The Marvel Movies You Need to Rewatch Before You Watch Deadpool and Wolverine

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Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool and Wolverine

20th century studios

While the Marvel Cinematic Universe only recently began exploring multiverses, the first Marvel multiverse on the big screen came from the X-Men franchise, which is part of Fox’s Marvel Universe. There are at least four different timelines: the original X-Men film timeline, the Days of the Future Past alternate history timeline, the Death Pole movie timeline, and Loganwho exists in his own bubble. And with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman’s Deadpool and Wolverine Coming to theaters soon — Friday, July 26 — as part of the MCU, in our multiverse-obsessed age, the number of timelines will expand exponentially.

Luckily for us, since this is a Deadpool movie and not a serious affair, the plot probably won’t require you to memorize 25 years of X-Men franchise lore – it’s all fun and games in this corner of the Marvel catalog. What I’m saying is that while there will be plenty of cameos and references to previous X-Men films, you don’t need to memorize every intricate detail. For example, Aaron Stanton’s Pyro from the original three X-Men films will make an appearance in Deadpool and Wolverinebut you just have to remember who he is, what his powers are, and that he was on Team Magneto.

Besides the stories from the past regarding Deadpool & Wolverine’s title characters, rumors suggest the film could serve as a conclusion to the entire Fox Marvel franchise, including Daredevil, ElectricityAnd Fantastic four.

So if you want to get the most out of your Deadpool and Wolverine viewing experience, it’s best to have some of this film’s history fresh in your mind when you see it, even if you don’t have to sweat too many details — Deadpool isn’t here to test your nerd cred. No, he’s here to make crude jokes and appeal to the masses. Consider this article a list of things to remember and keep in mind, rather than a list of movies to rewatch for Deadpool and Wolverine to be logical.

Let’s take a look at the X-Men and other Marvel movies you can watch again before you hit theaters on July 26.

Where can you watch Fox’s Marvel movies in 2024?

Virtually every Marvel film released by Fox is currently available on Disney+.

There are only two exceptions, and these are the two worst-reviewed films from this group, with the worst box office performances: Electricity and the 2015 reboot of Fantastic fourLuckily, both are available on Max.

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Hugh Jackman, X-Men Origin: Wolverine

20th century studios

Metacritic score: 40

There are some really bad movies in the X-Men franchise, but this one is the worst. X-Men Origins was intended to be a spin-off series of prequels about other mutants, but this Wolverine film was such a disaster that plans for individual prequels were scrapped and replaced with X-Men: First ClassBut that’s not why it matters Deadpool and WolverineNo, this film is most relevant because it was Ryan Reynolds’ first live-action appearance as Wade Wilson/Deadpool.

X-Men Origin: Wolverine is the story of Logan being put through the Weapon X program, where he is given the adamantium coating for his skeleton. But this movie also has a Weapon XI – that’s Deadpool, baby. Amazingly, the version of Deadpool in this movie is mute, his mouth literally sewn shut as a meta joke about the movie being PG-13. But no one found it funny – that’s why Deadpool2 has a bit about Wade going back in time to kill that version of the character. With Jackman in the mix this time around, expect plenty of jokes X-Men Origins cost.

The original three X-Men Movies

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Hugh Jackman, X-Men

20th century studios

Metacritic scores:
X-Men: 64
X2: 68
The last resistance: 58

X-Men, X2: X-Men UnitedAnd X-Men: The Last Stand form a trilogy, with X2 as the highest number and The last resistance almost as much reviled as X-Men OriginsTogether they portray a conflict between two groups of mutants: the good guys, led by Professor X (Patrick Stewart), who want to live in peace with ordinary humans, and the bad guys, led by Magneto (Ian McKellen), who want to use their powers to rule over ordinary humans.

While these are ensemble films, Wolverine is essentially the central character of the franchise, acting as the audience’s stand-in for all the mutant stuff being explained to in the first film, and driving much of the action. Throughout this installment of the franchise, he also acts as a father figure to the young mutant Rogue (Anna Paquin), whose best friends are Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Pyro. Three villains from these films are expected to appear in Deadpool and Wolverine: Kelly Hu’s Deathstrike, Ray Park’s Toad, and Tyler Mane’s Sabertooth.

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Dafne Keen and Hugh Jackman, Logan

20th century studios

Metacritic scores:
The glutton: 61
Logan: 77

After the failure of X-Men OriginsFox went on to produce two more films focusing on Wolverine’s solo adventures, each with a smaller budget compared to the main films. X-Men movies. The gluttonreleased in 2013, details key parts of Logan/Wolverine’s backstory and his meeting with an old friend who offers to remove Logan’s mutant abilities so he can die. Loganset in 2030, it depicts a world where almost no mutants remain, save for a few children experimented on by the government, and was the first film to receive an R rating X-Men film apart from Death Pole.

