Ranking Every X-Men Movie Villain Before Joining the MCU

The X-Men is the longest-running comic book franchise, and there have been several iconic villains in the various movies over the years. With the X-Men preparing to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Doomsday (after cameoing in The Marvels), they will be the new backbone of the MCU when Phase 7 begins. The first X-Men release hit theaters in 2000, and there have been eight films in the main franchise, not including the spinoffs with Wolverine, Deadpool, and the New Mutants. While there are many X-Men villains who have yet to appear in a movie, including Mister Sinister and the Brood, the villains who did show up remain iconic.

Here is a look at every major villain in the main X-Men movies as the team prepares to join the MCU.

10) Vuk

While the last movie Fox made in the main X-Men series was called Dark Phoenix, she was not even the main villain in that film. Instead, the villains were an obscure Marvel Comics alien race known as the Vuk. The aliens made their first appearance in Avengers #4, and they only appeared in nine total comics in the 62 years since. In the comics, it was the Hellfire Club who twisted Jean Grey’s mind, and making it a mostly boring alien race was disappointing, and it is one of the reasons Dark Phoenix is often rated as the worst X-Men movie ever made.

9) Dark Phoenix

The decision on which X-Men movie is the worst comes between the two that ended each phase for the mutant team. While X-Men: The Last Stand ended the original trilogy on a sour note, Dark Phoenix was the film that ended the prequel films, also leaving a bad taste in fans’ mouths. What those two movies had in common was that the Dark Phoenix Saga played out, although in both cases, Phoenix was not the main villain. For such an iconic X-Men storyline and an iconic character like Phoenix, this was ridiculous. As a result, Phoenix has still never gotten the story she deserves, even after two opportunities.

8) Lady Deathstrike

Lady Deathstroke was a one-note character who most X-Men movie fans have already forgotten about. Yuriko Oyama was a mutant who had adamantium claws and almost instantaneous healing skills, which made her a perfect antagonist for Wolverine to fight. She worked for William Stryker as his bodyguard in X2: X-Men United, and she had a hand in the adamantium process and Wolverine’s past. Sadly, she became mostly a one-note villain, and the way Wolverine defeated her was smart, but it disrespected the villain’s legacy.

7) The Horsemen of Apocalypse

The Horsemen of Apocalypse should have been iconic, but there were a lot of problems with how they were presented here. Appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse, the movie’s team consisted of Storm (Famine), Psylocke (Pestilence), Angel (Death), and Magneto (War). The choices were good, especially Archangel, but the characters, outside of Magneto, were nothing worth talking about. Psylocke was wasted, Archangel was nothing like he should have been, and Storm was even a disappointment. In the end, none of the characters matched up to how great they were in the comics. Even worse, they were boring antagonists in the film, regardless of accuracy.

6) The Hellfire Club

The Hellfire Club changed from the comics, but that didn’t really matter that much for X-Men: First Class. This was a great prequel movie about how the X-Men and Brotherhood of Evil Mutants first formed, and in that matter, it was a great story. Azazel was the most memorable thanks to a brilliant design, but he remains mostly forgettable as an actual character. Kevin Bacon is great, as usual, but he really didn’t bring the danger that Sebastian Shaw should have. Emma Frost was the worst, though, as she is a dominant female character in Marvel Comics and was meaningless in this movie.

5) The Sentinels

The Sentinels have always been a dangerous threat to the mutant nation. Sadly, they have only gotten a few chances to shine in the movies. Their best appearance, by far, came in the best of the X-Men prequels, X-Men: Days of Future Past. These incredible scenes took place in the apocalyptic future where the X-Men were decimated, and the Sentinels were hunting them down. Seeing Sentinels actually murdering mutants without remorse was an incredible sight, making them a formidable villain. The Avengers: Doomsday teasers for the X-Men have hinted that the Sentinels will finally get shown in their true threatening selves in the upcoming MCU movie.

4) Apocalypse

While X-Men: Apocalypse was considered a disappointment, there were some things to like about the movie. Apocalypse himself was a solid villain, and Oscar Isaac’s performance was well done, as were the effects and how the ancient mutant villain looked. However, unlike many X-Men movie villains, Apocalypse was an actual threat and came the closest of anyone to taking down the mutants. When Apocalypse battled Professor X in a mental battle of wills, it was an impressive moment, and it proved that Apocalypse was the closest the Fox X-Men world came to matching up to the comic book villains in the prequels.

3) The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants

The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was present in the first X-Men trilogy, but they were very inaccurate depictions of the X-Men’s mutant villains. Juggernaut was the biggest disappointment, but there were others who worked even though they were not exactly like the characters from the comics. Highlights include Pyro, who was a great example of a mutant who turned on the X-Men and became so great that he popped back up in Deadpool & Wolverine. Sabretooth was nothing like the comics, but he was still impressive in the first X-Men movie, and Mystique in the original trilogy was a great villain as well. This was a case where changing the villains from the comics didn’t hurt them in the movies.

2) William Stryker

William Stryker in X2: X-Men United was nothing like the character from the comics, and that is okay. The comic book character was great, but he was a preacher who taught his congregation hatred and contempt for mutants simply because they were both different. “God Loves, Man Kills” remains one of the best X-Men storylines ever. However, the X-Men movies changed him into a paramilitary commander, and that worked great for the story. Giving him a history with Wolverine was great, and Stryker remains the best X-Men villain in the movies, other than one very important character.

1) Magneto

The best X-Men villain from the movies is Magneto, and no one else comes close. For one thing, he really believed he was right, and he had every reason to believe this. He was in a World War II concentration camp as a child, where his parents were killed because they were Jewish. Magneto sees how the hatred and bigotry of humans can destroy an entire group of people simply for how they were born, and he wants to defend mutants. It also helps that his friendship with Professor X is so deep, yet so conflicted. He is a perfect villain and an even better hero in the end.

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