10 Oldest X-Men In Marvel Movies, Ranked By Age

Throughout their movie history, there have been a number of old X-Men characters who have appeared on the big screen. Though Fox’s X-Men movie franchise may have earned a reputation for its inconsistent quality, it did introduce a number of iterations of some of Marvel’s most iconic mutant characters into live-action. The franchise’s timeline-hopping narrative may have proven confusing at times, but it did serve to capture some of the spirit of the characters’ stories in the Marvel Comics source material.

Across the multiple timelines, the movies of the X-Men franchise introduced a handful of surprisingly old mutant characters. Some were older iterations of iconic characters, while others were depicted as incredibly old due to the nature of their mutant abilities. Regardless, the franchise featured a handful of old X-men characters, and here are the 10 oldest, ranked by age.

10

Cyclops In X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Estimated Age: 57 Years Old

Cyclops in X-Men Days of Future Past

James Marsden’s Cyclops has been confirmed to return as part of the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, following up on his four appearances in Fox’s X-Men franchise. After prominently featuring in X-Men in 2000 and its 2003 sequel X2: X-Men United, Marsden’s character was killed in X-Men: The Last Stand. However, he returned at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past, playing the oldest iteration of the character seen in live-action to date.

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Based on Cyclops’ appearance in the prequel X-Men: Apocalypse, set in 1983, it can be estimated that he was born around 1966, putting him at 17 years old during his prequel appearance. This would mean that the Cyclops featured in Days of Future Past’s 2023-set ending would be approximately 57 years of age. Though it may not make him notably ancient, it’s the oldest the hero has been in any of his live-action appearances.

9

Storm In X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Estimated age: 59 years old

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Much like Cyclops, Storm is one of the X-Men characters to appear as her oldest self in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Halle Berry made her debut in the role in 2000’s X-Men, and played a major role in both sequels, X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand, making her a significant part of the original X-Men trilogy. She returned for the apocalyptic prelude to Days of Future Past and was shown battling against Bolivar Trask’s Sentinels.

A younger version of Storm appeared in the prequel timeline, making her debut in X-Men: Apocalypse. Alexandra Shipp’s Storm appeared to be approximately 19 during the events of the 2016 movie set in 1983, which would place her age in Days of Future Past’s alternate 2023 at approximately 59 years old. Like Cyclops, it may not be the most notably old member of the X-Men, but it’s the oldest Storm has been in live-action movies.

8

Mystique In X-Men: The Last Stand

Estimated age: 73 years old

Rebecca Romijn as Mystique in X-Men: The Last Stand

Another victim of the confusing, seemingly inconsistent aging across the X-Men movie timeline was Mystique. Played in the original trilogy by Rebecca Romijn, Mystique was at her oldest in X-Men: The Last Stand. However, Mystique featured heavily in all the franchise’s prequel movies, allowing for an accurate estimation of her age in the franchise’s future timeline, and it confirms that she was surprisingly old during the events of The Last Stand.

Rebecca Romijn's Mystique in Fox's X-Men franchise

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X-Men: First Class introduces Mystique as a child of approximately 10 years old in a scene set in 1944. This would make her year of birth 1944, placing her age during the supposedly 2007-set X-Men: The Last Stand at 73. Though Mystique’s shape-shifting ability makes her true age seem inconsequential, the scene in which she loses her power makes her look no older than her mid-30s, as Romijn was 34 at the time. Even so, her apparent age of 73 makes her one of the oldest X-Men movie characters.

7

Beast In X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Estimated age: 80+ years old

Beast greeting Logan in X-Men Days of Future Past

In the comics, Beast was one of the first X-Men characters introduced, but he didn’t make his full big-screen debut until 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, played by Kelsey Grammer. The role was recast for the prequels, though Grammer did reprise the role for Days of Future Past’s final scene, set in 2023. Using Nicholas Hoult’s appearance in X-Men: First Class as a reference, this makes Grammer’s Beast one of the oldest members of the X-Men in the movies.

Hoult’s version of the character is first introduced in X-Men: First Class, which is set in 1962. Considering he appears to be at least 22 years old in the movie, his birth year can be surmised as approximately 1940, if not earlier. This makes Kelsey Grammer’s beast more than 80 years old during Days of Future Past’s final scene, firmly establishing him as one of the oldest characters in the franchise.

6

Magneto In X-Men: Days Of Future Past

Estimated age: 93 years old

Magneto making amends in X-Men Days of Future Past

As one of the most prominent and powerful characters in the entire X-Men franchise, Magneto unsurprisingly makes many appearances across its multiple timelines. From his debut in 2000’s X-Men, he was played by Ian McKellen throughout the original trilogy before being recast as Michael Fassbender for the prequels. McKellen was another actor to return for Days of Future Past’s future scenes, where he was shown as one of the mutant survivors fighting the Sentinels.

