!!YMMV With Their Own Pages
[[index]]
* [[Monster/MarvelFilms Complete Monster]]
* [[EnsembleDarkHorse/XMenFilmSeries Ensemble Dark Horse]]
* [[FranchiseOriginalSin/XMenFilmSeries Franchise Original Sin]]
* [[HarsherInHindsight/XMenFilmSeries Harsher In Hindsight]]
* [[HilariousInHindsight/XMenFilmSeries Hilarious In Hindsight]]
* [[Memes/XMenFilmSeries Memes]]
* [[Narm/XMenFilmSeries Narm]]
* [[UnexpectedCharacter/XMenFilmSeries Unexpected Character]]
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!!Individual Pages
* ''YMMV/XMen1''
* ''YMMV/X2XMenUnited''
* ''YMMV/XMenTheLastStand''
* ''YMMV/XMenOriginsWolverine''
* ''YMMV/XMenFirstClass''
* ''YMMV/TheWolverine''
* ''YMMV/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''
* ''YMMV/Deadpool2016''
* ''YMMV/XMenApocalypse''
* ''YMMV/{{Logan}}''
* ''YMMV/Deadpool2''
* ''YMMV/DarkPhoenix''
* ''YMMV/TheNewMutants''
* ''YMMV/DeadpoolAndWolverine''
[[/index]]
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!!For the franchise as a whole
* {{Adorkable}}:
** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': Nightcrawler loves to give (often interrupted) long-winded introduction speeches, playfully spies on secret meetings, and awkwardly flirts with Storm.
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'':
*** Charles Xavier was a cute geek during his childhood, as demonstrated by the framed pictures of his favourite scientists next to his bed. As an adult, he uses his nerdy knowledge to woo girls at bars.
*** Hank [=McCoy=]. Soft spoken, stutters, asks Raven out on the pretext of getting a blood sample and then ''apologizes for being forward''.
** ''Film/Deadpool2016'': Colossus' first couple scenes have him eating cereal out of a bowl at least three sizes too small for him and lecturing his ward on the importance of eating breakfast in the morning. Near the end of the film, he catches a ride with Deadpool in Dopinder's cab--he's squished in the backseat next to Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and he's casually sipping a drink from a cup that's probably normal-sized, but comically small in his giant hands.
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'':
*** This is Creator/KodiSmitMcPhee's assessment of Nightcrawler from the May 2016 issue of ''Empire''.
---->"Kurt's an affectionate, cute character. He's almost a cute animal to me. [...] He's awkward and weird and amazing in a different way."
*** When Charles meets Moira at her office, he acts like a nervous and love-struck teenager, and the frequent fumbling of his words embarrasses Alex.
*** Hank stammers when he unexpectedly sees Raven again for the first time in a decade.
* AudienceAlienatingEra:
** Both ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' fall under this, with the dip in quality being blamed on {{Executive Meddl|ing}}er Tom Rothman, the executive working at Twentieth Century Fox when those two films [[note]]along with ''Film/FantasticFour2005'' and ''[[Film/FantasticFour2005 Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer]]'', which are similarly derided by Marvel fans[[/note]] were made. Rothman was responsible for Creator/BryanSinger's departure for the third movie, as well as the many woes faced in the TroubledProduction for the first spin-off. Both movies are widely considered to be the worst out of the entire series and most of the movies that followed (''Film/XMenFirstClass'', ''Film/TheWolverine'', ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', ''Film/Deadpool2016'', ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' and eventually ''Film/DarkPhoenix'') were specifically written to right the wrongs that had happened under Rothman's watch (as he'd been let go by the company in the middle of 2012).
** A second dark age arrived with the main series in the latter half of the [=2010s=] with ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' and ''Film/DarkPhoenix'', both of which underperformed significantly at the box office, were panned by critics, and were divisive with fans. However, this only applies to the main series, whereas the spin-offs (both ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' [[Film/Deadpool2 movies]] and ''Film/{{Logan}}'') are held in high regard -- with the exception of ''Film/TheNewMutants'', which got a critical lashing on a level comparable to ''Dark Phoenix''. This unfortunately left the series ending on a low note from a commercial and audience standpoint as well, and no chance for Fox to WinBackTheCrowd due to Disney's acquisition of the company.
