X-Men in other media


The X-Men are a fictional superhero team created by Marvel Comics that appear in comic books and other forms of media.

Television

Animation

1960s

The X-Men made their first animated appearance on The Marvel Super Heroes TV series in 1966 with Professor X commanding the original X-Men line-up of Cyclops, Beast, Marvel Girl, Angel, and Iceman. In this episode the X-Men are not referred to as the X-Men but rather as the Allies for Peace.

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

As part of a four-series collaboration between the Japanese Madhouse animation house and Marvel, the X-Men and Wolverine both starred in two separate 12 episode anime series that premiered in Japan on Animax and in the United States on G4 in 2011. The X-Men series deals with the X-Men coming to Japan to investigate the disappearance of Armor. The antagonists are the U-Men. It featured Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Beast, Emma Frost, Armor and Charles Xavier, as well as frequent flashbacks with Jean Grey. Other X-Men like Colossus and Rogue made cameo appearances in the finale.

2020s

On November 12, 2021, Marvel announced a revival of the 1992–1997 animated series titled X-Men '97 produced by Marvel Studios and was released in 2024 on Disney+. Several cast members from the original animated series are set to reprise their roles along with new cast members. Beau DeMayo is announced as the head writer and executive producer for the upcoming series with director Larry Houston, and showrunners and producers Eric and Julia Lewald from the original series will serve as consultants.

Live-action

Motion comics

Marvel produced motion comics based on Astonishing X-Men, releasing them on Hulu, iTunes, the PlayStation Store and other video services. These animated episodes were released on DVD through Shout! Factory. It has been announced that Marvel Knights Animation will continue animating Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's run. Starting with the second storyline of the series Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous.
The titles in the series include:Astonishing X-Men: Gifted Astonishing X-Men: Dangerous Astonishing X-Men: Torn
  • ''Astonishing X-Men: Unstoppable''

Film

''X-Men: Darktide''

  • In 2006, Minimates released a short animated brickfilm, X-Men: Darktide on DVD with a box set of figures. The story involved the X-Men battling the Brotherhood at an oil rig. The team consists of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Archangel, Wolverine, the Beast, Xavier and Storm. The Brotherhood team is Mystique, Magneto and Juggernaut.

Film franchise

From 2000 to 2020, 20th Century Studios released thirteen superhero films as part of the X-Men film series.
The first three films focus on the conflict between Professor Xavier and Magneto, who have opposing views on humanity's relationship with mutants. While Xavier believes humanity and mutants can coexist, Magneto believes a war is coming, which he intends to fight and win. The Bryan Singer-directed X-Men was released on July 14, 2000, with the team roster of Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm and Jean Grey. Singer returned for the sequel X2 released on May 2, 2003, with Rogue, Iceman, and Nightcrawler joining the team. Singer was replaced by Brett Ratner for X-Men: The Last Stand, released on May 26, 2006, with Beast, Angel, Shadowcat and Colossus joining. Critics praised Singer's films for their dark, realistic tone, and their focus on prejudice as a subtext. Although Ratner's film was met with mixed reviews, it out-grossed both of its predecessors.
A sequel tetralogy that served as a prequel to the original trilogy started with X-Men: First Class. Following a young Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Mystique, Havok and Banshee as the original team, the film was directed by Matthew Vaughn and released on June 3, 2011. X-Men: Days of Future Past, a sequel to both the original trilogy and X-Men: First Class, with Singer returning to direct, was released on May 23, 2014. The film centered around the original trilogy members using time travel to gain help from their younger counterparts of the prequel tetralogy. X-Men: Apocalypse was released on May 27, 2016, with Mystique leading the team of Beast, Quicksilver, Storm, Nightcrawler, Cyclops and Jean Grey. The tetralogy concluded with a fourth film, [Dark Jean Grey|Phoenix (film)|Dark Phoenix], written and directed by Simon Kinberg and released on June 7, 2019, and featured the same roster as Apocalypse.
Three spin-off films focusing on Wolverine were also released: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, an origin story of Wolverine that was directed by Gavin Hood, was released on May 1, 2009, followed by The Wolverine, directed by James Mangold and set in Japan, released on July 26, 2013. The series concluded with Logan, once again directed by Mangold and released on March 3, 2017. The film was set in 2029.
Two further spin-offs centering around Deadpool were released in 2016 and 2018. Deadpool, which features Colossus and his X-Men trainee Negasonic Teenage Warhead was released on February 12, 2016, while|date=June 2025

