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I have watched like two X-Men movies before (can't remember which) then I just watched X-men Days of Future Past recently. I got kinda confused about Wolverine (bone claws, then metal claws, then bone claws again) and I would like to know more about him - his story, that is.
I searched in Wikipedia and found there are a couple of X-Men movies already and a lot more to be produced.
What is the correct order I need to watch these movies to get a chronological story about him?
There are two ways to order Wolverine's appearances.
Release order
Wolverine is forced to kill Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix.
It specifically references his killing of Jean. This is where Wolverine loses some of his adamantium, specifically in his claws. The post-credits scene leads into Days of Future Past.
The "future" scenes take place after The Wolverine, but Wolverine has adamantium claws again. The ending shows that events of X-Men: The Last Stand have been undone.
he escapes, and inadvertently saves the young X-Men in the process
all of the other X-Men are dead.
In-Universe Chronological order
Since there are time jumps here, there is no 100% clean way to watch them in a purely chronological order, but this order would cause the least confusion.
*these films exist in the alternate timeline created by the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past.
You could also swap X-Men: First Class and X-Men Origins: Wolverine and his cameo might arguably make a little more sense, but you wouldn't really gain or lose any insight regardless of which of those two you watched first.
Since DoFP comes both first (excluding First Class) and last, I could see the argument being made for watching it first. But since the net result of DoFP is the resetting/modification of the main Fox timeline, I think it still makes more sense to watch it last. This way you understand the gravity of the final scene at the school.
So which order should you watch them in?
Honestly, I'd go with the release order. Watching them in chronological order really doesn't offer any additional insight or explain anything any better, and may actually confuse things more since it would weave two separate timelines together.
Your best bet is to watch the films in this order:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine - This explains Wolverine from when he was James Howlett with ordinary bone claws, his complex relationship with Victor (Heavily implied to be a younger version of Bryan Singer's Sabretooth), how he got his Adamanitium-skeleton, and finally his memory loss. Note: Unless you want to end up in a blind rage, definitely skip the whole 'Deadpool' section at the end, as it is very upsetting to hardcore 'Pool fans.
X-Men trilogy (in order) - Although Brett Ratner's X3 could have done a better job with characters such as Callisto, Juggernaut, & Angel, it still held up as an alright X-story and as a nice arc for Wolverine. Of course X1 and 2 were awesome.
The Wolverine - Set about a year after X3, Logan has isolated himself from everyone, X-Men included. This film deals mainly with the Japan story (Long explanation there), Mariko Yashida, Yukio, The Silver Samurai, and Viper (All four Japanese characters).
X-Men: First Class - Although this film does not focus on Wolverine (he's more of a cameo, really), it is crucial to watch so you understand the seventh movie. Also, First Class is a really good Professor X/Magneto story.
X-Men: Days of Future Past - When mutant-hunting Sentinels push mutants to the edge of extinction, the X-Men have no choice but to send Logan's consciousness back to 1973 (P.S. That's ten years after the events of XM: First Class, ergo the necessity to watch), where he wakes up in his younger body.
Well, that's about it, besides Deadpool in February 2016 and X-Men: Apocalypse in May 2016.
Also, if you want more Wolvie info, I would also suggest the following:
Wikipedia - Online site that gives a detailed background, and
The Marvel Knights animated comic DVD Wolverine: Origin, which is a motion comic based off of the compelling six-issue Origin comic. Have fun!
The right order to watch is the order of release.
The reason for this is that there is a build to the story (and Wolverine's character) - some of it in the future and then a story from the very beginning. To watch it in any other order would only confuse you. Each movie expects that you have watched the previous film. Hence you'll not get the subtleties if you watch it in chronological order instead of the release order.
Here's a link that gives you the summary details on the chronology of the X-Men movies - X-Men Series
Probably more to come.
The order stated above makes sense, however the matter concerning Wolverines appearance in First Class does not get confused with Origins as Origins covers a long period explained at the beginning of the film. There are other little bits that might cause confusion in the series in Emma Frosts appearance in Origins and First Class, you get the impression that Origins is set much later than First Class yet Frost appears younger in Origins and also on the good team. Post credits for Origins sees Wolverine in Japan with memory issues and it seems its before he meets Xavier at the school but The Wolverine would indicate its his first visit to Japan since WWII. The final observation is Xavier at the end of Origins as wheelchair bound Professor X (Patrick Stewart) whereas young Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) appears in both DOFP (circa 70s) and Apocalypse circa 80s. If these minor glitches can be overlooked the sequence suggested can be watched. Hope this makes sense.
