Canon Crashing: Fixing the X-Men Continuity

It is a problem that has plagued many a fan for ages. Why oh why is the "X-Men" film series timeline so screwed up? We got multiple versions of the same characters, gratuitous retcons, convenient plot devices, etc. etc. It all seems a little too much. But after seeing "Days of Future Past", most fans breathed a sigh of relief, since everything post-1973 in this timeline was chucked out the window. But even then, there are those fans who complained the timeline was still screwed up even before time travel got involved.

Their rationale is that in order to properly buy the cause-and-effect nature of the plot, we have to believe all the films exist in a coherent timeline. And despite the film's clever attempts to at least make it appear so, the timeline just doesn't shake out. Or does it? Taking into account every line of dialogue, most of the period captions (barring "The Not Too Distant Future"), and the internal rules of the universe, I've decided to take a crack at reconciling the series' many continuity errors to create a cohesive timeline.

Some of my explanations may require a little suspension of disbelief, but nothing is unbelievable in terms of what the films already give us. I'm also using the majority of the dates from the above (so-called "official") Empire Magazine infographic, but some dates will change to reconcile lines of dialogue from the films. (For example, In X1, Xavier says Logan lost his memory 15 years ago; in X:O, Logan gets his procedure six years after leaving Team X; and X3's caption shows Xavier recruited Jean 20 years before that film's events.) I've also color coded the various films, to make sense of what info comes from where.

So, with that in mind, let's explore this supposedly screwed up timeline, and see if we can find order within the chaos. Keep in mind, this involves heavy SPOILERS for all seven X-films. Also, I'm structuring this as the timeline leading up to the Sentinel future, before going backwards and explaining the altered timeline. Think how Doc Brown laid out timeline changes in "Back to the Future Part II", and it'll all make sense. Hopefully.

Original Timeline

App. 5,000 B.C.- En Sabbah Nur, the first mutant, telekinetically builds the Great Pyramids of Ancient Egypt and is worshiped as a God. His four Horsemen watch in the background (post-credits scene of Days of Future Past)

1845- Young James Howlett manifests bone claws and a healing factor, accidentally killing his biological father Thomas Logan. He runs away with his mutant brother Victor Logan. As they grow up, James adopts the names "Jimmy" and "Logan" as aliases, while Victor changes his last name to "Creed." ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine," or X:O)

1861- Logan and Victor fight in the Civil War (X:O)

1917- Logan and Victor fight in World War I (X:O)

1941- Nine year old Charles Xavier begins hearing voices in his head, unaware it's his mutant telepathy developing. It'll take him three years before he realizes this and masters his power (Dialogue from "Days of Future Past")

1944- Raven Darkholme's biological family tries to kill her (dialogue from X3). She runs away and sneaks into the Xavier Mansion. Charles finds her and offers her a place to stay, eventually convincing his parents to let her stay permanently as an adopted sister (First Class). Meanwhile, Logan and Victor storm the beaches of Normandy during D-Day (X:O). In Poland, a young Erik Lensherr is separated from his parents, manifesting his magnetic powers. He's taken in by Klaus Schmidt, who kills Erik's mother (First Class).

1945- Logan is relocated to the Pacific Theater, where he ends up a POW in Nagasaki. He saves the life of a soldier named Yashida when the Americans drop a nuclear bomb on the city. (The Wolverine.)

1949- Charles Xavier is now 17. Erik Lensherr, free from Schmidt, arrives in America and sees the Statue of Liberty. He unknowingly runs into Xavier, but doesn't remember the encounter. Xavier does, but says nothing. (Dialogue from X1).

1962- Erik Lensherr, now an adult, is hunting Nazis while trying to track down Schmidt. In the period between 1949 and 1962, Erik met a girl named Maximoff, and unknowingly impregnated her with at least one child (Peter) or a pair of twins (inferred in DOFP). Xavier becomes a Professor and publishes a thesis on mutation. He and Raven are recruited by Moira McTaggert and the CIA to stop Schmidt, now Sebastian Shaw, from starting nuclear war.

Erik joins the cause, along with Hank McCoy/Beast, Alex Summers/Havok, Angel Salvador, Banshee, and Darwin. They prevent nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but Erik kills Shaw, takes his anti-telepathy helmet, and becomes Magneto, forming the first version of the Brotherhood out of the Hellfire Club. Xavier is crippled, and decides to re-configure his mansion into a school for mutants. (First Class).