* AudienceColoringAdaptation:
** While the source material is well-known, the movies have had a major impact on how general audiences picture the X-Men. Many fans who were introduced to the franchise via the films believe that [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] is a timid teenager who steals other people's superpowers, that [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Charles Xavier]] is a kindly old British-American schoolmaster, that [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]] is a grey-haired old man named "Erik Lehnsherr", that [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]] is a TallDarkAndHandsome loner, and that [[Characters/MarvelComicsMystique Mystique]] is Magneto's loyal female minion.[[note]] In the comics, Rogue is a sexy and confident [[HeelFaceTurn former supervillain]] who could [[FlyingBrick fly and punch through walls]] for most of her history, Charles Xavier is a fully ''American'' political activist with a strong manipulative streak, Magneto is a young and muscular [[WhiteHairBlackHeart white-haired man]] named "Max Eisenhardt" ("Erik Lehnsherr" is one of his many aliases), Wolverine is a scruffy-looking loner who's often the butt of jokes for [[TheNapoleon his short stature]], and Mystique is a [[ChronicBackStabbingDisorder treacherous and slippery]] spy and assassin who led her own supervillain team for most of her history.[[/note]]
** Specifically for Professor X, it has become so ''ingrained'' into the minds of viewers that he should speak with an English accent that Creator/HarryLloyd portrayed him as a full-blooded Englishman in ''{{Series/Legion|2017}}'' (which is set in an AlternateUniverse that's separate from the Fox films) instead of an American [[note]]which is odd considering that his son David Haller is an American on the show[[/note]], or even half-British, half-American like the Creator/PatrickStewart-Creator/JamesMcAvoy version. In ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'', the character is TruerToTheText, yet the Received Pronunciation accent is retained instead of being replaced by an American one (and the role was reprised by Stewart, no less).
* BaseBreakingCharacter: Mystique in the prequel films, largely because of her gradual AdaptationalHeroism. While some see her characterization as an empathetic progression, others see it as a betrayal of the character's villainous legacy with some accusing the studio on trying to capitalize on Creator/JenniferLawrence's star power. It should be noted that fans were more accepting of Mystique's more heroic characterization in ''First Class'' and ''Days of Future Past'', as she became a FallenHero in the former and served as an AntiVillain in the latter. It was only in ''Apocalypse'' and ''Dark Phoenix'' that fans became divided largely because of how she became a full blown hero instead of a NominalHero or a sympathetic AntiVillain.
* CantUnhearIt: Several including, Creator/PatrickStewart or Creator/JamesMcAvoy as [[Characters/MarvelComicsProfessorX Xavier]], Creator/IanMcKellen or Creator/MichaelFassbender as [[Characters/MarvelComicsMagneto Magneto]], Creator/HughJackman as [[Characters/MarvelComicsLogan Wolverine]], Creator/AlanCumming as [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] and Creator/KelseyGrammer as [[Characters/MarvelComicsBeast Beast]] to name a few.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: In the late 2010s, several noted reviewers -- particularly Creator/LindsayEllis and Blog/UnshavedMouse have admitted to finding Rebecca Romijn to be one of the unsung heroes of the franchise. Both their reviews noted that she didn't get enough credit for her performance as Mystique in the original trilogy (all while under extensive makeup). At least part of this has to do with Creator/JenniferLawrence replacing her in the prequel films, at which point her character got a significant increase in screentime.
* FandomRivalry: An intense and often bitter one exists between fans of the ''X-Men'' films and those of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, especially prior to Disney's acquisition of Fox.
** Prior to the merger, fans of the latter hated how ''X-Men'' films were still being made by a separate studio from Creator/MarvelStudios and were very vocal in their desires for Fox to turn over the franchise to Marvel, with a popular target being deviations from the source material (despite the MCU's own history of altering characters and events from the source material). Meanwhile, fans of the ''X-Men'' franchise accused the MCU of being formulaic, simplistic and kid-friendly, while also claiming that Disney would be unwilling or unable to pull off the more mature themes and darker themes that are central to the mutant's oppressed minority narrative. Another common argument is that Disney would never have green-lit R-rated films such as ''Film/Deadpool2016'' and ''Film/{{Logan}}'' (which was proven to be true when Bob Iger said as much), although it should be noted that even MCU fans tend to [[FriendlyFandoms really like movie Deadpool and/or movie Wolverine]].
** Post-merger, the rivalry was softened by both film franchises being under one roof, but at the same time worsened by the prospect of Disney rebooting the ''X-Men'' franchise and/or no longer putting out experimental R-rated fare such as ''Deadpool'' or ''Logan'', thereby potentially causing the ''X-Men'' films to lose their identity. These concerns were at least partially addressed by Bob Iger who stated shortly after completing the Disney-Fox merger that Disney still has an "opportunity" for R-rated Marvel brands, Deadpool among them.
* FanNickname: For the franchise as a whole, this set of movies have been referred to as "[=FoX=]-Men" era by comics fans years before Disney's acquisition of Fox was announced to point out the differences between the movie adaptations and the source material. After the acquisition, the "[=FoX=]-Men" label is basically only used to differentiate the pre-Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse projects from the Creator/MarvelStudios projects.
* FanPreferredCouple: Logan/Rogue is ''much'' more popular than Logan/Jean or Bobby/Rogue, and it's actually the #1 couple of the original trilogy. They have since been overshadowed by the Charles/Erik pairing after ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' -- just look at the [[http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Logan*s*Rogue%20(X-Men)/works difference]] in the sheer [[http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Erik%20Lehnsherr*s*Charles%20Xavier/works number]] of fanfics on Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn for proof. The shippers TookAThirdOption indeed.
