X-Men is an American superhero film series based on the X-Men, a group of characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for comic books published by Marvel Comics. Encompassing thirteen live-action films, it was produced by 20th Century Fox and Marvel Entertainment from 2000 to 2020.
In the 1980s, Marvel embarked on efforts to adapt the X-Men stories to film. After prolonged development, Fox purchased rights in 1993 and developed a trilogy comprising X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). A succession of films followed, expanding the fictional universe. Plans for a reboot led to the production of four prequel films chronicling the adventures of the X-Men as young people, from X-Men: First Class (2011) to Dark Phoenix (2019). From 2009 to 2020, Fox oversaw the creation of another six films as X-Men spinoffs, which feature Wolverine, Deadpool, and the New Mutants. The studio's television networks division produced Legion and The Gifted (both 2017–2019) tangential to the films. Fox controlled the production of X-Men films until its acquisition by The Walt Disney Company in 2019, effectively terminating all planned adaptations from the studio.
Critical opinion about X-Men films differ significantly. Most average moderately positive scores on Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes, though there is a wide disparity between the best-reviewed entries, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and Logan (2017), and the worst, X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Dark Phoenix, and The New Mutants (2020). At the box office, the films are generally successful and constitute one of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time, grossing over $6billion worldwide.
Films
In the 1980s, Marvel Comics embarked on efforts to develop a theatrical film about the X-Men, a superhero team of mutants created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1963, whose stories were the company's most popular to that point. Marvel optioned the film rights to create a live-action adaptation with the Toronto-based animation studio Nelvana. Chris Claremont outlined two proposals between 1982 and 1983; his first outline gave particular focus to Kitty Pryde, while the second pitted the X-Men against the Brotherhood of Mutants within the context of the Cold War. Thereafter, Claremont left to concentrate on other endeavors. Around the time Nelvana finalized a distribution agreement with Orion Pictures, Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas were hired to prepare a treatment. The men wrote several treatments, owing to disputes with the Orion producers over the creative direction, triggering a prolonged development phase. Each draft increasingly deviated from the comics. By 1985, Orion was in financial disarray after all but two films failed to yield profits, unravelling the project's development.
Toward the end of the decade, Marvel entered discussions with James Cameron to produce an X-Men film through a venture with his production company Lightstorm Entertainment. Claremont and Lee pitched the idea to Lightstorm producers, but the negotiations collapsed as Cameron had obligations to another Marvel property, Spider-Man, with Carolco Pictures at the time. Marvel spent another nine months soliciting bids for the sale of the X-Men film rights, ending when they arranged 20th Century Fox to purchase said rights for $2.6 million in June 1993. The success of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997) had piqued Hollywood interest in a feature film.
Films U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s) X-Men original trilogy X-Men Bryan Singer David Hayter Tom DeSanto & Bryan Singer Lauren Shuler Donner & Ralph Winter X2 Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris & David Hayter Zak Penn, David Hayter & Bryan Singer X-Men: The Last Stand Brett Ratner Simon Kinberg & Zak Penn Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter & Avi Arad X-Men prequel films X-Men: First Class Matthew Vaughn Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn Sheldon Turner & Bryan Singer Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg & Gregory Goodman X-Men: Days of Future Past Bryan Singer Simon Kinberg Jane Goldman, Simon Kinberg & Matthew Vaughn Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg & Hutch Parker X-Men: Apocalypse Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg, Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris Dark Phoenix Simon Kinberg Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker & Todd Hallowell Wolverine trilogy X-Men Origins: Wolverine Gavin Hood David Benioff & Skip Woods Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter, Hugh Jackman & John Palermo The Wolverine James Mangold Mark Bomback & Scott Frank Lauren Shuler Donner & Hutch Parker Logan Scott Frank, James Mangold & Michael Green James Mangold Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg & Hutch Parker Deadpool films Deadpool Tim Miller Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg & Ryan Reynolds Deadpool 2 David Leitch Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick & Ryan Reynolds Spin-off The New Mutants Josh Boone Josh Boone & Knate Lee Simon Kinberg, Karen Rosenfelt & Lauren Shuler Donner
Original trilogy X-Men (2000)
Fox began work on X-Men with producer Lauren Shuler Donner in 1994. The studio approached Bryan Singer early in the film's development and, by July 1996, appointed him as director. Singer was apprehensive about directing but was convinced by his producer Tom DeSanto, an avid fan of the comics. Singer was drawn to the X-Men stories because of their portrayal of the mutants' oppression. Fox spent several years in protracted development over the creative direction, hiring a number of writers with the instruction to preserve the overtly political subtext espoused by the comics. Filmmakers also wanted changes in the script to prioritize action scenes that could not be easily altered without raising the budget, which they were unwilling to do. David Hayter received the sole screenwriting credit.
