X-Men Movies: Do You Need to Watch Them Before Marvel's Reboot
In short: For Marvel's X-Men reboot (directed by Jake Schreier, expected around 2028), no: it starts fresh with a new cast. For Avengers: Doomsday (December 18, 2026), a little background helps, because Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden and other Fox-era X-Men return. The essentials are X-Men (2000), X2, Days of Future Past, Logan and Deadpool & Wolverine.
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Get movie picksPrefer to answer a few questions? Take the 8-question movie quiz →Why the X-Men were apart from the MCU
In the 1990s, a cash-strapped Marvel licensed film rights to its characters: the X-Men and Fantastic Four went to 20th Century Fox, Spider-Man to Sony. Fox made 13 X-Men films from 2000 to 2020 in their own continuity. The rights returned when Disney bought Fox's film business in 2019.
Two different questions
The reboot: Marvel Studios' X-Men film, directed by Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts*), revealed its cast at D23 in August 2026: Kit Connor as Cyclops, Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Christopher Abbott as Xavier and Adam Driver as Mister Sinister. It's a new start, so the Fox films aren't required.
Avengers: Doomsday: this one does draw on the Fox era. Stewart, McKellen, Marsden, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, Kelsey Grammer and Channing Tatum (as Gambit, first seen in Deadpool & Wolverine) all return. Knowing who they are adds a lot.
The short watchlist
- X-Men (2000)
- X2 (2003)
- X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
- Logan (2017): nominated for the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
- Deadpool & Wolverine (2024): the first MCU film to fold in Fox's characters, and a $1.3 billion hit.
Completists can watch all of them in release order, from X-Men (2000) to The New Mutants (2020). X-Men: First Class (2011) is the best of the rest; The Last Stand, Origins: Wolverine and Dark Phoenix are the safest to skip.
Frequently asked questions
Which X-Men actors are in Avengers: Doomsday? Marvel has confirmed Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Kelsey Grammer (Beast) and Channing Tatum (Gambit). The film opens December 18, 2026.
Who is in the new X-Men cast? Announced at D23 in August 2026: Kit Connor as Cyclops, Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm and Adam Driver as Mister Sinister.
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