* FranchiseOriginalSin:
** The first two ''X-Men'' movies that were universally considered to be amazing for their time have problems that the later movies keep intensifying to make the entire franchise become extremely polarizing among comic books fans: [[MovieSuperheroesWearBlack the lack of color in cinematography and design]] in a franchise and genre famous for its colorful costumes, the significant deviations from the comic (to the point that many people accused the films of acting like they were ashamed of being labeled as comic book movies, which was later proven to be true when Creator/JamesMarsden and Creator/HughJackman admitted that Creator/BryanSinger had banned comic books from the film set), the [[SpotlightStealingSquad spotlight hogging]] of Wolverine, Professor X and Magneto, the severely underused and DemotedToExtra mutants that were leads in the comics, etc. These are problems that have become increasingly less forgivable in the post-Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse superhero movie landscape, as the MCU helped bring about a GenreTurningPoint by making movies that fully embraced their comic book roots.
** The ''X-Men'' films were always criticized for their [[SpotlightStealingSquad blatant overuse of]] [[WolverinePublicity Wolverine]], but it didn't really start to get out of hand until ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' and ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'', which are universally cited as the lowest points of the series. In [[Film/XMen1 the first movie]], although Rogue served as an AudienceSurrogate, most of the movie was still shown through Logan's eyes, and the big climax basically amounted to the other heroes ''throwing'' Wolverine at Magneto's doomsday device and letting him fight Mystique and Sabretooth one-on-one. And in [[Film/X2XMenUnited the second film]], Jean and Nightcrawler both got notable arcs, but much of the plot was still dominated by Wolverine uncovering his past with Cyclops and Professor Xavier spending most of the movie imprisoned in the BigBad's fortress. However, many fans were willing to forgive Wolverine's greater screentime because Creator/HughJackman was [[StarMakingRole a rising star]], Wolverine is considered the most popular and most well known of the X-Men characters, and it was the first time anyone saw the character on screen. Moreover, the first two films still managed to balance out his screentime with other characters who were driving the plot. In the third film? Rogue vanishes after deciding to take the cure, [[spoiler:Cyclops and Professor Xavier are killed off anticlimactically]], there are extended scenes involving Wolverine taking on Magneto's army singlehandedly, and Jean barely seems to remember that she was in love with Scott ''years'' before she met Logan. By the time they cut out the middleman and gave Wolverine his own spinoff, they barely had anything interesting left to do with the character, and critics trashed the movie for forgetting to put in any memorable characters who weren't named "Logan".
** ''First Class'' was praised as the AuthorsSavingThrow of the franchise, making a movie that didn't center around Wolverine (reduced to a single, albeit hilarious, cameo), and likewise taking the concept of mixing X-Men with a period setting, and mixing pulp fiction with period aesthetics and stylings. At the time, this change was refreshing, gave the film a unique flavor and it made sense to ground Professor X and Magneto's rivalry in a historical context and setting[[note]]Namely Young Magneto as a Nazi Hunter made sense in a decade or so after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and the ongoing UsefulNotes/ColdWar produced a good backdrop for his and Charles' alliance and falling out on both a narrative and thematic level[[/note]], and likewise, the use of the Cold War and Bay of Pigs as background did not overwhelm the superhero story at the center. However, the films that followed, namely ''Days of Future Past'' and ''Apocalypse'' are set in TheSeventies and TheEighties respectively, and the films and the stories they tell have very little narrative and aesthetic reason to fit in those times and places. The characterization and plot also retcons and changes the ending of ''First Class'' (Magneto going from solidly villainous at the end to a friendly enemy in the next two and moving in and out of the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor), which makes what was supposed to be a soft-reboot for the series into a ContinuitySnarl, backsliding to WolverinePublicity (especially ''X-Men: Apocalypse'' with its single Weapon X flashback that literally exists to shoehorn him in) and also not properly aging Charles, Magneto and Mystique in the thirty years or so when the three films transpire, leading to films like ''Deadpool'' and ''Logan'' standing out and earning critical and audience acclaim for their BroadStrokes approach.
* FriendlyFandoms:
** Fans of these films seem to get on pretty well with fans of the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse [[OddFriendship of all things]] due to [[EnemyMine the shared rivalry]] with the MCU and both franchises taking a more serious and grounded approach to their source material and struggling to remain unique against the lighthearted and more fantastical MCU approach. That said, the DCEU has started taking a lighter approach as well.
** MCU fans have a much healthier relationship with fans of ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'' than the other Marvel movies made by FOX, mostly due to how a comics-faithful, R-rated Deadpool movie would be incompatible with the (relatively) family-friendly Disney-owned MCU films. It doesn't hurt that ''Deadpool'' made a couple of [[ShoutOut friendly nods]] towards the MCU itself, has been praised by a number of the MCU's actors and directors, and even got approval and help from Creator/KevinFeige himself.