Technically, these two films are not in continuity with each other — The glutton matches the original films, while Logan exists in its own separate universe. However, they are a distinct thematic pair, both directed by James Mangold. Since the events of The glutton are not referred to anywhere else, it works best as a duology with Logan.

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Hugh Jackman, X-Men: Days of Future Past

Alan Markfield/20th Century Studios

Metacritic score: 75

Marvel’s first big-screen multiverse began here. After the events of the X-Men trilogy, things really got bad, with robot Sentinels hunting and killing mutants to the point of near-extinction — a war that left Earth torn apart by a post-apocalyptic war. Professor X and Kitty Pryde (Elliot Page) send Logan’s mind back to the 1970s to prevent the Sentinels from being invented, creating a new timeline. Given the multiverse aspect and the success of Days of the Future Past There will probably be jokes made about this movie at the box office Deadpool and Wolverine.

The Death Pole movies

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Ryan Reynolds, Stefan Kapicic and Brianna Hildebrand, Death Pole

Joe Lederer/20th Century Studios

Metacritic scores:
Death Pole: 65
Deadpool2: 66

These are comedies first and foremost, so the story is really secondary, but there are plenty of recurring jokes to refresh yourself with – if you can believe it, it’s been a whole six years Deadpool2 came out.

The first film is simply Wade’s (Reynolds) origin story – how he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and then tricked into joining a project that would unlock his healing mutation by torturing him for months, and then got revenge on the man responsible for that project. The second film had Deadpool fighting a mysterious evil man from the future named Cable (Josh Brolin) – it’s presumably Cable’s time travel device, which Deadpool stole at the end of the film, that will set Deadpool on whatever multiverse adventure he encounters Wolverine in Deadpool and Wolverine.

OPTIONAL: The remaining X-Men Movies

Oscar Isaac, X-Men: Apocalypse

Oscar Isaac, X-Men: Apocalypse

20th century studios

Metacritic scores:
X-Men: First Class: 65
X-Men: Apocalypse: 52
Dark Phoenix: 43

X-Men: First Class is messy, but the cast is so good it doesn’t matter. But things took a turn for the worse after Days of the Future Past. We have two more prequels X-Men movies set in the 80s and 90s — Apocalypse And Dark Phoenix. They’re both notoriously terrible, and Wolverine isn’t seen in either of them except for a brief Weapon X cameo, which is why they’re optional. But it’s the “notoriously bad” part that might make them relevant. You have to think Deadpool has a few Dark Phoenix jokes at the ready, especially since Wolverine is obsessed with Jean Grey (Famke Janssen and Sophie Turner).

OPTIONAL: Daredevil And Electricity

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Jennifer Garner, Daredevil

20th century studios

Metacritic scores:
Daredevil: 42
Electricity: 34

In addition to X-Men, 20th Century Fox had the film rights to two more Marvel films, and in 2003 Ben Affleck’s Daredevil (about a blind man who uses sonar to see, sort of) was the studio’s second Marvel franchise starter. We haven’t heard anything about Affleck popping up in Deadpool and Wolverinebut Jennifer Garner’s Elektra has been rumored to make a cameo appearance for over a year. Garner starred in both mid-2000s films, which are decent but also relics from a time before superhero movies had $250 million budgets. Revisiting these comic book movies is a nostalgic experience.

OPTIONAL: One of the Fantastic four movies

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Chris Evans, Fantastic four

20th century studios

Metacritic scores:
Fantastic four (2005): 40
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer: 45
Fantastic four (2015):
27

There have been no rumors about Fantastic four characters that appear in Deadpool and Wolverinebut with an MCU Fantastic four scheduled for next summer, it seems unlikely that Marvel’s First Family will skip this one altogether, especially after the John Krasinski/Mr. Fantastic thing in the last Doctor Strange movie.

Fox produced three Fantastic four films, featuring two iterations of the titular team. The original group featured Ioan Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, Chris Evans (yes, the guy who would later play Captain America) as Johnny Storm, Michael Chiklis as The Thing, and Julian McMahon as Dr. Doom. In the reboot a decade later, those roles were played by Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan (yes, the guy who would later Black Panther‘s Killmonger), Jamie Bell and Toby Kebbell, respectively. It wouldn’t be surprising if either of those people showed up, but it’s doubtful the details of those films would matter much since none of them are particularly good.