Ranking the X-Men universe

With "Dark Phoenix" out, the X-Men franchise as we've known it with FOX is likely over. The inevitable re-boot is coming, but for now it's worth considering the nearly 20 years of the franchise, which has produced 10 films since 2000. (I'm not looking at "Deadpool" in this ranking, as it's more of a stand alone.

So here's how I would order the 10 films (three original cast, four first class cast, three Wolverine spin-offs).

10. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
About: Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) was my favorite character in the X-Men, and yet his stand alone films mostly failed to work. Some would argue about whether this is the worst of them, it is for me, but few would argue it's down near the bottom.

9. Dark Phoenix (2019)
About: Sadly the final installment in the franchise wasn't very good. Some put it at the bottom (and surely the Rotten Tomato rankings and Box Office haul suggest that), but I liked it a touch better than Wolverine's first solo outing. This was a great cast, and a potentially great story, but it just wasn't executed in a way that made it work.

8. The Wolverine (2013)
About: Jackman is a great actor, and both he and his character deserved better. But this isn't about talking about what we wish we'd gotten, it's about considering what we have gotten. And what we have gotten is a couple stand alone Wolverine films that just weren't that good. This one was slightly better than the one before it, but still at times a slog.

7. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
About: The final film of a trilogy with the original cast, this one had some potential but didn't quite come together. Still, it was a more emotional telling of the Phoenix saga than what happened with "Dark Phoenix." To be honest, with the X-Men films, the bottom three are a tier, the top three are a tier, and the other four are a soft middle that you could argue about and possibly sway me to slightly move them up or down.

6. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
About: This was the third of the films with the new wave, and it had some potential, too. I likely it slightly more than "The Last Stand," but it's fair to say that it's a bit bloated at 144 minutes and doesn't quite deliver on all its potential. But it's still enjoyable for fans of the genre, particularly those like myself that have always had a soft spot for the X-Men.

5. X-Men (2000)
About: The film that started it all. It wasn't perfect, but it had some good casting and is a film I find myself re-watching plenty at time. It's hard to remember now, but at the time this film debuted there weren't many superhero films, either. The Tobey Maguire Spiderman was two years away, and the modern MCU wouldn't debut for eight years. This was really a trend setter in some ways.

4. X2: X-Men United (2003)
About: This was the sequel to "X-Men," and it was arguably better than the first film. I think it was a step up in a few ways, and it's a movie that I think is probably the best of the original run of three films.

3. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
About: This was the second of the First Class cast films, and it also brought together all the originals in a time-bending story that sort of re-set the timeline. It was an ambitious swing, and one that I thought worked well and delivered one of the best and most enduring films during the 20-year run.

2. Logan (2017)
About: The third time turned out to be the charm for Jackman and his stand alone Wolverine films. "Logan" features an aging and grizzled Wolverine, and an aging and struggling Professor X (Patrick Stewart), and it's a violent and brilliant magnum opus. It was one of the best films of the year it came out and one of the best of this series.

1. X-Men: First Class (2011)
About: This is my favorite of the X-Men films, and by a fair margin. Part of it is the story and themes. I also loved the casting. This was a re-boot that really got me and gave me hope for the franchise. It's one of my favorite superhero movies of all time, and will be the one I look back on most fondly when considering this X-Men film universe.