** Likewise, Creator/HughJackman as Wolverine has earned the respect of pretty much everyone (the MCU fandom included) in spite of never wearing a comics-accurate costume. The great praise [[Film/{{Logan}} his swan song in the role]] received cemented this. This is so much so that there are fan calls to bring him into the MCU now that Disney has completed its acquisition of Fox.
** The same sentiment is shared by MCU fans for Creator/PatrickStewart’s Professor X, whose returning cameo in ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'' is considered an absolute high point of the film.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Seeing Patrick Stewart and Creator/IanMcKellen as old friends, even if they have long since become enemies, counts as this since they became best friends after working on these films together.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** For those who have seen ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' and the team ''X-Men'' films before ''Series/ChildrenOfDune'', it's very amusing that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnm5wdGMevU the Borg Queen is the grandmother of Professor X.]] By virtue of being a Kwisatz Haderach (a being who can access the genetic memories of its female and male ancestors), Leto Atreides II (played by a young Creator/JamesMcAvoy) has intimate knowledge of the Lady Jessica (portrayed by Alice Krige) that he finds very uncomfortable, which mirrors Captain Picard's distress that the Borg Queen knows everything about him when he was assimilated into her collective. Creator/PatrickStewart also appeared in ''Film/Dune1984''.
** Anyone who is a fan of both [=McAvoy=]'s Xavier in the ''X-Men First Class Trilogy'' and Will Graham from ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' will notice the striking similarities between the two characters. (You can read a more detailed comparison in the ReferencedBy section in the [[Trivia/XMenFilmSeries Trivia tab]], but for the sake of this entry, it's enough to know that Will is a [[TheEmpath "pure empath"]] who is physically and emotionally scarred by his abusive love-hate relationship with the murderous Hannibal Lecter--heck, Hugh Dancy and Creator/JamesMcAvoy even look somewhat alike.) The ''X-Men'' film series fandom coined the term "Mutant husbands" to describe Charles' and Erik's homoerotic friendship, so all Cherik shippers who had watched the ''Series/{{Hannibal}}'' episode "And the Woman Clothed with the Sun..." burst out laughing when Freddie Lounds called Graham and Lecter "Murder husbands."
** In the prequel films, none of the characters age much across the several decades, which some fans handwaved as a result of them being mutants. However, Moira threw a wrench in this fan theory due to her being a baseline human who also didn't age at all between the 60s and 80s... which makes the retcon in ''ComicBook/HouseAndPowersOfX'' that she's not only a mutant herself, but an exceptionally powerful one as well, an amusing reveal. Now the mutant aging fan-theory has no holes!
* LGBTFanbase: ''X-Men'' has always been a series about empowering the marginalized, but this particular iteration of the franchise, having many of its installments directed by an openly-bisexual man (Bryan Singer) and starring openly-LGBTQ+ actors (openly gay Ian [=McKellen=], openly bisexuals Anna Paquin and Alan Cumming and transgender and non-binary[[note]]Though prior to coming out as trans in late 2020, he was identifying as a lesbian at the time[[/note]] Elliot Page), has been associated with the gay community in spite of having very few open LGBT relationships shown onscreen (HoYay and HomoeroticSubtext notwithstanding). Considering that the main movies were made with a gay allegory in mind ("Have you tried ''not'' being a Mutant?") and that the film series came out around the time that popular culture was becoming vastly more accepting of the LGBT community, this isn't too surprising. Unfortunately, sexual assault allegations against Bryan Singer have since hurt this franchise's image with gay fans.
* MagnificentBastard:
** [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMagneto Magneto]], real name [[AntiVillain Erik Lehnsherr]], is equally magnificent in both timelines:
*** In the original timeline, Erik Lehnsherr is a Holocaust survivor [[FreudianExcuse who believes mutants will suffer the same injustices]] unless they strike first to establish mutant superiority. Founding the Brotherhood of Mutants as Magneto, [[Film/XMen1 he later kidnaps Senator Kelly]] to test his machine that turns humans into mutants like him, while also having Mystique take Kelly's place in the government. Magneto plans to use Rogue to power the machine, and later captures her by having Mystique convince her that Xavier and the rest of the school have turned against her. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Imprisoned and forced to help William Stryker]], Magneto escapes and joins forces with the X-Men to stop him, before using Stryker’s son to try to force Charles to kill all non-mutants. [[Film/XMenTheLastStand Magneto uses Jean Grey to attack the Worthington Labs]] facility making a mutant cure, even at the cost of Charles's life, something that saddens him greatly. Though temporally depowered, [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast Magneto later returns to help save the world from the Sentinels]] and reconciles with Charles, before helping send Logan back in time to prevent the BadFuture.