1965- Erik has trained Raven to become the skilled agent Mystique. Xavier closes down the school after most of his students and teachers are drafted. Beast invents a serum that regulates his appearance and grants Charles his legs, at the cost of his telepathy. Most of the Brotherhood are captured by Trask Industries. It is possible Mystique could have been seeing Azazel at this time and given birth to Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, who she then gives away to a traveling circus (speculation). Erik tries to prevent the assassination of JFK, who's secretly a mutant. He curves the bullet, but is captured on the grassy knoll and imprisoned in the Pentagon. (Dialogue from DOFP).

1973- Most of Xavier's original first class are dead, either killed in Vietnam or experimented on by Trask Industries courtesy of William Stryker. Havok is the only exception. He and a team of mutants, including a young Toad, are rescued by Mystique in Saigon. She investigates Trask's operations and discovers the Sentinel Program. After killing Bolivar Trask at the Paris Peace Accords, Mystique is captured and spends a few years being experimented on. Trask Industries uses her DNA to secretly build a new fleet of shapeshifting Sentinels, taking at least 40 years to perfect them. (DOFP, pre-time travel).

1975- While American involvement in Vietnam has ended, Logan and Victor join a special ops unit that continues to perform missions in 'Nam. After Victor tries to rape a local woman and Logan defends him, they are executed by firing squad. Since they survive, they come to the attention of William Stryker, former Major turned Colonel. He invites them to join a mutant black ops unit of his called Team X. (X:O).

1979- After four years with Team X, Logan quits following a mission in Africa to retrieve an Adamantium deposit. He's disgusted by the slaughtering of innocents, and walks out on the team. In doing so, he ends his relationship with Victor. Following Logan's departure, Stryker sets up shop on Three Mile Island, following the famous nuclear meltdown there (he believes the incident will make people scared enough not to come close). Stryker has Team X capture mutants, which he then experiments on at the Island (X:O).

1982- At this point, Erik is out of the Pentagon, either released or escaped. He forms a truce with Charles, and together the two rebuild the school and invent a new version of Cerebro. They go together to recruit a young Jean Grey. Xavier uses Beast's serum to walk, deciding to convince her parents without telepathy. What appears to be Xavier reading Jean is actually Jean reading him. After realizing her incredible power, Xavier begins creating psychic barriers to isolate Jean from her gifts, unknowingly creating a split personality called the Phoenix. At this time, Charles also accepts William Stryker's son Jason, who leaves after realizing his illusion casting powers can't be removed. Jason kills his mother, prompting Stryker to freeze his son for study and pool mutant DNA into a creature that can kill other mutants. (X2, X3, X:O).

1985- Logan is now living a quiet life in Canada as a lumberjack with his girlfriend, Kayla Silverfox. Victor arrives and supposedly kills Kayla, leading Logan to swear revenge. He volunteers for Stryker's Adamantium procedure and gets his skeleton and claws grafted with the indestructible metal. Escaping, he learns of Stryker and Victor's alliance and Stryker's plans to create Weapon XI, aka Deadpool.

Thanks to escaped prisoner Gambit, Logan arrives at the Island and kills Deadpool, although the creature unknowingly survives. A cooling tower collapses, and Victor escapes. Stryker gives Logan amnesia through the use of Adamantium bullets. A still alive Silverfox dies for real, but orders Stryker to walk away. He's arrested by military police in connection with a general's murder, but is cleared and released. Stryker then continues his work on mutants, eventually lobotomizing his son and using his brain fluid as a mind control serum. (X2 dialogue).

Before getting amnesia, Logan frees a number of Stryker's prisoners, including a young Scott Summers and Kayla's sister Emma. (Speculation: Kayla and Emma are the daughters of Emma Frost, conceived before her death, or they are completely unrelated and the Emma we see just has a similar diamond power). Cyclops, Emma, and the other prisoners are picked up by Charles Xavier. He uses his telepathy to create the illusion of walking. Logan leaves the Island to become a drifter, wandering for 15 years. (X:O, X1 dialogue).

1997- A young Warren Worthington III develops angel-like wings, prompting his father to begin work on a mutant cure. (X3). Also around this time, Magneto splits from Xavier. He reverse engineers his anti-telepathy helmet so his lair shields him and his new Brotherhood from Cerebro, unbeknownst to Xavier. Erik locates Mystique, who's escaped from Trask Industries. He also recruits Toad and Sabretooth. (Speculation: Sabretooth is either a separate mutant from Victor or Victor after rapidly mutating, possibly from radiation exposure at the Island, prior experimentation from Stryker, or Magneto's early experiments with his mutation machine.)

