It’s Time to Say Goodbye... Because "Deadpool" is Going to Kill the "X-Men" Movies

All good things must come to an end... or in this case, die by the blade of Deadpool’s sword. But the Merc with a Mouth is back, to revitalize the MCU, but also to give the 20th Century FOX X-Men movies a sendoff... by killing them*.

*A similar circumstance happened in a MARVEL Comics storyline called “Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe” from the 2010s.

Likewise, “Deadpool and Wolverine” is meant to be a sendoff to the FOX X-Men movies of the past, especially highlighting movies from the pre-MCU and early-MCU era.

The third Deadpool movie is also meant to be a crossover multiversal event in which various X-Men characters will make their debut into the MCU universe, just in time for “Avengers: Secret Wars.” But where do they all begin, exactly?

The X-Men movies have their roots in the early 2000s with the original X-Men trilogy: “X-Men,” “X2: X-Men United,” and “X-Men: The Last Stand.”

This trilogy, along with the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies, was notable for giving the MARVEL movies a big push toward cinematic credibility. “X-Men: The Last Stand” was the worst-received X-Men movie at that point, but compared to later future installments, it could have made worse creative choices.

From there, the series would eventually branch off into its own group of sub-series, one being a "prequel" series of X-Men films (though their continuity as prequels is debatable), and the other being Wolverine-centric storylines. Though, Wolverine would show up in both sub-series of films anyway.

The first of these Wolverine-centric films was “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” meant to be an origin story for the main character. However, the continuity of this film is also debatable in the overall X-Men timeline. Sure, it does feature prequel elements, but the character of Sabretooth, Wolverine’s brother, is a troublesome one.

For one, there was the Sabretooth character in the first movie that looked nothing like the one in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” and nowhere in the first “X-Men” movie did Wolverine ever explicitly mention he had a brother to begin with. That, and the “X-Men Origins” Sabretooth dies anyway.

Another canon error in this film is the ORIGINAL inclusion of Ryan Reynolds's Deadpool character, but it is not the actual Deadpool at all that we are familiar with.

Combined with unfinished special effects and a shoddy storyline, it's safe to say that the first Wolverine spin-off was one of the worst movies in the franchise.

Thankfully, with the second installment, “The Wolverine,” we get a better look at the character, this time taking place in Japan. This movie isn’t horrible, but it isn’t a particularly memorable entry in the franchise. It’s a fine movie that doesn’t go anywhere.

Regarding the final Wolverine movie, “LOGAN,” what more could be said about this film? It’s one of the greatest superhero films of all time, one of the best films of the 2010s, the best in the X-Men series, and the best send-off they could give the Wolverine character... until Deadpool made sure of that of course.

Not to mention, it was also inducted into the Library of Congress for being “culturally significant.” If it weren’t for Deadpool movies, this would have been a terrific way to end the X-Men franchise for good. It almost seems like this movie could do nothing wrong.

Meanwhile, there’s the X-Men prequel series, starting with “X-Men: First Class.” This movie restarts the characters with a brand-new cast and sets the timeline in the 1960s. It is one of the best movies in the franchise because of how satisfying and well-put together it is and is a better origin than the first X-Men film.

But this is also where significant breaks in continuity start to occur. How do Professor X and Magneto split up before they are even supposed to? And another minor nitpick might be that this group of mutants is not the most memorable of the movies. But they were never meant to last anyway. Otherwise, it is a fantastic film.

The prequel series continues with “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” a crossover event where both the original and new versions of the characters collide via time travel. It is an excellent send-off for the original actors and a fine movie for the new actors. Then, the series tumbles off into oblivion.

The prequel installments continue with “X-Men: Apocalypse,” which was a sub-par continuation of “Days of Future Past.” It’s clear that the studio wanted to continue the series but lacked the passion to make a genuinely good movie.

That, and for a movie that takes place in the 1980s, you start to wonder why James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender have not turned into their Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen counterparts by now (unless there’s miraculous aging that occurs with mutants).

Then “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” happened, one of the worst, if not the worst movie in the entire franchise. Nothing in this movie works right, and honestly, it makes sense that the mainline X-Men films should have ended two movies prior.

There is also a “The New Mutants” movie, which is something that exists. It dropped during the pandemic, and like “Dark Phoenix,” it’s no good. An easy skip!

Of course, it would not be in good taste to forget the Deadpool movies, which are loosely connected with the FOX movies.

The first "Deadpool" film was released in 2016, and many saw this self-aware foul-mouthed superhero to be a breath of fresh air for the superhero movie genre. It’s also the best of the trilogy so far.

The second film, “Deadpool 2,” continues Wade Wilson’s escapades, and while it isn’t a bad film, the gags and references don’t land as well this time. It also serves as the setup for the final "Deadpool" release.

Overall, that’s the trajectory of the “Fox-verse” so far. Some highs, some lows, some hilarity. It will be interesting to see how it ends, and we will have to say goodbye... again.

Logan M. Sharp is a fourth-year majoring in film production. To contact him, email lxs5590@psu.edu.