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X-MEN MOVIE TIMELINE

 

  • 1845: Young James Howlett witnesses the death of the man he believes to be his father, and in response, kills the man that turns out to be his biological father (Thomas Logan). James runs off with Victor Creed, now realizing that the 2 are brothers. (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

  • 1861-1973: James "Logan" Howlett and Victor Creed fight alongside each other through various major American conflicts, including the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War, until their capture and imprisonment in Vietnam. (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

  • 1944: Erik Lensherr and his family are taken to a German concentration camp in their home Poland. Upon separation, young Lensherr displays his mutant power for the first time, bending a metal gate as Nazi guards try to detain him. This is observed by Dr. Klaus Schmidt (Sebastian Shaw), who tries to tap into Lensherr's power. In an attempt to "motivate" young Erik, Schmidt murders Erik's mother in front of him, triggering Lensherr's powers. (X-Men, X-Men: First Class)

  • 1944: A young Charles Xavier meets a young Raven Darkholme, who has broken into the Xavier mansion seeking food. Young Xavier decides to take Raven in, recognizing that she too is a mutant, and the 2 develop a very close brother / sister relationship. (X-Men: First Class)

  • 1962: The events of "X-Men: First Class", including the revelation of mutants to the CIA, Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr forming the original X-Men, and Sebastian Shaw manipulating American and Russian tensions, leading to the Cuban Missle Crisis. Charles Xavier is paralyzed, and Xavier and Lensherr have their split. Lensherr officially becomes Magneto, and forms the early version of his Brotherhood of Mutants. (X-Men: First Class)

  • 1972: Logan and Creed are ordered to be executed after Creed attacked and killed a commanding officer. The execution is carried out, but Logan and Creed survive. Logan and Creed are recruited by William Stryker to be part of a covert team, participating in a mission in Lagos, Nigeria, to retrieve a source of adamantium. Peaceful villagers are slaughtered in the process, and Logan leaves the team. (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

  • 1973: Mystique assassinates Dr. Bolivar Trask at the Paris Peace Accords. (X-Men: Days Of Future Past)

  • 1978: The events of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", involving the death of Kayla Silverfox, and Logan volunteering for the Weapon X procedure where he receives his adamantium skeleton and claws. (X-Men Origins: Wolverine)

  • 1993: Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr recruit Jean Grey for the X-Men. (X-Men: The Last Stand)

  • 2003: Warren Worthington II discovers that his son, Warren Worthington III, is a mutant (X-Men: The Last Stand)

  • 2012: The events of "X-Men", involving Magneto seeking Rogue for his plot on Liberty Island, Wolverine and Rogue coming to the X-Men, and the X-Men confronting the Brotherhood of Mutants at Liberty Island. (X-Men)

  • 2012: The events of "X2: X-Men United", involving William Stryker's raid on Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters, the Cerebro attack that impacted virtually the entire world's population, and the death of Jean Grey at Alkali Lake. (X2: X-Men United)

  • 2013: The events of "X-Men: The Last Stand", involving the development of the mutant cure by Worthington Labs, the resurrection of Jean Grey, and Magneto's attack on Worthington Labs which led to the second death of Jean Grey, as well as the destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge. (X-Men: The Last Stand)

  • 2014: The events of "The Wolverine", involving Wolverine traveling to Japan with Yukio to say goodbye to Yashida, and subsequently becoming involved in a plot to kill Mariko and steal Logan's healing factor. (The Wolverine)

  • 2016: Wolverine is recruited by Magneto and Professor X for the upcoming Sentinel threat. (The Wolverine)

  • 2023: The events of "X-Men: Days Of Future Past"; mutants have been hunted down and killed or captured and imprisoned in mutant internment camps. The world is under the rule of Sentinels, designed for one sole purpose: the destruction of the mutant population. A band of surviving X-Men fight back, and devise a plan to send Wolverine back in time to change the timeline so the Sentinels never come into being. (X-Men: Days Of Future Past)

  • 1973 B: The events of "X-Men: Days Of Future Past"; Wolverine goes back in time, bringing together Charles Xavier and Magneto to prevent Mystique from assassinating Dr. Bolivar Trask. Their plan succeeds, meanwhile exposing mutants to public knowledge much sooner than before. Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique all split, going their separate ways.

  • 2023 B: Wolverine awakes in a newly created 2023, where the Sentinels never took over and the war never happened. Wolverine discovers that previously dead allies, such as Jean Grey and Cyclops, are alive in this new reality.

Reasoning for this timeline:

The timeline of the X-Men movies has certainly been a matter of contention amongst the fanbase over the years, and with good reason. The main trilogy of movies never set itself in a specific time period, and the arrival of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class to the franchise finally added some specific dates to the movies. However, not all of those times mesh up perfectly with the other movies. So here is my reasoning for the timeline as I described it above.

 

X-Men: Days Of Future Past is explicitly set in 1973 and 2023. 1973 is explicitly stated, and while 2023 is not directly stated, when Logan meets young Xavier, he tells Xavier that he traveled 50 years from the future. 2023 is 50 years after 1973.

 

Bryan Singer stated early on in promotion for the film that the future portions of the movie were set 10 years after X-Men: The Last Stand. That would set X-Men: The Last Stand in 2013.

 

The main trilogy of films don't take place any longer than a year or so apart from each other. In fact, X2: X-Men United pretty much picks up immediately following the events of X-Men. X-Men: The Last Stand takes place only months after X2: X-Men United.

 

This works in real world history as 2012 is an election year in the United States. The climax of X2: X-Men United at Alkali Lake takes place during the winter, which could be right around election time. We see a new President in X-Men: The Last Stand, and a new President would be inaugurated in 2013. When Cyclops returns to Alkali Lake, it is now a spring or summer type setting. This means that a presidential election would have happened after the events of X2: X-Men United, with the President of X-Men: The Last Stand elected and having taken office just prior to the events of X-Men: The Last Stand. Storm even mentions something along these lines, making reference to "We have a President who understands us", clearly showing us that the political landscape has changed.

 

The Wolverine takes place roughly a year after X-Men: The Last Stand, with Yukio stating to Logan "I've been tracking you for over a year". That would place this film in 2014, essentially allowing the timeline of the movies to catch back up with real time (as the movie was released in 2013). The post credits scene including Magneto and Professor X is dated at 2 years later, placing it in 2016, and X-Men: Days Of Future Past 7 years after the events of the post credit scene.

 

The events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a bit harder to date. American involvement in the Vietnam War ended in 1973 with the Paris Peace Accords, an event depicted in X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Therefore, X-Men Origins: Wolverine would have to be set before the Paris Peace Accords. This sets the first portion of the movie in 1972, with Stryker recruiting Logan and Creed. During the 6 years between the mission in Africa, and the death of Kayla, we can find Logan in New York, where his future consciousness would return to during the time travel mission. The latter events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine would then be set in 1978, far earlier than the "15 years" stated in both X-Men and X2: X-Men United as the amount of time between Weapon X and Wolverine joining the X-Men. Another popular theory is that Logan and Creed were in Vietnam in 1975, with the Weapon X experiment happening in 1981. Either way, it is a slight error of continuity, with the Weapon X project happening much more than 15 years before X-Men.

 

This timeline is far from official, and is merely my own theory to piece together the events of the X-Men film saga.

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