Can the MCU finally make the ‘X-Men’ movie timeline coherent?
Hellooooo, continuity errors!
The release of Deadpool & Wolverine has everyone talking about the X-Men again (and dusting off those half-read Cherik fanfics, amiright?). And now, with an MCU reboot imminent, Marvel might finally clear up the movie timeline once and for all. Until then, here’s a quick guide to making sense of X-Media.
The X-Men timeline has always been a bit of a head-scratcher. In my opinion, the best approach you can take to the franchise is to not dwell too hard on continuity, with so many overlapping movies and comic book storylines—it’s messy at best, and downright frustrating at worst. Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) summed it up best in his 2016 solo outing: “McAvoy or Stewart? These timelines are so confusing.”
For clarity’s sake, it’s easiest to think of the X-Men movie-verse in terms of there being three distinct timelines: the original X-Men timeline, the revised alternate timeline, and the more recent Deadpool movies, all (mostly) released by 20th Century Fox.
Original timeline (Earth-10005)
Technically speaking, the original X-Men timeline dates back to 3000 BC, when the first known mutant is born in Egypt: Apocalypse. From here, we meet a young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) in Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class, which takes place in 1962.
The movie details his complicated relationship with Raven Darkholme/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) as well as his fateful encounter with his soon-to-be-nemesis, Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), a.k.a. Magneto.
First Class sets the stage for Fox’s first batch of X-Men movies (chronologically, that is), including the first X-Men trilogy, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and The Wolverine. Here, we get to know Hugh Jackman’s James Howlett/Logan, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, James Marsden’s Cyclops, Halle Berry’s Storm, and Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey, among others. Nearly 25 years on, this cast still rules.
Revised timeline (Earth-17315/TRN414)
X-Men: Days of Future Past marks a divergence in the timeline due to its time-traveling premise. The movie kicks off in Earth-10005 circa 2023 in a world where Sentinels are at war with mutants, but jumps to 1973 when Charles and Erik (with the help of Elliot Page’s Kitty Pryde) send Logan back 50 years to set things right.
Following DoFP, the revised timeline continues with X-Men: Apocalypse, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and The New Mutants before wrapping up with 2017’s Logan—a continuity Wade Wilson memorably visits in the opening sequence of Deadpool & Wolverine. Cue NSYNC.
Deadpool timeline (Earth-41633)
After Wade goes off the rails in Deadpool 2, he ends up in Earth-41633 thanks to Cable (Josh Brolin). Prior to this, the Deadpool movies kind of existed in a continuity of their own, even though the character was technically around in 1973 as part of Team X—but there’s nothing a little fourth wall-breaking and meta commentary can’t fix.
Deadpool & Wolverine pretty much throws all sense of continuity to the wind, and thanks to the introduction of the TVA, it doesn’t really matter where he lands. He’ll make it to the main MCU timeline soon enough. They’re Gonna Make Him Do This ‘Till He’s 90!
What’s next for the MCU X-Men?
Rumor has it that Marvel Studios prez Kevin Feige is cooking up a new Mutant Saga following the release of X-Men ’97 on Disney+, though there hasn’t been much word about its progress. With the Fox universe now a thing of the past, it’s looking like all of our favorite heroes are going to be recast for the MCU barring Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and maybe Kelsey Grammer’s Beast. I mean, my personal take is that Marvel already has a perfect cast from Fox’s corner of IP they can build off of, but I digress.
Phases 5 and 6 are dedicated to building the Multiverse Saga, so honestly, timelines might not even mean much moving forward. We’ve already seen Patrick Stewart return for 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, so think that on a much bigger scale.
Timelines and alternate universes colliding is kind of the point of the Secret Wars arc, and plus, it’s rife with opportunity for Marvel to plant some of those good ol’ member-berries. Maybe then, we’ll get a continuity that’s easy for everyone understand without a requiring an extensive deep dive first.
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