What becomes very apparent when you’re trying to rank every Wolverine movie made is that there are a lot of Wolverine movies out there.
Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of the clawed mutant became an instant hit with X-Men, and 20th Century Fox (now just 20th Century under Disney’s rule) ran with it, pulling him into every X-Men movie it could. The result is a stacked list of nine films that you could call Wolverine movies, and that’s not including the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine.
But how to rank them all from worst to best? Are we going solely on the quality of the film, or should we also base judgment on the quality of the Wolverine role in the movie? It feels like a mix of both is the right choice, judging each film on both how good they are as movies and how good they are as Wolverine vehicles. As such, this list of all the Wolverine films ranked might not shake out quite as you thought.
Every Wolverine Movie, Ranked
9. X-Men: The Last Stand
If you’re at all familiar with the nine films on this list, then it might come as a surprise that X-Men: The Last Stand is the worst movie on it. For most, the knee-jerk reaction would be to call X-Men Origins: Wolverine the worst movie. However, The Last Stand is both a horrible film and a horrible performance from Hugh Jackman. The actor, seemingly knowing the film’s plot is more interested in cramming as many mutants as possible into the movie than being good, entirely checks out for this performance. Even the climactic conclusion of his killing of Jean Grey falls horribly flat as it takes place in a haphazard action sequence that feels like the film ran out of money. From the death of Cyclops to the Juggernaut actually yelling, “I’m the Juggernaut, b*tch!” the film is just a series of bad decisions. Also, worst Wolverine hair by a mile.
8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Last Stand being the last film on this list does not let X-Men Origins: Wolverine off the hook in any way. Origins is an awful film full of bad decisions, terrible special effects, and, of course, an entirely gagged Deadpool. Wolverine’s infamously bad claws are just the crappy icing on the turd cake. It is a superhero film made by people who clearly didn’t understand the assignment, but at least Jackman seems interested in being in it, and while not executed well in the least, Liev Schrieber chews the scenery as Sabertooth. More than a decade after its release, it’s easier to watch Origins as a so-bad-its-good film, though it never actually reaches that point and is, in fact, just bad.
7. X-Men: Apocolypse
The first film on this list that we’ll file under “Not Actually a Wolverine Movie,” X-Men: Apocolypse features an entirely unneeded Wolverine cameo (or Weapon X, to be more precise). Sure, his brutal and murderous action sequence provides one of the few interesting parts of the movie, but Jackman’s involvement in the film is clearly a desperate bid to shove the most popular X-Men into the movie to move tickets. Outside of Wolverine, the film itself is a mess, almost as nonsensical as Last Stand. The final showdown between Apocolypse and the X-Men is like CGI vomit of swirling powers and space lasers. The few enjoyable parts are basically just lackluster redoes of scenes from the far better X-Men: Days of Future Past.
6. X-Men: First Class
X-Men: First Class is one of the best X-Men movies, but it is not a Wolverine movie. The only reason it’s on this list is thanks to an incredibly brief cameo where Wolverine drops an f-bomb while talking to Professor X and Magneto. It’s a fantastic moment in a great film and is a perfect Wolverine line, so it gets to sit far above the three films below it, but ranking it any higher in a list of Wolverine movies is disingenuous.
5. X-Men
Considering much of the train wrecks that came after it, X-Men is a shockingly tight and well-structured film. It also features Jackman in a fantastic turn as Wolverine, even if he seems less jacked compared to his other performances. Already the favored character, the movie still finds ways to treat the rest of the X-Men with respect (well, maybe not Storm) while letting Wolverine shine. While some of the clunkiness that would crop up in later movies is present here, it’s still a superhero film that stands on its own and a Wolverine movie that works.
Related: Are Wade Wilson and Vanessa Still a Couple in Deadpool 3?
4. X2: X-Men United
On paper, X2 should not work better than X-Men. It crams a host of new mutants into the storyline while going bigger with almost everything. In fact, if this was a list of X-Men movie rankings, it might be below its predecessor, but X-2 is a really good Wolverine movie. Taking a ton of time to delve into the character’s past and his unrequited love for Jean Grey, the film gives Jackman a lot to chew on. Its pacing works well, and it never feels overcrowded despite actually being so. Plus, you get to see Wolverine throw down with Lady Deathstrike in a fight sequence that works far better than it should in a PG-13 movie.
3. The Wolverine
The Wolverine is James Mangold’s practice run at Wolverine perfection. The first appearance of Huge Jackedman (the ridiculously ripped version of Hugh Jackman), the film is a wonderfully poignant and paced homage to samurai films and Japanese cinema – until its third act. Resplendently shot, the movie takes a deep dive into the fumbled ending of Last Stand, piecing back together a broken and struggling Wolverine and maybe even slightly redeeming that film simply because it led to this one. Sadly, the movie’s conclusion ends in the samurai-armor equivalent of the giant sky laser cliche, turning what should have been an emotional conclusion into a tepid action sequence.
2. X-Men: Days of Future Past
20th Century Fox was in quite the pickle after First Class was released. It somehow managed to bring the X-Men back to life after the turgid back-to-back releases of Last Stand and Origins, but they didn’t have Wolverine in it. Thus, they adapted the iconic comic run “Days of Future Past” but sent Wolverine back in time to engage with the new actors portraying the X-Men. Simultounesly new and full of nostalgia and freshness, the film delivers a great X-Men movie and a powerhouse turn for Jackman as Wolverine.
1. Logan
There are superhero movies, and then there is Logan. Almost in a class of its own in the genre itself, Logan is not just a great Wolverine movie, not just a great superhero movie, but a great piece of cinema. Bloody and violent thanks to the franchise’s first R-rating, the movie could have just been a bunch of prolific action set pieces, but instead, director James Mangold used that R-rating to make an actual adult film, influenced by Westerns and focussed on themes such as aging, regret, guilt, parenthood, and salvation. It is the rare superhero movie that chooses character over action and delivers, at the time, a touching swan song to Jackman’s Wolverine. A swan song so well done that if it was for any other film than Deadpool & Wolverine, his return as the character would feel cheap.
And that’s every Wolverine movie, ranked worst to best.
Deadpool & Wolverine hits theaters on July 26.