X-Men ensemble cast comprises twelve actors, including Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, and James Marsden. The then-little known Jackman was not Fox's initial casting choice for Wolverine; the studio contracted Dougray Scott in that role until an unforeseen scheduling conflict pertaining to delays in the production of Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) forced the actor to drop out. X-Men follows Wolverine and Rogue's (Paquin) entry into a global conflict between mutant factions led by Charles Xavier (Stewart) and Magneto, supervillain persona of Erik Lehnsherr (McKellen). The film, shot from September 1999 to March 2000 in Toronto, was released in July 2000 and became a surprise success.
X2 (2003)
A sequel to X-Men was in development by April 2001. Hayter and Zak Penn produced an early script combining elements of drafts they had written independently. Fox recruited Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris to make revisions to this screenplay; they submitted hundreds of drafts to Singer. The X2 story draws from Claremont's graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982). Shooting lasted five months in Vancouver, from June to November 2002. X2 was a trouble-ridden production, and problems were attributed to Singer's escalating dependence on drugs. A confrontation arose when DeSanto urged a pause on filming in response to witnessing Singer inebriated, then another once Fox resumed production the following day, in which the actors threatened to quit. X2 debuted to mostly positive reviews in May 2003 and grossed $407 million at the box office, finishing ninth among the year's highest-grossing films.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Singer was preparing a film treatment for a third film, X-Men: The Last Stand, before resigning to direct Superman Returns (2006) in July 2004. Fox proceeded with the release of X-Men: The Last Stand without a director until they offered the role to Matthew Vaughn, having been impressed with his work in the crime thriller Layer Cake (2004). Vaughn eventually dropped out and was replaced by Brett Ratner. The screenplay was written by Vaughn, Penn, and Simon Kinberg, though only the latter two received credit for their contributions. They drew inspiration from the multi-issue storylines "The Dark Phoenix Saga" and "Gifted" for the film plot. After a five month filming period, Fox released X-Men: The Last Stand in May 2006. It drew mixed reviews in the media and was 2006's seventh highest-grossing film.
Prequel films X-Men: First Class (2011)
The idea of a spinoff chronicling the adventures of the X-Men as young people was first articulated by Donner in 2003. Kinberg pitched a film version of the comic book series X-Men: First Class, which depicts the characters as teenagers. Fox envisioned X-Men: First Class as the first of a trilogy of films. Its main story dwells on Xavier (James McAvoy) and Lehnsherr's (Michael Fassbender) relationship as twenty-somethings and the point at which their friendship dissolves.
The script went through multiple revisions from a succession of writers and incorporated ideas gleaned from an abandoned Magneto spinoff written by Sheldon Turner under David Goyer's direction, igniting a dispute over the distribution of screenwriting credits. In response, a Writers Guild of America (WGA) arbitration credited Turner and Singer, who had supervised an early script by Jamie Moss, as the story's creators. The WGA upheld their ruling when Moss appealed. Singer remained involved in X-Men: First Class as a producer. Fox hired Vaughn as the film's director in May 2010. McAvoy and Fassbender lead a fourteen-actor ensemble cast featuring, among others, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones, and Nicholas Hoult. The filmmakers shot X-Men: First Class into early 2011. Despite a poor box office prognosis, the film opened to positive reviews in June 2011, finishing the theatrical run with $353 million.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Donner confirmed plans for a sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past, in a March 2011 cover story published by Empire. Kinberg returned and became the franchise's primary writer. The producers originally hired Vaughn to direct; Singer went into the project as Vaughn's replacement after he left to focus on the creation of Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Kinberg's script borrows from the "Days of Future Past" storyline though features Wolverine time traveling instead of Kitty Pryde (Elliot Page). The filmmakers also used time travel to alter the continuity of events established in X-Men: The Last Stand. Fox gave the production a $205 million budget, spending mid-2013 filming X-Men: Days of Future Past in Montreal, with reshoots commencing toward the end of the year. Filming was affected by Singer's frequent absences, forcing Kinberg to manage daily operations with Hutch Parker, Newton Thomas Sigel, and John Ottman. The theatrical rollout followed in May 2014. X-Men: Days of Future Past emerged as the sixth highest-grossing film of 2014 with $746 million. At the 87th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Visual Effects.
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Preparation for the follow-up film, titled X-Men: Apocalypse, began months before X-Men: Days of Future Past 2014 release. Singer was rehired as director, while Fox assigned the responsibility for scriptwriting to Kinberg, Dougherty, and Harris. For X-Men: Apocalypse, the filmmakers conceived an X-Men origin story inspired by the 1988 story arc "The Fall of the Mutants", introducing Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Storm (Alexandra Shipp), and Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac). As well, they wanted resolution for narratives about Xavier, Lehnsherr, Mystique (Lawrence), and Beast (Hoult) that began in X-Men: First Class. Principal photography lasted from April to August 2015, and X-Men: Apocalypse opened in May 2016 to mixed reviews and a diminished box office take of $543.9 million. After the film's release, Singer came under public scrutiny from reports of his conduct as early as 1997, including allegations of rape.