It is at this time that mutants step out of the limelight and become a worldwide phenomenon, known to the public and not just by the government. Xavier completely gives up using his serum and confines himself permanently to a wheelchair. He trains Cyclops, Jean, and a young Storm as his first graduating class at the newly opened Xavier's School for the Gifted. They become his first official X-Men, and fight the Brotherhood in secret. (Implied in dialogue from X1).

2000- Anna Marie manifests her absorption powers, adopts the name Rouge, and runs away. She meets Logan, now a cage fighter up in Canada. They are picked up by Cyclops and Storm after being attacked by Sabretooth. Magneto captures Rogue as part of his plan to use a radiation-emitting machine to mutate world leaders at a New York summit. He has Mystique capture Senator Robert Kelly, who is proposing Mutant Registration, to prove his machine works.

Kelly informs the X-Men, who leave to fight the Brotherhood. Xavier is rendered comatose by Mystique, who at this point is so far gone after being experimented on by Trask that Xavier is all but dead to her. The X-Men defeat the Brotherhood, Magneto is imprisoned, and Mystique impersonates Kelly. Unknowingly, the machine increases Jean's telekinetic powers. (X1).

2001- William Stryker manipulates Nightcrawler into attacking the President, giving him the precedence to attack the X-Mansion. He manipulates Magneto into explaining how the new Cerebro works. At the Mansion, Stryker takes what he needs to build a new Cerebro, while the students flee. Stryker captures Xavier, and using Jason, manipulates him into using the new Cerebro to wipe out all of mutantkind.

Mystique orchestrates Magneto's prison break, and the two team up with the X-Men to stop Stryker. The X-Men succeed and Stryker dies, but his facility at Alkali Lake collapses and floods. To save the X-Men, Jean sacrifices herself. Magneto and Mystique leave with young student Pyro. Nightcrawler eventually leaves the X-Men to lead his own life. (Confirmed by video game tie-in). Note: Hank McCoy still takes his appearance regulating serum, as evidenced by his interview on TV. (X2).

2002- On Alcatraz Island, Worthington Labs unveils a mutant cure using the DNA of Leech. With a new President in office following the X-Men's visit, Hank McCoy (now off the serum) becomes Secretary of Mutant Affairs. Magneto forms an army of mutants to kill Leech and cut off the cure's source. He recruits the Morlocks, Multiple Man, and Juggernaut, before finding a resurrected Jean Grey who's fully embraced the Phoenix. Jean kills Cyclops and disintegrates Xavier's body, apparently killing him. Magneto, Rouge, and Mystique are cured, either willingly or forcefully.

Warren III/Angel saves his father on Alcatraz Island, while Kitty Pryde saves Leech from Juggernaut. Logan kills Jean after she begs for him to kill her. A depowered Magneto realizes the cure isn't permanent and feels his powers returning. Xavier transfers his consciousness into his brain-dead twin brother, who was born without a mind due to Xavier's growing powers in the womb. (X3 Commentary) The body's legs are crippled due to muscle atrophy from being in bed for so long. Xavier is greeted by Moria McTaggert, the daughter (or niece) of his friend from the '60s. Also, the Secretary Trask we see here has no relation to Bolivar Trask or Trask Industries. (X3).

2013- Years later, Xavier's School has shut down and Logan is wandering Canada, traumatized after killing Jean. He is taken to Japan by Yukio to meet a dying Yashida, who offers to transfer Logan's healing powers into him so Logan can be mortal. When Logan refuses, Yashida's associate Viper injects him with nanobots that negate his healing, so he can be captured. Logan gets involved in a Yakuza plot to kill Yashida's granddaughter Mariko, and ends up being captured by Viper. Logan is taken to Yashida, now encased in mech armor modeled after his family's ancestral guardian, the Silver Samurai. Yashida cuts off Logan's Adamantium claws, and he regrows his bone claws to kill Yashida. (The Wolverine).

2015- Xavier and Magneto recruit Logan at an airport following Trask's unveiling of the Mark X Sentinels. The Sentinel program has been given new life by the recent war following the mutant cure. Sometime afterward, Magneto manipulates Adamantium (either from the rest of Logan's skeleton, the Samurai armor remains, or the Alkali Lake facility) to give Logan his metal claws back. (The Wolverine).

2023- The Mark X Sentinels have decimated the Earth's mutant population, either outright killing them or rounding them up in concentration camps. Human allies and humans that carry a dormant X gene are hunted as well. One of the few surviving X-Men, Kitty Pryde, has developed a secondary mutation allowing her to phase a person's consciousness through time into their younger body.