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Studios launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008, focused on the Avengers and their related characters, whose film rights they still owned. Marvel was then bought by Disney in 2009, but could not use the X-Men or other mutants, as their film rights still resided with Fox. However, an alternate version of the post-credits scene in Iron Man had Nick Fury specifically mention "assorted mutants" in regards to the larger universe he and Tony Stark were a part of. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were an odd case, as they had strong ties with both the Avengers and the X-Men. The studios negotiated a deal so that they could share the characters' film rights on the stipulation Marvel Studios would be unable to make reference to their background as mutants or as Magneto's children, and that Fox could not allude to their history as Avengers members. While Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver appeared in two MCU films, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch went on to become a regular character, appearing in six films in the franchise in addition to headlining her own television series. On December 14, 2017, Disney announced its intention to acquire 21st Century Fox's film and television studios, which would thereby result in the film rights to the X-Men and associated characters reverting to Marvel Studios. Disney CEO Bob Iger later confirmed that the X-Men would be integrated into the MCU alongside the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and Deadpool. The acquisition was completed on March 20, 2019.
After the deal, Charles Xavier / Professor X became the first mutant character to appear in the MCU, with Patrick Stewart reprising his role from the X-Men film series. He appeared in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as an alternate version of Professor X from Earth-838, and as the leader of the Illuminati of this universe, alongside its other members meeting Doctor Strange and putting him for trial due to his travel in the Multiverse. He is later killed by Scarlet Witch of Earth-616 while rescuing her alternate version of Earth-838. Later that year, the MCU streaming series Ms. Marvel also made reference to the X-Men; in the series finale "No Normal", Kamala Khan is told by her friend Bruno that her genetics have a "mutation", underscored by an excerpt of the theme music from the 1992 X-Men series. Later, in the MCU streaming series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law episode "Superhuman Law", Wolverine gets mentioned in a news article on a blog site browsed by Jennifer Walters which alludes to a man with metal claws fighting in a bar brawl. Additionally, the end-credits of the episode "Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans" depicts a graphic of Augustus Pugliese showing off his sneaker collection to Nikki Ramos, a pair of which are directly inspired by the color scheme of Wolverine's classic costume and the team gets mentioned by Jennifer in the season finale episode "Whose Show Is This?". In the mid-credits scene of the film The Marvels, Monica Rambeau wakes up in X-Mansion and meets Hank McCoy / Beast after she gets trapped in an alternate universe. Kelsey Grammer reprises the role from 20th's X-Men films.
Deadpool & Wolverine is the fourth entry in Phase Five, with Shawn Levy directing and Reynolds reprising his role. Hugh Jackman, Kapičić, Hildebrand, Kutsuna and Dafne Keen reprised their roles as Wolverine, Colossus, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio and X-23 respectively. Additionally, Channing Tatum joins them as Gambit, who was attached to star as the titular character in an unproduced Gambit film. The film was released on July 26, 2024.
On March 26, 2025, Marvel Studios announced that Avengers: Doomsday will feature X-Men characters that have appeared in both the MCU and the Fox X-Men film series.
On July 20, 2019, during San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige announced that a film centered on mutants, which will be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is in development. When asked if the film will be X-Men–titled, Feige said that the terms "X-Men" and "mutants" are interchangeable, and said that the MCU's take on the franchise will differ from 20th's. In 2023, after the end of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, Marvel Studios was reported to be planning to meet with potential writers for a new X-Men film later that year. In May 2024, Deadline Hollywood reported that screenwriter Michael Lesslie had been hired to write the first X-Men film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On July 20, 2025, Jake Schreier was officially confirmed as the film's director, after previously collaborating with the studio on Thunderbolts*.

Video games

Early ''X-Men'' games

The first X-Men video game was released by Josh Toevs and LJN for the Nintendo Entertainment System and was titled The Uncanny X-Men. That same year a computer game was released called X-Men: Madness in Murderworld. Another title, X-Men II: The Fall of the Mutants was released the year after.
Konami created an X-Men arcade game in 1992, which featured six playable X-Men characters: Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm and Wolverine.
In 1992, the X-Men teamed with Spider-Man for Spider-Man and the X-Men in Arcade's Revenge, released for the Super NES, Genesis, Game Gear and Game Boy.
The following years saw the games X-Men: Gamesmaster's Legacy and X-Men: Mojo World released for the Sega Game Gear.
The X-Men made a few appearances in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro. Professor X and Rogue run a Danger Room simulation for the player to train in. Beast appears in the first level to demonstrate the controller functions to the player.
In the 1990s, Sega released two X-Men video games for its Genesis; X-Men and X-Men 2: Clone Wars. Wolverine starred in a solo game in 1994 for both the Super NES and Genesis titled Wolverine: Adamantium Rage. That same year, the X-Men appeared in the X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse game for the Super NES.
X2: Wolverine's Revenge was a stealth-action game released as a tie-in for the film X2, for the sixth generation of video games starring Wolverine as the only playable character. It was released on April 14, 2003, produced by Marvel Games, Gene Pool, Activision and was released by 20th Century Fox, on PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows and Game Boy Advance.

