Here’s How To Watch the Wolverine Movies in Order (Chronologically and by Release Date) (2024)

Editor's Note: The following contains minor spoilers for 'Deadpool & Wolverine'Few actors have been able to play the same role for one decade, much less two, and we're not even talking about a long-running TV drama like Grey's Anatomy. Playing the Wolverine for the X-Men movies required Hugh Jackman to stay in tip-top shape for almost two decades as he played an ageless character. However, the story of the Wolverine is much more than that of a great actor, and it is a story of intense suffering as friends and family fade away from age, and you die slowly from a poison inside your own body. This story is a rollercoaster from start to finish, but there are multiple ways to experience this remarkable tale.

Here’s how you can watch all of Hugh Jackman’s important appearances as Wolverine, chronologically and by order of release date.

Wolverine Movies in Order of Release Date

• X-Men - July 14, 2000
• X2: X-Men United - May 2, 2003
• X-Men: The Last Stand - May 26, 2006
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine - May 1, 2009
• X-Men: First Class - May 25, 2011
• The Wolverine - July 26, 2013
• X-Men: Days of Future Past - May 23, 2014
• X-Men: Apocalypse - May 9, 2016
• Logan - March 3, 2017
• Deadpool & Wolverine - July 6, 2024

Wolverine Movies in Chronological Order

'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' (2009)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is the backstory of James Howlett, the man who would be Wolverine. It recounts how he discovered his natural skeleton claws, his childhood with his brother Victor (aka Sabretooth), and how Colonel Stryker created the Weapon X strike team. Weapon X was composed of only mutants and eventually became the basis for some dangerous experiments that James was forced to endure. After these painful experiments and an even more painful fallout with his brother, James's life changes forever. While some of this film's events are referenced in other movies, it is not clear whether this story is completely canon.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is available to stream on Disney+.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

The early years of James Logan, featuring his rivalry with his brother Victor Creed, his service in the special forces team Weapon X, and his experimentation into the metal-lined mutant Wolverine.

Release Date

May 1, 2009

Director

Gavin Hood

Cast

Hugh Jackman , Liev Schreiber , Danny Huston , Will i Am , Lynn Collins , Kevin Durand

Main Genre

Superhero

Writers

David Benioff , Skip Woods

Watch on Disney+

'X-Men: First Class' (2011)

Back in the 1960s, we see a walking Charles Xavier and a stable Erik Lehnsherr working together, still on the way to becoming the iconic Professor X and Magneto. These X-Men are different from any we have seen before, but they still manage to see all sorts of combat, leading to a reimagined Cuban Missile Crisis that changes the fate of the newly-formed X-Men forever. World War II veteran James Howlett (aka Logan) has a brief cameo in this movie as Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr attempt to recruit him. However, he tells them to leave with his usual level of complete disrespect.

X-Men: First Class is available to stream on Disney+.

X-Men: First Class

In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik's vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them.

Release Date

June 1, 2011

Director

Matthew Vaughn

Cast

James McAvoy , Laurence Belcher , Michael Fassbender , Bill Milner , Kevin Bacon , Rose Byrne

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Ashley Miller , Zack Stentz , Jane Goldman , Matthew Vaughn , Sheldon Turner , Bryan Singer

Watch on Disney+

'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014)

X-Men: Days of Future Past contains both famous sets of X-Men actors, with Logan as the connection between the two. In the future setting, we find out that Kitty Pryde (Elliot Page) could theoretically send anyone to the past. However, only Logan's incredible healing factor and tolerance for pain would let him function far in the past, as he tries to fix history to save the present. Professor X identifies that the taking of Mystique's (Jennifer Lawrence) blood is the critical factor in the changing tide of history. And so, Logan must travel to the past, ending up in the 1970s, and attempt to convince Mystique to give up her crusade, or else both teams of X-Men are doomed.

X-Men: Days of Future Past is available to stream on Disney+.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Release Date

May 15, 2014

Director

Bryan Singer

Cast

Hugh Jackman , James McAvoy , Michael Fassbender , Jennifer Lawrence , Halle Berry , Nicholas Hoult

Main Genre

Superhero

Writers

Simon Kinberg , Jane Goldman , Matthew Vaughn

Watch on Disney+

'X-Men: Apocalypse' (2016)

This movie shows us another side of Wolverine. In this version of the 1980s, Wolverine is still a tool of Colonel Stryker. Professor X attempts to work with a team of young mutants who are on their way to fight the ancient mutant known as Apocalypse. They end up using the savage version of Logan as a tool to destroy any form of organized resistance in one of the best action scenes of the movie. Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is the only one who can stop his rampage and attempts to heal his mind, stabilizing him for the moment.

X-Men: Apocalypse is available to stream on Disney+.

X-Men: Apocalypse

In the 1980s the X-Men must defeat an ancient all-powerful mutant, En Sabah Nur, who intends to thrive through bringing destruction to the world.

Release Date

May 18, 2016

Director

Bryan Singer

Cast

Jennifer Lawrence , Michael Fassbender , Nicholas Hoult , Rose Byrne , Oscar Isaac , Evan Peters

Main Genre

Superhero

Writers

Michael Dougherty , Dan Harris , Simon Kinberg , Bryan Singer

Watch on Disney+

'X-Men' (2000)

The first of the movies to be released by order, this movie is in many ways the origin story for the uninitiated. It sets up the long-term warring factions through Logan's eyes as he is recruited as a late bloomer. In the movie, Logan is taken to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Once there, he establishes a growing relationship with Rogue (Anna Paquin), a young mutant who absorbs powers. Through the course of the movie, Logan finds more reasons to stay around people after his forgotten and painful past.

X-Men is available to stream on Disney+.

