wolverine
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• X-Men: Apocalypse
• Deadpool & Wolverine
• Logan

X-Men: First Class (2011)

X-Men: First Class depicts the origins and early days of the X-Men and the first meeting of frenemies, Professor X and Magneto. Together, they decide to open the Xavier Institute as a safe haven for mutants like them, and to help train the younger ones to control their powers without being afraid. In order to do this, of course, they need to recruit others to help train, and others still to be trained.

Wolverine makes a small appearance in this film as the two approach him in a bar to join their team. In true Logan fashion, he declines their offer by telling them to "Go f**k yourselves", before they even have a chance to fully explain themselves. While it’s not much, it is technically the first appearance of Wolverine in this universe, so it’s still important to include it when talking about the character. Plus, it's just such a hilarious scene. Stream on Disney+

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine serves as the first installment in the trilogy of films that focuses squarely on Wolverine himself. Though it opens in 1845, the majority of this film takes place a decade and more after Wolverine is approached in X-Men: First Class. The popular character is finally given a backstory here, portraying for the first time in film what Logan's early life looked like prior to him joining the X-Men.

Related: Canceled X-Men Movies: Some of the Best Comic Book Films Never Made

From his time in various American wars, depicted briefly alongside his troubling relationship with his mutant brother Sabertooth (played by a ferocious Liev Schreiber), to the acquisition of his famous adamantium claws, this movie has everything you could think of for an origin story centering on the character. Unfortunately for him, it also shows how he loses his memories and explains why he doesn’t really remember much of his past. Despite an impressive opening weekend, the film received terrible reviews and forced Fox to scrap their plans for Origin films, and both reworked the future Wolverine movies and also launched X-Men: First Class. So, some good did come out of the movie. Stream on Disney+

X-Men (2000)

X-Men is when Wolverine finally joins the X-Men team, even if it wasn’t originally on purpose. After he and another young mutant, Rogue, are attacked by Sabertooth, they are saved by Cyclops and Storm and brought to Xavier's school for the gifted. This is his first time meeting other mutants after his memory loss, and he discovers a whole new world he didn’t know existed. Though he’s reluctant to accept help, he still remains in the mansion after Professor X believes Magneto is interested in him, which could prove dangerous. They discover that it was really Rogue he was after, however, and Wolverine joins the X-Men to help rescue her.

The first X-Men film has gone down in movie history as one of the main catalysts for the superhero craze that has dominated Hollywood for the past twenty years or so, with the popularity of the Wolverine character playing a large part in that. It also introduced the world to Hugh Jackman, who was a last-minute replacement in the part after actor Dougary Scott had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Mission: Impossible II. It is now almost impossible to imagine anyone else in the part as Jackman has now been playing Wolverine for 24 years. Stream on Disney+

X2: X-Men United (2003)

Originally, Wolverine had left the Xavier Institute at the end of X-Men in a bid to find answers to his mysterious past. X2: X-Men United sees Logan exploring an abandoned military base in Alberta, Canada, which is where he got the adamantium from earlier in the timeline, but he doesn’t remember the place. He missed a lot of mutant action while he was gone, though, and after returning to Xavier's school for mutants, it is attacked by the bitter military scientist Colonel William Stryker, who abducts some students.

However, Wolverine finds that Stryker seems to know about his past, so he tries to learn more when he and other members of the X-Men go on a mission to rescue the abducted students. As they try to save those who were kidnapped, Wolverine soon discovers that Stryker was the one who grafted the adamantium onto his bones and also is the reason he lost his memories in the first place. X2: X-Men United capitalizes on the popularity of the character following the success of the previous film and puts Wolverine's character arc front and center. In doing so, the superhero sequel is widely regarded to be one of the best in the X-Men franchise, and it still holds up well today. Stream on Disney+

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

In X-Men: The Last Stand, a supposed cure for the mutant gene is created and released to the public. At the same time, Professor X realizes something is wrong and sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate. They find that Cyclops has died, and Jean Grey has resurfaced after they thought she had sacrificed herself at the end of the previous film. When Professor X reveals to Wolverine that he has been suppressing another evil force inside Jean that has now been released as The Phoenix, he is initially furious. After all, despite the fact that Jean and Scott were an item, Wolverine had always cared for her. However, when the force inside her wakes up and starts to bring about destruction, Logan realizes she’s not the same Jean Grey he once knew. Now, he’s the only one who can stop the Phoenix from destroying the world.

With some of the more senior X-Men members out of action for good, The Last Stand sees Logan stepping up to take a leadership role in the final battle against Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants and Jean's Dark Phoenix alter ego, something that would've been out of character for the Logan of a few films prior to do. Although X-Men: The Last Stand is generally considered a lower point in the series, it still acts as a good showcase for Logan's relationship with Jean and the development of his character since his initial introduction. It also becomes vital for his next appearance, The Wolverine. Stream on Disney+

The Wolverine (2013)

The second of Wolverine’s standalone movies is 2013's The Wolverine. It takes place years after the events of The Last Stand, where Wolverine has now retreated to live alone in the woods, despondent following the death of Jean Grey. Still, when an old friend summons him to Japan, he goes, hoping to repay a debt. His friend, a man named Ichiro Yashida whose life Logan saved decades earlier, offers him the chance to transfer Wolverine's healing powers into himself, thereby saving his life, which is about to end, and relieving Wolverine of what he views as a curse. Though he declines, believing he is simply saving his friend from the curse, he soon finds it will take a lot more for him to escape.