*** In the Reboot Timeline, Erik "Magneto" Lehnsherr is [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast broken out of the Pentagon]] by Charles and a time traveling Logan and agrees to help them stop Raven from inadvertently causing a Bad Future by killing Bolivar Trask, before attempting to kill her for the greater good. When this fails, Erik steals the plans for the Sentinels and fuses metal to them, so he can use them to attack the White House and try to kill President Richard Nixon. [[Film/XMenApocalypse Going into hiding and starting a family]], Erik is found out and his family is killed, killing the men who did so for revenge before joining Apocalypse. Erik later betrays Apocalypse and helps the X-Men beat him, departing on good terms with his old friend and starting the island of Genosha, as a refuge for mutants to live in peace. [[Film/DarkPhoenix When Jean arrives at Genosha]] seeking his help controlling her rage, Erik agrees and later saves a military helicopter from her. Learning that Jean accidentally killed Raven, Erik leads his forces, along with Hank, in attempt to kill her, using a train to get into the building Jean is in. Later, Erik leads the united forces to keep the D'Bari busy while Charles reaches out to Jean. Tracking Charles to Paris, Erik ends the series engaging his friend in a friendly game of chess.
** [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesMystique Mystique]], real name [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Raven Darkhölme]], is [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesProfessorCharlesXavier Charles Xavier]]'s adopted sister and Magneto's right-hand woman with the power to shapeshift into anyone, who joined Erik after his falling out with Charles. [[Film/XMen1 Kidnapping Senator Kelly]] by pretending to be his aide, Mystique later tricks Rogue into running away from the mansion by making her believe everyone there has turned on her, and sabotages Cerebro as everyone is distracted. Engaging Logan in a fight within the Statue of Liberty, Mystique gets the upper hand several times, evades capture, and takes Kelly's place in the government. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Discovering William Stryker]] is in charge of holding Magneto, Mystique sneaks into his office in order to learn where Magneto is being held before ensuring his escape by putting iron in his prison guard's blood. Later joining the X-Men in taking down Stryker, Raven even takes the lead by infiltrating the dam by using her powers, before trying to force Charles to kill all humans. Truly believing in Erik's goal, and with some of the best fighting abilities in the series, Mystique lives life by her personal motto, "Mutant and proud."
** ''Film/Deadpool2'': [[Characters/MarvelComicsCable Cable]] is a half-cyborg soldier from the future whose wife and young daughter are murdered by Russell Collins/Firefist, a pyrotechnic supervillain. Cable travels back in time to prevent this from happening with the strong intent to kill Russell when he's still a child. He breaks into the Ice Box, the mutant prison Russell is being held in, and mows down the guards before then fighting [[Characters/XMenFilmSeriesDeadpool Wade Wilson/Deadpool]] and beating him too. Cable then goes after a prison caravan Russell is in while making further attempts to prevent Deadpool's interference as well. Cable then teams up with Deadpool and his friends to track down Russell and after Deadpool sacrifices himself to protect Russell from Cable and thus, undoes Russell's actions in the future. Cable then relives the previous fight against mutant-hating orderlies perfectly while saving Deadpool and deciding to stay to further help preserve the future comfortable knowing his family is alive again.
%%* MemeticBadass: Quicksilver, ''especially'' when compared to the MCU version.
* MyRealDaddy: There are competing claims:
** Creator/BryanSinger wrote, directed, and produced the first two films and he had this reputation and status for the first three films, returning after a hiatus to direct the well-received ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''. The highly divisive ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' directed by Creator/BrettRatner was weakly received for not having Singer at the helm. However, Singer's direction was put in doubt with the mixed reception of ''Film/XMenApocalypse''. This only became more contentious following Singer's public fall from grace (see OvershadowedByControversy) as well as reports of his erratic behavior on the set of ''Apocalypse'', which forced producer and future ''Dark Phoenix'' director Simon Kinberg to handle much of the shooting and foreshadowed Singer's CreatorBreakdown during the making of ''Film/BohemianRhapsody''.
** A lot of fans consider Creator/MatthewVaughn to be this for the later ''X-Men'' films. He was the director of ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' which was considered the AuthorsSavingThrow for the franchise, and became the first successful X-Men film ''not'' centered on Wolverine. He also changed the aesthetic of a trilogy that was formerly the TropeMaker and TropeCodifier for MovieSuperheroesWearBlack, introduced a much more humorous and sexy style (even those who liked the first X-Men films pointed out that they were rather overly serious) and made the costumes and visual design much more brighter and colorful (giving the First Class team a dark blue and lemon yellow ensemble and setting the finale in broad daylight on the beaches of Cuba) and also setting the Mutants against a historical period and backdrop and invoking the aesthetic and slang of that time and place. When Singer returned to the franchise, with ''Days of Future Past'', he followed Vaughn's aesthetic (brighter costumes and palette, more humor, period setting, and sex appeal), and the success of ''First Class'' also led Fox to green-light more personal and director-driven takes on the series, and even push to the R-Rating (Vaughn's film was the first mainstream superhero film with a PrecisionFStrike), leading to ''Film/Deadpool2016'', ''Film/{{Logan}}'' and ''Film/Deadpool2''. It should also be noted that the two installments of the prequel series where he had no involvement -- ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' and ''Film/DarkPhoenix'' -- are two of the worst-received films in the series.