Fighting games

The X-Men are featured in many 2-D and 3-D fighting games.
In order of release:

Film-based games

To coincide with the release of X-Men: The Last Stand, 20th Century, Activision, and Marvel Games released X-Men: The Official Game which filled in gaps between the two X-Men films X2 and The Last Stand, such as explaining Nightcrawler's absence.

''X-Men Legends'' and ''Marvel: Ultimate Alliance''

X-Men Legends and its sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse are games that featured multiple X-Men as playable characters.
Every installment of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance has featured the X-Men as one of the numerous playable characters:
Deadpool, Iceman, Storm, and Wolverine are playable in the major Marvel video game, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Colossus is playable on the Xbox 360, Wii and PS3 versions of the game, and Jean Grey is playable on the GBA version. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Professor X, and Psylocke appear as NPC's on all versions while the Beast, Forge, Karma and Dr. Moira MacTaggert were mentioned by different characters. In addition, during a cut-scene, the Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Gambit, Magneto, Professor Xavier, Psylocke, and Shadowcat were seen defeated by Doctor Doom alongside the Hulk. Xbox 360 owners were later able to download eight new playable characters for the game, including X-Men heroes and villains: Cyclops, Magneto, Nightcrawler and Sabretooth.
In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Wolverine, Deadpool, Iceman, Storm, Gambit, and Jean Grey are featured as playable characters while Cyclops and Psylocke are exclusive to PS2, PSP and Wii. While Colossus appears as an NPC. In the briefing that follows the Wakanda incident, Captain America and Iron Man mention that the other X-Men members have been absorbed into The Fold. Psylocke, Cable, Magneto and the Juggernaut were later added as downloadable characters for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2.
Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Deadpool, and Magneto appear as playable characters in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, while Mystique and Juggernaut appear as bosses. Cyclops, Colossus, the Beast, and Professor X appear on a portrait in the X-Mansion when Magneto attacks it in the X-Men trailer; the former two are playable DLC characters while the other two also appear as non-playable helper characters.

Books

Science of the X-Men by Linc Yaco and Karen Haber explains how different superpowers would work and how such abilities would affect the people that have them. The mutants featured include Quicksilver, Wolverine, Shadowcat, and Nightcrawler.
Several X-Men novels have been published.
TitleAuthorPublisherISBNRelease DateNotes
The Marvel SuperheroesLen Wein
Marv Wolfman
Pocket Books / August 1979Pocket Books series #9; short story collection; includes stories featuring the Avengers, Daredevil, the X-Men, and the Hulk.
X-Men: Cyclops and PhoenixPaul Mantell
Avery Hart
Random House / October 1995Young adult novel; "based on comics by Scott Lobdell"
X-Men: Sabretooth UnleashedVicki KamidaRandom House / October 1995Young adult novel; "based on comics by Larry Hama and Fabian Nicieza"
X-Men: Mutant Empire Book One: SiegeChristopher GoldenBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / May 1996First in Mutant Empire trilogy; is followed by Mutant Empire Book Two: Sanctuary
The Ultimate X-MenStan Lee Berkley Boulevard/BPMC / October 1996Short story collection
X-Men: Mutant Empire Book Two: SanctuaryChristopher GoldenBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / November 1996Second in Mutant Empire trilogy; is followed by Mutant Empire Book Three: Salvation
X-Men: Mutant Empire Book Three: SalvationChristopher GoldenBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / May 1997Third in Mutant Empire trilogy
Generation XScott Lobdell
Elliot S. Maggin
Berkley Boulevard/BPMC / June 1997
X-Men: Smoke and MirrorsEluki Bes ShaharBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / September 1997
X-Men: Empire's EndDiane DuanePutnam/BPMC ; Berkley Boulevard/BPMC / ;
October 1997
September 1998
X-Men: The Jewels of CyttorakDean Wesley SmithBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / December 1997
X-Men: Law of the JungleDave SmedsBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / March 1998
X-Men: Prisoner XAnn NocentiBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / May 1998
Star Trek: The Next Generation/X-Men: Planet XMichael Jan FriedmanPocket Books / May 1998One of three separate crossovers between Marvel and Star Trek ; Marvel at the time was publishing Star Trek comics
X-Men and Spider-Man: Time's Arrow Book 1: The PastTom DeFalco
Jason Henderson
Berkley Boulevard/BPMC / July 1998First in Time's Arrow trilogy; is followed by Time's Arrow Book 2: The Present
X-Men and Spider-Man: Time's Arrow Book 2: The PresentTom DeFalco
Adam-Troy Castro
Berkley Boulevard/BPMC / August 1998Second in Time's Arrow trilogy; is followed by Time's Arrow Book 3: The Future
X-Men and Spider-Man: Time's Arrow Book 3: The FutureTom DeFalco
Eluki Bes Shahar
Berkley Boulevard/BPMC / September 1998Third in Time's Arrow trilogy
X-Men: Codename WolverineChristopher GoldenPutnam/BPMC ; Berkley Boulevard/BPMC / ;
October 1998 ; May 2000
Generation X: CrossroadsJ. Steven YorkBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / November 1998
X-Men: Soul KillerRichard Lee ByersBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / February 1999
X-Men and the Avengers: Gamma Quest Book 1: Lost and FoundGreg CoxBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / July 1999First in Gamma Quest trilogy; is followed by Gamma Quest Book 2: Search and Rescue
X-Men and the Avengers: Gamma Quest Book 2: Search and RescueGreg CoxBerkley Boulevard/BPMC / August 1999Second in Gamma Quest trilogy; is followed by Gamma Quest Book 3: Friend or Foe?
X-Men and the Avengers: Gamma Quest Book 2: Friend or Foe?Greg CoxBerkley Boulevard / June 2000Third in Gamma Quest trilogy
X-Men LegendsStan Lee Berkley Boulevard / June 2000Short story collection
X-Men: Shadows of the PastMichael Jan FriedmanBP Books/iBooks / ; / June 2000
June 2001
X-MenKristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley SmithDel Rey / June 2000Novelization of 2000 X-Men movie
X-Men/Doctor Doom: The Chaos Engine Book OneSteven A. RomanBP Books/iBooks / ;

