All 8 Movies Featuring Magneto in Order

Magneto is among the most popular X-Men ever appearing in the comics and live-action movies. Magneto has appeared in eight movies so far and was played by two actors, Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender. We’ve decided to compile a list of all of the movies and explain the best way to watch them!

Movies featuring Magneto in order by release date

If you are a fan of Magneto and wish to start watching all the movies he appears in, or if you are just interested in how many movies are there, we’ve got you covered. The first movie portraying Magneto on the big screen was released in 2000, and everything started from there. Here are all the movies featuring Magneto by their release date:

1. ‘X-Men’ (2000)
2. ‘X2’ (2003)
3. ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ (2006)
4. ‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)
5. ‘The Wolverine’ (2013) (post-credits)
6. ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014)
7. ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ (2016)
8. ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ (2019)

In the rest of the article, we’ll show you how the movies are connected, provide you with a chronological list, and briefly summarize all the movies. You can also find out where you can watch all of them!

Note: The rest of the article contains spoilers!

Are Magneto’s movie appearances connected? What’s the best order to watch them?

Magneto’s movie appearances are more or less connected. The X-Men franchise is connected via characters, references, and partially via storyline. It is complicated to determine the best way to watch movies featuring Magneto because there are two timelines in which Magneto appears in the movies. That being said, chronological order seems to be the best way to watch the movies, even if that might confuse you a bit.

In the next few chapters, we’ll try to explain the chronological order of Magneto’s movie appearances as best as possible.

All of Magneto’s movie appearances in chronological order

When you watch all the movies in which Magneto appears in chronological order, you can follow Magneto’s journey since he was a boy and survived the Holocaust, then grew up and befriended Charles Xavier and gathered the First Class of X-Men together. The two shared a different opinion on how mutants should live among humans and had their falling out.

Various events throughout history sometimes put Magneto alongside X-Men, but more often against them. And the chronological watch order gives you a better understanding of why that is and the motives for Magneto’s actions. That is lacking if you watch the movies by their release date.

Without further complication, here are movies featuring Magneto in chronological order:

1. ‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)
2. ‘X-Men’ (2000)
3.  ‘X2: X-Men United’ (2003)
4. ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ (2006)
5. ‘The Wolverine’ (2013)
6. ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014)
7. ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ (2016)
8. ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ (2019)

In the paragraphs below, we will explain this order in more detail.

1. ‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)

This movie shows us how everything began in terms of forming X-Men in the first place. We also meet Eric when he was a young boy during the Holocaust and when he discovered he had his powers. Years later, he befriends Charles Xavier, and they start training the First Class of X-Men. Their different mindsets on how to lead the mutants eventually lead them on different paths.

2. ‘X-Men’ (2000)

The events of this movie happen many years after the events in ‘First Class.’ Eric and Charles are much older now, and Magneto is ready to lead the mutants into a war against humans because he thinks that mutants should not be considered lesser species.

 3. ‘X2: X-Men United’ (2003)

In this sequel, Colonel William Stryker initiates a war on mutants and kidnaps Professor X. Magneto teams up with the X-Men to stop Stryker’s plans. It is considered one of the best movies in the franchise.

4. ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’ (2006)

This is the final movie in the original trilogy, and the mutants face the danger of extinction when the ‘mutant cure’ is invented. Magneto tries to recruit Jean on his side when her alter ego, Dark Phoenix, awakes.

5. ‘The Wolverine’ (2013)

Magneto and Charles appear briefly in this one in the post-credits scenes, seeking Wolverine’s help, and this appearance sets up the events for the next movie on the list.

6. ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014)

In the future, mutants are facing extinction. Magneto and Charles sent Wolverine in the past to alter important events. In the past, young Eric and Charles had to put their differences aside and work together. This movie erases everything after the ‘X-Men: First Class’ events and sets the new timeline.

7. ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ (2016)

The movie is set in the 1980s in an alternate timeline. Apocalypse, an all-powerful ancient mutant, is set to wipe out modern civilization, and he recruits Magneto as one of his Horsemen.

8. ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ (2019)

After Jean absorbed the Phoenix Force, she left the X-Men and turned to Magneto for refuge. She declined her offer and was later determined to kill her because of what she’d done to Mystique.

Where to watch the above-mentioned movies? 

You can watch all the movies mentioned above on the Disney+ platform. All you need is to have an active subscription.

Will there be more movies featuring Magneto?

Speculations are that Magneto (Ian McKellen) will appear in Deadpool 3 movie, but nothing has been confirmed officially.