** Creator/JamesMangold directed the last two Wolverine movies that are considered better than ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' and is said by many as the best Wolverine director, especially since ''Film/{{Logan}}'' is considered by many as one of the best superhero films of all time.
* OnceOriginalNowCommon:
** The first two ''X-Men'' movies have largely been overshadowed in the mid-to-late 2000s by the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'', and, of course, the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, but at the time, the [[Film/XMen1 first movie]] was a surprise hit that proved vital in convincing Hollywood that {{superhero}}es could be viable again after ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' had [[GenreKiller killed the genre several years earlier]]. People tend to forget that alongside ''Film/{{Blade}}'' and even the divisive ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'', the original ''X-Men'' films were massively influential in terms of tone and costuming, arguably becoming the TropeCodifier for MovieSuperheroesWearBlack (although Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' can claim that as well).
** Also, up till then, superhero films tended to be star-driven vehicles in order to avoid a perceived comic-book ghetto; you needed a $20-million headliner like Creator/JackNicholson, Creator/ValKilmer or Creator/WesleySnipes to pull in a mass audience, and ones that didn't, like ''Film/{{The Phantom|1996}}'' and ''Film/TheRocketeer'', got destroyed at the box office. Here, the two biggest under-50 names were Creator/HalleBerry and Creator/AnnaPaquin, both supporting characters (and both ''women'') and two of the three central leads were played by aged Shakespearean actors, while the other was an Australian unknown in Hugh Jackman. Nowadays, especially in the TurnOfTheMillennium and TheNewTens movie landscape where star vehicles have given way to ensemble pieces driven by premise and spectacle, superhero films have few qualms about casting [[Film/{{Thor}} unknown actors]] or [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014 actors who had never headlined a blockbuster before]], knowing that the property will sell itself and the movies will propel the actors to further heights instead of the other way around.
** The films also showed superheroes with powers and skills entirely different from the superhero films made before, showing how unique and special superhero action could be, with many citing Nightcrawler's opening in the second film as a major example of the unique action setups possible only with super-powered characters. Before the only super-powered being (as opposed to BadassNormal like Batman or EmpoweredBadassNormal like Blade) was Superman's FlyingBrick skillset whereas this film showed magnetic, telekinetic, telepathic, teleportation-based powers that hadn't convincingly been shown in movies before.
* OnlyTheCreatorDoesItRight: With the rise of the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, the opinion that Creator/MarvelStudios could make a better ''X-Men'' movie than 20th Century Fox increasingly gained traction with some. However, of the [[ComicBook/XMen three]] [[ComicBook/FantasticFour film]] [[ComicBook/SpiderMan franchises]] that Marvel Studios did not initially own, the ''X-Men'' movies ([[ContestedSequel except for]] ''Film/XMenApocalypse'') that have come out since the start of the Paramount/Disney SharedUniverse have been the most well-received and successful post-''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', leading to others arguing that Fox is capable of doing right by these characters[[note]]Marvel Studios re-acquired the film rights to ''Spider-Man'' in February 2015 via sharing with Sony, leaving the only two properties that they don't own at Fox.[[/note]]. This all changed when Disney acquired Fox's assets in December 2017, leading to debates on how much of the films should be carried by the creative teams of the MCU and/or the pre-existing X-Men movies.
** At the very least, both franchises have put out their own version of the same characters: [[Characters/MarvelComicsQuicksilver Quicksilver]], and the X-Men[=/=]Fox version is generally considered better than the version of the character in ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron'' [[spoiler:who was KilledOffForReal by Joss Whedon to give the story some amount of stakes and also because the character became disposable]]. Likewise, the fact that Marvel Comics have responded to Fox holding on to the rights for characters that it has made into commercial successes [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure by essentially short-changing the X-Men]] in the comics and promoting ''ComicBook/TheInhumans'' as a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute has spurned many long-time fans of the X-Men away from Marvel, while ''Film/{{Logan}}'' was seen as an improvement on the original ''ComicBook/OldManLogan'' story by Creator/MarkMillar.
* OvershadowedByControversy: The series' reputation got tainted during the beginning days of the [=#MeToo=] and "Time's Up" movement when the franchise's best-known director, Bryan Singer, was accused of sexual misconduct by several actors (many of whom were underage at the time on top of that). Considering how this specific iteration of the ''X-Men'' is tied to the LGBT allegory, especially coming from an openly-gay director, this has the unfortunate effect of tarnishing the franchise's legacy among many of the same people that it tried to uplift and their allies. This culminated in a boiling point in 2017 where Singer, along with ''The Last Stand'' director Brett Ratner and ''Deadpool'' actor TJ Miller, became very prominent examples of the Weinstein Effect for acts of sexual abuse and violence they had committed.