/
July 2000 ; July 2000 ; August 2001 First in Chaos Engine trilogy; is followed by X-Men/Magneto: The Chaos Engine Book Two
X-Men/Magneto: The Chaos Engine Book TwoSteven A. RomanBP Books/iBooks /
/
/
July 2000 ; January 2002 ; December 2002 Second in Chaos Engine trilogy; is followed by X-Men/Red Skull: The Chaos Engine Book Three
Five Decades of the X-MenStan Lee BP Books/iBooks / ; / March 2002 ; April 2003 Short story collection
X-Men: The Legacy Quest Book OneSteve LyonsBP Books/iBooks / ; / June 2002 ; April 2003 First in The Legacy Quest trilogy; is followed by The Legacy Quest Book Two
X-Men: The Legacy Quest Book TwoSteve LyonsBP Books/iBooks /
/
July 2002 ; April 2003 Second in The Legacy Quest trilogy; is followed by The Legacy Quest Book Three
X-Men: The Legacy Quest Book ThreeSteve LyonsBP Books/iBooks /
/
October 2002 ; September 2003 Third in The Legacy Quest trilogy
X-Men/Red Skull: The Chaos Engine Book ThreeSteven A. RomanBP Books/iBooks / ; / December 2002 ; October 2003 Third in Chaos Engine trilogy
X-Men 2Chris ClaremontDel Rey / March 2003Novelization of 2003 X-Men 2 movie
Wolverine: Weapon XMarc CerasiniMarvel ; Pocket Books /
/
November 2004 ; October 2005 Short lived attempt by Marvel to publish their licensed novels under their own imprint; lasted just this one hardcover release
The X-Men: Dark MirrorMarjorie M. LiuPocket Books / December 2005
The X-Men: Watchers on the WallsChristopher L. BennettPocket Books / April 2006
X-Men: The Last StandChris ClaremontDel Rey / May 2006Novelization of 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand movie
Wolverine: Road of BonesDavid MackPocket Books / October 2006
Wolverine: LifebloodHugh MatthewsPocket Books / February 2007
X-Men: The ReturnChris RobersonPocket Books / April 2007
Wolverine: Violent TendenciesMarc CerasiniPocket Books / October 2007
Astonishing X-Men: GiftedPeter DavidMarvelSeptember 12, 2012Novelization and adaptation of the 2004 comic book story arc Gifted within the Astonishing X-Men ongoing series originally written by Joss Whedon
X-Men: Days of Future PastAlex IrvineMarvelMay 17, 2016Novelization and adaptation of the 1980 comic book story arc by Chris Claremont and John Bryne
X-Men: The Dark Phoenix SagaStuart MooreTitan Books / May 14, 2019Novelization and adaptation of the comic book story arc by Chris Claremont, John Bryne, and Dave Cockrum

Merchandise

The brand did $85 million in merch sales in 1994.