Set in Japan and based on the 1982 limited comic book series, Wolverine, the film is arguably the most self-contained outing for the character. Besides a cameo by Jean Grey, and a mid-credits scene teasing the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past, it features very few ties to other films in the series. This makes for interesting viewing, as it allows the viewer to see a side of the character not previously explored in the main films and expands the world of the franchise beyond the central mutant conflict. This was also the first X-Men film directed by James Mangold, and many of the ideas in this film, like Wolverine losing his healing and fear of dying while also dropping him into a new type of genre, would come into play in Logan. Stream on Disney+

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past is a complicated movie, owing to the fact that it takes place across two separate timelines, all of which are important to Wolverine. In the near future, mutants are being hunted down by machines called sentinels that can adapt depending on who they are fighting, making it difficult for any mutant to survive. When time travel becomes seemingly the only option to stop the machines, Wolverine is identified by his fellow mutants as the only one who can survive being sent back in time far enough to change the timeline and stop these machines from ever being created.

Related: X-Men: Where the Cast of the Original Movie is Today

Upon being sent back to the 1970s, he encounters a young Professor X and Magneto, with whom he goes in search of Mystique, whose DNA holds the answer to the Sentinel's creation. In the end, Logan manages to avert the coming dystopia and, in doing so, creates an alternate timeline where he became a hero a lot sooner in his life and where people in his life he'd previously seen die have been resurrected - because, in actuality, they had never died at all. The rest of the films in the official X-Men series take place in the timeline created by Wolverine. Stream on Max

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Though X-Men: Apocalypse is set before many of these movies, it still happens after the timeline changes in the last movie, which consequently erases the events in several X-Men films. This means that without Wolverine going back in time and creating the new timeline, this movie wouldn’t have happened, so it is a result of the previous film; director Bryan Singer called it an "in-betweenquel" rather than a prequel.

Like First Class, Wolverine's appearance in this movie isn’t much more than a cameo, but it's a memorable scene, nevertheless. In 1983, Wolverine is locked up after the Weapon X experiments that gave him the adamantium-coated bones, essentially a tool of Colonel Stryker. He is a more savage Wolverine than we're used to but is freed after a few of the mutants end up at the same facility. As he goes on a rampage destroying the base, he gives the mutants an opportunity to escape, but before they leave, Jean Grey restores some of his memories, meaning the timeline really is different from the previous one. Stream on Disney+

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

This is where things get even more complicated. The long-awaited third film in the Deadpool series, Deadpool and Wolverine, is scheduled to be released later this year and is set to be the first X-Men-related film set in Marvel's Cinematic Universe. As the title suggests, the movie will see Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool teaming up with Wolverine, who will once again be portrayed by Hugh Jackman, seven years after he last played the role. While specific plot details are still not clear, what is known is that the film will be a multiverse movie that will see the return of the Time Variance Authority (TVA), previously seen in the Disney+ series Loki.

Owing to the fact that it is a multiverse story, as well as the fact that the Deadpool franchise's famously meta style, means that a Wolverine return can easily be explained without interfering too much with the films that have come before. In fact, Hugh Jackman himself has confirmed that the film won't take away from the character's ending in Logan and would, in fact, take place before that film. Set photos for the upcoming movie have revealed that Wolverine will be sporting his iconic yellow and blue costume from the comic, and a teaser trailer shown during the Super Bowl halftime show depicted the two characters coming face to face. Deadpool and Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26, 2024.

Related: X-Men 10 Things We Want from the MCU Reboot

Logan (2017)

Logan is not only the last of the three standalone movies, but is the last time Wolverine is seen in the X-Men universe overall. Director James Mangold has said that Logan takes place roughly two decades after the events of Days of Future Past in the timeline Wolverine wakes up in at the end of that film. Unfortunately, time has not been very kind. After the death of most of the other mutants and the fact that there seems to be no more mutants being born, an older Wolverine takes care of a dying Professor X as he himself is dying from adamantium poisoning.

He discovers a few young mutants who were created in a lab, including one named Laura (or X-23) who has powers similar to his own after his DNA was used to create her. Wolverine decides to try to take them to a fabled mutant sanctuary in Canada. In his final moments, Wolverine dies just as he was in his life — not a murderer, but a protector, a savior, as his sacrifice lets the kids escape. Logan was an emotional and beautiful film, the first live-action superhero movie to get an Academy Award nomination for its script, and one of the highest-rated X-Men movies on Rotten Tomatoes. Stream on Disney+

Wolverine Movies in Order of Release Date

Watch the trailer for Deadpool & Wolverine right here!