* QuestionableCasting:
** This likely ''would'' have happened in the solo ''Gambit'' movie, with the title character [[http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/05/13/channing-tatum-confirmed-as-gambit having been Darrin'd from]] Taylor Kitsch, who previously portrayed the character in ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'', to Creator/ChanningTatum as he looks and sounds nothing like the character in question. And even if the role was going to go to another actor, fans seem to prefer a more convincing one for the part like [[Series/{{Lost}} Josh Holloway]] or French actor Gaspard Ulliel. The film languished in DevelopmentHell and eventually was shelved.
** The casting of Creator/HenryZaga as Sunspot and Creator/AliceBraga as Cecilia Reyes in ''Film/TheNewMutants'' has led to considerable backlash and accusations of whitewashing. Although Zaga is from Brazil, Sunspot is ''Afro''-Brazilian, and his origin specifically has him being discriminated against for his African features. Likewise, Reyes is Afro-Latina. Both Zaga and Braga are not black (being olive-skinned and light enough to appear somewhat white under some shades). The reaction to Braga's casting is further fueled by the fact she is replacing the much better-received Creator/RosarioDawson, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with ''Series/LukeCage2016''.
* SignatureScene:
** ''Film/XMen1'' has Magneto confronting Wolverine in the train, and later stopping all the bullets fired by the police and then turning them back.
** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' has four by itself: the Nightcrawler opening, the attack on the X-Mansion (where we first see Wolverine unleash his claws through human flesh), the scene at Bobby's parents house where his mother asks him "Have you tried not being a mutant?" and Magneto's grisly escape from the plastic prison.
** ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' has the opening sequence with the de-aged Patrick Stewart and Ian [=McKellen=] (the first time the technology had been used in a major film) and the attack on Alcatraz, with Vinnie Jones' Juggernaut [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch insisting he's the Juggernaut]].
** ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' has Magneto lifting a submarine out of the sea.
** ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'' has at least two: young Magneto lifting an entire stadium and dropping it around the White House, and old Magneto and Storm turning the X-Jet into a bomb to take out a number of future Sentinels, and of course Creator/EvanPeters' Quicksilver showing his SuperSpeed powers set to "Time in a Bottle".
** ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' has Apocalypse hijacking the Cerebro and using Charles Xavier's mind to launch all of the Earth's nuclear missiles in space. And, of course, the "Sweet Dreams" scene with Quicksilver.
** ''Film/DarkPhoenix'' has the space rescue which ends with Jean Grey absorbing the Phoenix Force and the attack on the train.
* StrangledByTheRedString: The supposed "[[InformedAttribute great]] love" that Logan feels for Jean Grey is hard to take seriously, since they only knew each other for about five days ''at most''. The majority of the first film's plot takes place over roughly two or three days, then Logan goes off to Canada to find out about his past; they spend about a day in each other's company in the second film as they prepare to stop the villain, and Jean dies at the end of the mission; and in the third film she's come back evil and spends most of their scenes together crazily beating the crap out of him. Plus, in the first two films, ''Jean was already in a long-term, loving relationship with Scott''.
* StrawmanHasAPoint:
** Unfortunately, even more so than in the source comics. Magneto and humans who want to try and control mutants both make far more convincing arguments for their positions than the X-Men and Xavier, who [[VillainsActHeroesReact never try to do anything to bridge the gap between the two species and spend their time keeping the status quo in check]].
** In ''Film/XMen1'', Senator Kelly specifically [[MythologyGag mentions]] [[Characters/MarvelComicsKittyPryde a girl who can]] [[IntangibleMan walk through walls]], and asks "What's to stop her from walking right into a bank vault -- or the White House?" Well...
*** In the very next movie, a BrainwashedAndCrazy Nightcrawler is able to {{teleport|ation}} into the White House and kick the Secret Service's collective ass, proving Kelly right.
*** Later on, in the same vein, in ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Bolivar Trask tells Nixon that Mystique can impersonate anyone, and could use her power to turn into him, walk into the White House and order a nuclear strike. Once again, he's absolutely right.
** ''Film/X2XMenUnited'': The villain in ''X2'' is so extremely anti-mutant that he would experiment on and enslave his own son to exterminate them all. In the process, he enslaves another mutant to attack the president of the US, just so he can offer a target for the president to authorize an attack on. Before the strike, though, an objection is made that the target is a school. The villain responds sarcastically, "sure it is", showing X-ray imagery of a secret jet underneath the school's basketball court. A dispassionate observer should note, actually, that it is ''extremely'' suspicious. Normally, schools don't have military-grade equipment hidden in their facility, and after all, "schools" in some parts of the world have been used as recruiting centers/supply bases/etc. by terrorist organizations before -- both for the purpose of camouflage, and making attacks on them politically troublesome. The president then orders a non-lethal infiltration and capture mission, which from his position is ''entirely'' reasonable.