X-Men

In a world where mutants (evolved super-powered humans) exist and are discriminated against, two groups form for an inevitable clash: the supremacist Brotherhood, and the pacifist X-Men.

Release Date

July 14, 2000

Director

Bryan Singer

Cast

Hugh Jackman , Patrick Stewart , Ian McKellen , Famke Janssen , James Marsden , Halle Berry

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Tom DeSanto , Bryan Singer , David Hayter

Watch on Disney+

'X2: X-Men United' (2003)

After Nightcrawler attempts to assassinate the President, a series of anti-mutant movements provokes our old friend Colonel Stryker to begin government operations against all mutants. Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters is attacked, and Logan is forced to take a leadership role to protect the young students using his years of experience. At this point, Logan is still learning about his forgotten past, and we continue to get some great claw-popping action as he uncovers his life's secrets.

X2: X-Men United is available to stream on Disney+.

X2: X-Men United

When anti-mutant Colonel William Stryker kidnaps Professor X and attacks his school, the X-Men must ally with their archenemy Magneto to stop him.

Release Date

April 24, 2003

Director

Bryan Singer

Cast

Patrick Stewart , Hugh Jackman , Ian McKellen , Halle Berry , Famke Janssen , James Marsden

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Zak Penn , David Hayter , Bryan Singer , Michael Dougherty , Dan Harris

Watch on Disney+

'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006)

This movie focuses on the idea that some people may want to be "cured" of their mutant gene and features the return of Jean Grey. Jean, who initially helped unlock Logan's memories, has been dramatically changed by her death in the previous movie and her subsequent resurrection. This unexpected turn of events tests Logan's relationship with Jean as Magento violently reacts to the idea that mutants could ever need a cure. Once again, Logan and the rest of the X-men are pitted against a force they do not understand, as the different mutant factions actively undermine them.

X-Men: The Last Stand is available to stream on Disney+.

Watch on Disney+

'The Wolverine' (2013)

In the second part of the Logan trilogy, we see the troubled mutant travel to Japan to confront more demons from his past. This time, after a strange series of events, Logan's healing factor is slowed down, and it finally seems like he may become more human. While trying to reconnect with a soldier he saved during World War II, Logan ends up in the middle of modern-age Japan, teeming with mobsters, samurai, and some out-of-this-world weapons that just might be able to finish the Wolverine for good.

The Wolverine is available to stream on Disney+.

The Wolverine

Based on the 1982 comic event "Wolverine," The Wolverine takes place after X-Men: The Last Stand and follows Logan on a journey to Japan at the behest of a former acquaintance. Living in isolation after the world-changing events in the prior movie and haunted by the death of the woman he loved, Logan is found and asked to travel to Japan to meet with a man named Ichiro, who he had saved during World War II. At the end of his life, Ichiro offers Logan a chance to free himself of his healing abilities to finally die by taking them for himself. However, Logan soon learns that Ichiro's intentions for immortality are far less honorable than he had expected, leading him to struggle to face off with a former ally.

Release Date

July 26, 2013

Director

James Mangold

Cast

Hugh Jackman , Tao Okamoto , Rila f*ckushima , Hiroyuki Sanada , Svetlana Khodchenkova , Brian Tee

Main Genre

Action

Writers

Mark Bomback , Scott Frank , Christopher McQuarrie

Watch on Disney+

'Logan' (2017)

Logan is the masterpiece of the Wolverine-focused movies that talks about what happens when virtually all the most powerful mutants have already died. Set in a timeline where just a handful of mutants have survived, this story revolves around a dying Logan and a very old Professor X encountering a new young mutant. This new student has some striking similarities to Logan, and through his interactions with her, we get a chance to see him struggle with the cost of his painful immortality.

Logan

Superhero

Western

Action

Logan sees the titular hero, AKA Wolverine, in his twilight years as his healing factor has begun to fail him, and he has begun to age more rapidly. Set several years in the future, Logan finds himself caring for an ailing Professor Xavier, whose mind has begun to succumb to dementia, making him an incredibly dangerous mutant that can cause widespread destruction accidentally. But when the preoccupied Logan is asked to meet with a woman that requests he transports a young girl to a mutant haven known as Eden, he learns that she may have his DNA and that the fate of mutant-kind may rest in her hands.

Release Date

March 3, 2017

Director

James Mangold

Cast

Hugh Jackman , Patrick Stewart , Richard E. Grant , Dafne Keen , Boyd Holbrook , Stephen Merchant

Writers

Scott Frank , James Mangold , Michael Green

Watch on Disney+

'Deadpool & Wolverine' (2024)

After the touching farewell that was Logan, fans were quite resigned to the idea that Hugh Jackman wouldn't be popping those claws ever again. Turns out, we were wrong. We now know that Wolverine returns in Deadpool, thanks to an exciting reveal video from Ryan Reynolds. Following months of rumors, Deadpool & Wolverine officially confirms that the version of Wolverine we know and love from Logan really is dead, as evident by the movie's hysterical opening sequence. Instead, this new Wolverine comes from another universe, where he is the last X-Men standing after his companions suffered a great and terrible tragedy. Outfitted with that classic comic-accurate spandex we've all waited decades for him to wear, this Wolverine variant reluctantly agrees to help Wade Wilson save his own universe from complete and total annihilation.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters now.

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Wolverine joins the "merc with a mouth" in the third installment of the Deadpool film franchise.

Release Date

July 26, 2024

Director

Shawn Levy

Cast

Ryan Reynolds , Matthew Macfadyen , Morena Baccarin , Hugh Jackman , Karan Soni , Rob Delaney

Main Genre

Superhero

Writers

Rob Liefeld , Fabian Nicieza , Paul Wernick , Wendy Molyneux , Lizzie Molyneux-Logelin

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