Through her, Xavier and Magneto send Logan back to 1973 to prevent Mystique from killing Trask and getting captured, so her DNA can't be harvested to create the Mark X Sentinels. While Logan possesses his younger body, the Sentinels locate the X-Men in a tomb in China. Iceman, Storm, Magneto, Collosus, Sunspot, Warpath, Bishop, and Blink are all killed defending Xavier, Kitty, and Logan. (Days of Future Past)

Altered Timeline

5,000 B.C.-1973- Timeline plays out the same as in the original timeline. (X:O opening, The Wolverine opening, First Class)

1973- 2023 Logan wakes up in his younger body. He recruits Xavier, Beast, and Quicksilver to break Magneto out of the Pentagon, so they can stop Raven from killing Trask. They succeed, but Erik tries to kill Raven so Trask doesn't get her DNA. Mutants are publicly revealed to the world. Nixon fast tracks the Sentinel program to let the people know they're safe. Magneto takes control of the Mark I Sentinels and causes havoc. 

Erik drops the RFK Stadium around the White House and prepares to publicly execute Nixon on live TV. Erik also puts steel bars into Logan and throws him into the Potomac River to drown. Mystique saves Nixon and shoots Magneto. Xavier convinces her not to kill Trask. Mystique and Magneto go their separate ways. The Sentinel program is shut down and Trask is arrested. Mystique, disguised as Stryker, fishes Logan out of the river. (DOFP)

1980s- The events of the future film "X-Men: Apocalypse" happen. (Confirmed in interviews). Presumably, En Sabbah Nur awakens to fight the X-Men, possibly sensing Logan manipulated the timestream. Either he or Mystique is responsible for Logan getting his Adamantium, as Apocalypse could make Logan into one of his Four Horsemen. Quicksilver may return, possibly alongside his sister the Scarlet Witch. Gambit will be introduced, along with younger versions of Cyclops, Jean, Storm, and Nightcrawler (Confirmed in interviews). Actual events pending.  

2023- Logan returns to his older body, now in a changed timeline. Xavier, Kitty, Collosus, Storm, Rouge, Iceman, Beast, Jean, and Scott are all alive. Logan asks Xavier to catch him up on the last 50 years of history. (DOFP)

Unknown: How do the events of 2017's "The Wolverine 3" fit into this? If an Old Man Logan adaptation, it could take place in a potential Apocalypse-ruled future. If a Weapon X re-do, it'd be set sometime after DOFP (assuming he doesn't undergo a procedure in Apocalypse). If exploring the two-year period after defeating the Samurai but before Xavier recruits him, it could take place in the original timeline.

Additional Speculation Notes: My theories on the different versions of Trask, Moira, Sabretooth, and Emma come from how they're named either in the film itself or the credits, along with a little logic to justify both versions. I have no idea if Nightcrawler in either timelines is Mystique and Azazel's son, and am only going off comic canon. The existence of the Scarlet Witch is also comics-based, but hopefully it's true. The amnesiac Logan remembers Nagasaki in "The Wolverine" either because his memory's finally healing, or Xavier's mental tampering in the Original Trilogy allowed Logan greater access.

As Mystique got older, she matured herself to resemble Rebecca Romijin instead of Jennifer Lawrence (as shown briefly in First Class). This is why she turns into Rebecca instead of J-Law after being cured in X3. Old Magneto hates guns, unlike young Magneto, because a curved bullet was what got him locked up in the Pentagon for years. He probably came to see guns as evil human weapons, and swore off them to show he's above humanity. As for the relationship between Havok and Cyclops, either Havok is a really older brother, a cousin, or Cyclops's father/uncle. This is assuming they are even related in this timeline, and don't simply share a common last name and similar powers.

The 1949 entry is pure fan speculation, as a way to rectify Xavier's X1 dialogue of first meeting Erik at age 17. A more forgiving fan could write it off as a fluke, but I'm trying to take it into account. Regarding the "Not Too Distant Future" captions for X1-3, X1 could take place a few months after its real-world theatrical release. I got nothing for my X2-3 dates, which is the only real flaw I have for my timeline, but I've caught it up to the present by "The Wolverine", which is something.

So, that's my take on the X-Men film timeline. Hopefully it makes sense. If it doesn't, just remember the majority of this timeline's been erased anyway. And if that still riles you, consider this: as muddled as the film canon is, the X-Men's comic canon is ten times more confusing. Remember that the next time you crack open an X-book. It'll make the films' problems tame by comparison.