** Throughout the franchise, everything that Magneto warns Xavier about comes true:
*** In ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', the mutant cure is weaponized in guns that shoot syringes of the cure and these guns are used to combat them.
*** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' the US and Soviets launch a barrage of missiles at the mutants, not caring that half of the ones present just stopped World War III. Most of Magneto's actions in the series after the first film are about launching ''counter-attacks'' after the humans make the first move against mutants.
*** In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', the BadFuture has gotten to the point of mutants and mutant sympathizers and potentials being rounded up and herded into internment camps in a scene very obviously based on the Holocaust, ''exactly the type of thing Magneto believed would happen''.
*** In ''YMMV/{{Logan}}'', the humans have found a way to stop future mutants from being naturally born by neutralizing the X-gene in the human population with GMO food.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: One of the biggest criticisms laid against these movies is that the SpotlightStealingSquad of Wolverine, Professor X, Magneto and Mystique[[note]]specifically for the ''First Class'' trilogy; she was merely a SatelliteCharacter in the original trilogy[[/note]] take away screen time from several other characters who are deserving of attention.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]] is the leader of the team and main character in many of the comics, but he's DemotedToExtra in ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' and [[spoiler:killed off within a few scenes]] in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand''. This is also seen as a waste of actor Creator/JamesMarsden, who many agree was a pitch-perfect casting choice. An adolescent Scott Summers (portrayed by Creator/TyeSheridan) does have a significant role in ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' and ''Film/XMenDarkPhoenix'', though, so the AlternateTimeline repaired some of the damage.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]] is an iconic black female superhero and generally one of Marvel Comics’s most celebrated leading ladies, however her role in the films left much to be desired, as she was firmly on the sidelines outside of a few scenes where she got to display her powers. Even when Creator/HalleBerry (who is a oscar winner) pushed for a bigger role in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', she was still at best only Wolverine’s sidekick. ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' and ''Film/XMenDarkPhoenix'' (where she was recast with Alexandra Shipp) likewise don’t do much with her character, with the former film only characterizing her as a HeroWorshipper of Mystique who becomes an UnwittingPawn of Apocalypse and the latter film reducing her to a side character.
** Despite being a prominent female heroine in Marvel, [[Characters/MarvelComicsRogue Rogue]] past the [[Film/XMen1 first film]] (where she was a LivingMacGuffin) is heavily DemotedToExtra. She only gets a couple of scenes to herself, in which she mainly laments over the [[IJustWantToBeNormal uncontrollable nature of her powers and how they have been negatively affecting her relationship with Iceman]]. This subplot concludes in ''Last Stand'' with her taking the mutant cure off-screen, and she doesn't even get to join the remaining heroes in the climactic final battle against Magneto's Brotherhood.
** [[Characters/MarvelComicsJubilee Jubilee]] is generally one of the most iconic and celebrated characters in the X-Men, but the original film trilogy reduced her to a background character who doesn't speak. ''Film/XMenApocalypse'' managed to give her a speaking role and even have her tag along with Cyclops, Jean and Nightcrawler to the mall, but it isn't much more than a cameo and she gets knocked out and left at the ruins of the X-Mansion by Stryker shortly after, preventing her from taking part in the FinalBattle. Not helping matters is that moments of Jubilee using power in both timelines are [[DeletedScenes deleted scenes]], with the ''X-Men Apocalypse'' one merely having her restart an arcade machine for Scott and Jean.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: ''[[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast Days of Future Past]]'' ends with the X-Men rewriting history and effectively undoing the events of the first three movies, creating a brand new timeline where NothingIsTheSameAnymore. But the implications of the new AlternateTimeline are never really explored in ''[[Film/XMenApocalypse Apocalypse]]'' and ''Film/DarkPhoenix'', largely because they revolve around centuries-old threats (En Sabah Nur and the Phoenix Force) that were around long before the change in the timeline, and apparently weren't affected by it.
* ValuesDissonance: The already much maligned "romance" between Logan and Jean throughout the films has become this by the 2020s, where attitudes towards both toxic masculinity and women's consent had shifted. In ''X1'', Logan's actions towards Jean (trying to flirt with her during a medical exam, which she visibly does not respond to, before continuing to push despite her lack of interest) can come off as more predatory, and his immediate dislike of Cyclops for little more than being another able-bodied male in supposed "competition" with him reads as more toxic machismo than anything, especially as Cyclops never does anything to justify Logan's hostility but stand his ground and is actually quite polite and welcoming towards him before he starts trying to start an unprovoked physical altercation. ''X2'' takes this further, with him making a pass on Jean while Scott is MIA, which she has to firmly shut down on, and again reads more like Logan trying to take advantage of a situation where Jean is likely in distress that her boyfriend is missing and possibly killed or brainwashed.
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