The first X-Men movie was the one that started it all for the comic book rush. Superman had been out of commission for over a decade, and Batman had just died a horrible death after Batman & Robin. Yes, there was Blade, but that was more a horror-action movie than a comic book movie. X-Men is the movie that showed everyone was ready for superheroes, and it opened the floodgates.
Through the years, there have been good and bad. There was the first trilogy, a lackluster Wolverine movie, a new Wolverine series, and the X-Men prequels that started with X-Men: First Class. Through the films, they introduced a whos-who of X-Men villains and here are the 10 most powerful in the movies, ranked.
BROTHERHOOD OF EVIL MUTANTS
There were two different versions of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The best of which took place in the first movie with Magneto leading Mystique, Sabretooth, and Toad into battle with the X-Men. This version was powerful, with Magneto and Mystique getting away and living to fight another day.
The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was back in X-Men: The Last Stand, and while there were some powerful mutants here, the movie did not paint them in the best light as powerhouses. This movie wasted Juggernaut, Psylocke, Multiple Man, Calisto, and more.
SABRETOOTH
Yes, Sabretooth was part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the first X-Men movie. However, that Sabretooth kind of sucked. There are a lot of things to hate about X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but the portrayal of Sabretooth is not one of them.
It is true that Liev Schrieber is not what Sabretoioth looks like in the comic books, but he delivered a performance that brought the popular comic book villain to life. In that movie, Sabretooth fought Wolverine, Gambit and a jacked-up Deadpool and still walked out of the battle alive to fight another day.
X-24
Arguably, the best movie in the entire X-Men franchise was the final movie in the Wolverine series. The film was Logan, and it was the film that ended the current timeline of X-Men movies, killing both Logan and Professor X and leading into the next generation of mutants led by X-23.
However, before the movie ended, Logan had to defeat a clone of himself called X-24. That clone had already killed Professor X, and it gave Logan all he could handle, with all the powers and skills of Logan — but lacking the experience needed to finally win the battle, although he made sure that he didn’t die alone.
JUGGERNAUT
X-Men: The Last Stand wasted Juggernaut. Yes, the incredible Vinnie Jones portrayed Juggernaut in the movie, but as with much of the third X-Men movie, he was wasted. Kitty Pryde is a great member of the X-Men, but the fact that she beat Juggernaut so easily is disturbing. Plus, it never mentioned that he was Professor X’s brother.
While he played a smaller role in Deadpool 2, Juggernaut was simply awesome. He freaking ripped Deadpool in half midway through the movie. There was almost no stopping him and a fan favorite moment saw Juggernaut battle Colossus at the end, with the battering ram only losing when he was electrocuted.
WILLIAM STRYKER
William Styker played a significant role in multiple X-Men movies. He was there in X-Men 2: X-Men United as the main bad guy. He had an entire government agency at his disposal and went in to capture and hurt children in the mansion. He was there in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as the man who put together a mutant black-ops team.
He was back as a young man in X-Men: Days of Future Past and it was clear that his future hatred of the X-Men formed here, as he was already treating mutants like second-hand people at this time. His desire and his connections made him extremely powerful, even with no superpowers.
THE HELLFIRE CLUB
The Hellfire Club was one of the deadliest villains in the world of the X-Men when they first started. They kidnapped Jean Grey and helped wipe out the block in her mind that kept her psychic powers blocked from her, which lead to the Dark Phoenix taking control and almost destroying the world.
In the movie, it was a little different. This group was still led by Sebastian Stan and included Azazel, Emma Frost, and Riptide. They were not as deadly as they were in the comics, but they almost caused the Cuban Missile Crisis to start a world war. It took Professor X and Magneto, working together, to stop them.
THE SENTINELS
The deadliest enemies for the X-Men and the mutants, in general, are humans who hate and fear them. It was the humans that created the Sentinels, and specifically Bolivar Trask and the United States government. It took time to travel to stop Mystique from assassinating Trask to keep the destruction in the future.
This result is good because the alternate future showed how powerful the mutants are. The Sentinels killed mutants all over the world and enslaved humans. Finally, they killed everyone from Iceman and Storm to Warbird, and more before this future was averted, and the Sentinels were never activated.
MAGNETO
Magneto has played on both sides of the fence. In the first trilogy, he was the leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and gave the X-Men all they could take. It took everything they had to stop him. In the prequels, Magneto started as a hero working with Charles Xavier.
By the time X-Men: Apocalypse came around, Magneto was back on the side of evil as part of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and it wasn’t until he turned and helped the X-Men so that they could beat him. Move on to X-Men: Dark Phoenix and he was there to help battle Jean Grey. Good or bad, there were few men more powerful than the Master of Magnetism.
APOCALYPSE
Apocalypse is widely considered the first mutant. He has been alive for many, many years and when he arrived in the present day, there was little that the X-Men could do to stop him. He convinced Storm, Angel, Psylocke, and Magneto to take his side as he tried to conquer the world.
Apocalypse broke Quicksilver’s leg, catching him while he ran at super speed. He took down Professor X while in the mind space that Charles usually dominates. There seemed to be no chance for anyone to beat Apocalypse until Jean Grey tapped into the powers of the Phoenix Force and finally won the battle for the X-Men.
DARK PHOENIX
Yes, the main villain in X-Men: Dark Phoenix was Vuk, but she was only a puppet master. Yes, that made her powerful, but she was nowhere near as powerful as the person she was controlling. In X-Men: Apocalypse, Jean Grey took on the Phoenix Force to beat Apocalypse. Even that powerful mutant saw the future.
In Dark Phoenix, Jean took on the power of the Phoenix and killed Mystique. That was a shocking move, but then she was able to dominate the X-Men. Jean took on Magneto and showed him that he had no power over her. She took down Charles Xavier. No one could beat her until she finally took control and stopped herself.
