There are bound to be some misses with over a dozen entries into Fox’s X-Men movie universe. Each film pulled inspiration from the comics in its own way, but not all did so successfully. While there are storylines and arcs from the X-Men comics that fans loved, these storylines ended up translating to the silver screen as total messes.
From the beginning of the franchise until the very end, the movies just kept destroying arcs from the comics that readers held near and dear. While the X-Men franchise tried its very best, at times, it simply served to worsen the storylines it was originally based on.
10 X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982)
The second film in the X-Men movie universe was X2, also known as X2: X-Men United. This movie sought to adapt the 1982 graphic novel “X-Men: God Loves, Man, Kills” by Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson.
Stryker was the antagonist of this story, which saw Magneto teaming up with the X-Men to stop Stryker from using Professor X as a massive telepathic weapon. While X2 follows similar plot beats, it, unfortunately, destroyed most of what Claremont wrote and replaced it with the sorts of cheesy quips only an X-Men movie could provide.
9 The Dark Phoenix Saga (1980)
A storyline that has been adapted multiple times, now, within the X-Men universe, is “The Dark Phoenix Saga.” This extended storyline by Chris Claremont and John Byrne was an epic in the comics and a fan-favorite event throughout multiple issues. X2 alluded to this storyline, and its sequel, X-Men: The Last Stand, directly adapted many components of this original story.
Unfortunately, it was not well-adapted, and this beloved story became a muddled mess in The Last Stand. In fact, this story was adapted so poorly that X-Men: Days of Future Past was created to clean up the timeline.
8 Astonishing X-Men: Gifted (2004)
Another storyline that X-Men: The Last Stand attempted to adapt was “Gifted,” from Astonishing X-Men's title. Released only a couple of years before The Last Stand, “Gifted” was a six-issue arc that kicked off the third volume of Astonishing X-Men as a continuation of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men.
This storyline introduced the concept of a “cure” of sorts for mutants that would rid them of their mutant abilities. Written by Joss Whedon, with art by John Cassaday, “Gifted” influenced The Last Stand but would not, unfortunately, be enough to save it.
7 Origin: The True Story Of Wolverine (2001 — 2002)
The series “Origin,” also known as “Origin: The True Story of Wolverine,” was written by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, and Paul Jenkins, with art by Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove. While the comic ran only six issues, fans loved it to tell Wolverine's story before he was Wolverine.
Learning the origin of Logan in his younger and more vulnerable years was incredibly exciting. So fans were optimistic to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which seemed to be an obvious adaptation of the series. Unfortunately, the movie adapted the origin story poorly and ultimately was not well-received.
6 Weapon X: First Class (2008)
Even though the storyline “Weapon X: First Class” seems to lend its name to the movie X-Men: First Class, it was, in fact, partially adapted instead in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Along with “Origin,” the storyline “Weapon X: First Class” was one of the influential storylines that were ultimately butchered by a terrible movie.
“Weapon X: First Class” was written by Marc Sumerak with art by Tim Seeley and Mark Robinson; the story explored Wolverine’s early life and how he was created. This origin movie, however, did not tell the story half as well.
5 Marvel Comics Presents: Weapon X (1991)
When Marvel Comics wanted to re-introduce Wolverine's story as Weapon X, they chose to do so in an arc created entirely by Barry Windsor-Smith. The arc “Weapon X” was part of the inspiration for Wolverine’s origin story portrayed in both X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Dark Phoenix.
The latter film briefly introduced a captured Logan who had no memory of his past but unfortunately did it so clumsily that this appearance amounted to little more than a cameo.
4 Days Of Future Past (1981)
A storyline that was improved in some ways and worsened in others' transition from page to screen was “Days of Future Past.” This storyline took place in The Uncanny X-Men and saw Kitty Pryde sending herself back into the past to save the future. This storyline by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin was changed somewhat in its transition to film.
Because Wolverine is so beloved on the silver screen, he was made the story's primary protagonist, rather than Kitty Pryde. Unfortunately, this change was made for the worse, and the story loses a lot of its original weight for this thoughtless replacement.
3 Age Of Apocalypse (1995)
The crossover storyline “Age of Apocalypse” in Marvel Comics was huge and branched across multiple storylines, teams, and arcs. As this was such a huge story, the movie X-Men: Apocalypse struggled with adapting it to any degree. This battle against Apocalypse was dramatically different from the way the X-Men battled with Apocalypse in the comics.
Unfortunately, the movie fell short in a lot of ways, despite having an outstanding cast to work with. Created by David Lapham, “Age of Apocalypse” is something that would be better suited to Disney+’s What If…? than anything else.
2 The Fall Of The Mutants: X-Factor (1988)
Another crossover storyline that influenced the movie X-Men: Apocalypse was “The Fall of the Mutants.” This storyline was much smaller and less daunting than “Age of Apocalypse,” but it still was not handled well on the screen. “The Fall of the Mutants” was created by an impressive team consisting of Chris Claremont, Louise Simonson, Marc Silvestri, Walter Simonson, and Bret Blevins.
This story's plot saw Apocalypse recruiting his Four Horsemen against the X-Force, which was partially adapted in X-Men: Apocalypse. Sadly, it did not transition well and became muddled with the other stories being adapted simultaneously.
1 The Hellfire Club Arc (1980)
Chris Claremont wrote the specific arc that inspired Dark Phoenix with art by John Byrne. In fact, “The Hellfire Club” arc took place within “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” but stands apart as the very particular influence for the movie Dark Phoenix.
This movie, unfortunately, did not do a great job adapting the story, apart from the entire plot of Jean Grey dying in some way that will obviously lead to her returning. This, too, was even made worse in the movie than it was in the comics.
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