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X-Men: First Class introduces an adolescent Magneto of approximately 14 years old during its scenes set in 1944, and rom this, his birth year has been estimated as being around 1930. Working from that, Magneto would be around 93 years old during Days of Future Past’s 2023 scenes, making it by far the character’s oldest appearance in the X-Men movies. Though he seems remarkably spry for his supposed age in the scene, the X-Men movie timeline would indicate that he’s actually over 90 years of age.

5

Professor X In Logan

Estimated age: 97 years old

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Arguably the most important character in any X-Men adaptation is Charles Xavier, better known as Professor X. The character features heavily in almost every movie in Fox’s franchise, played by Patrick Stewart in the original trilogy and James McAvoy in the prequels. Stewart also returned for Days of Future Past’s future scenes, but his oldest appearance as Professor X was actually in Logan, which was set in 2029.

Considering the movie’s depiction of Xavier as an elderly mutant reaching the end of his life, he’s one of the few oldest iterations of his character to actually look roughly the age he should.

X-Men: First Class places Charles Xavier’s year of birth some time around 1932, as he is shown at approximately 12 years old alongside Mystique in 1944. This makes Logan’s version of Professor X approximately 97 years old. Considering the movie’s depiction of Xavier as an elderly mutant reaching the end of his life, he’s one of the few oldest iterations of his character to actually look roughly the age he should.

4

Sabretooth In Deadpool & Wolverine

Estimated age: 189 years old

Sabretooth snarling at Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine

Sabretooth’s role in the X-Men franchise was relatively limited, as he proved not to be a huge hit with the fans. Played originally by Tyler Mane in 2000’s X-Men, the role then passed to Liev Schreiber for the 2009 prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Schreiber’s turn in the role proved a little more popular, but Sabretooth was then absent from subsequent movies until his return in the cast of Deapdool & Wolverine, where Mane’s version of the character was swiftly decapitated by Wolverine.

Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Tyler Mane's Sabretooth from the MCU.

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine’s opening sequence establishes that Sabretooth would have been born around 1835. His mutant healing factor affords him a much long lifespan than others, explaining why he doesn’t look anywhere near his approximate 189 years of age in 2024-set Deadpool & Wolverine. Despite not being one of the most important characters in the franchise, Sabretooth’s MCU appearance makes him one of the oldest.

3

Wolverine In Logan

Estimated age: 194 years old

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Wolverine’s status as one of the most popular and iconic members of the X-Men means that his regenerative healing factor is a well-known part of his character. Hugh Jackman’s tenure in the role has helped to make the hero one of the most prolific in the superhero movie genre, starting with his appearance in X-Men in 2000 and taking him up to his debut in the MCU’s movie timeline. Considering his abilities, it’s no surprise that he’s also one of the oldest X-Men characters in live-action.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine establishes that Logan was born around 1935, due to appearing as a child in a scene set in 1845. This makes his oldest movie appearance Logan, which is set in 2029. This places Wolverine’s on-screen age in Logan at approximately 194, making him by far one of the oldest members of the X-Men to appear in any of the franchise’s timelines.

2

Azazel In Deadpool & Wolverine

Estimated age: 2000-4000 years old

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Despite being one of the X-Men movie franchise’s most forgettable characters, Azazel made his live-action debut in X-Men: First Class. Appearing as a member of the Hellfire Club and a follower of Sebastian Shaw, Jason Flemyng’s take on the character played a supporting role in the movie. The character featured in a cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine, which would mark his latest appearance in the overall movie timeline of the X-Men.

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Azazel’s age is almost impossible to place exactly, but his comic book origins make him one of the oldest X-Men characters. Azazel is thought to be anywhere between 2000 and 4000 years old, as he is a member of an ancient group of demonic-looking mutants known as the Neyaphem. Though his brief movie appearances did not establish his origins, it can be assumed that they follow the source material, making him one of the oldest characters in the X-Men franchise.

1

Apocalypse In X-Men: Apocalypse

Estimated age: 9983 years old

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By far the oldest confirmed character in the X-Men movie franchise is Apocalypse. The villain’s status as an ancient threat to humanity is well-documented, and his live-action debut in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse confirmed it. Played by Oscar Isaac, Apocalypse appeared as the main antagonist of his own movie, and the age of the franchise’s version of the character can be easily calculated using the film’s on-screen cues.

In the comics, Apocalypse is born in 8000BC, making him exactly 9983 years old during the 1983-set X-Men: Apocalypse. The movie itself shows the villain at the height of his powers in 3600 BC, confirming that he is at least 6000 years old in the franchise, making a comic-accurate age more than plausible. This undeniably makes him by far the oldest character established within the X-Men movie franchise, in line with his traditional comic book depictions.

X-Men

Movie(s)

X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

First Film

X-Men (2000)

TV Show(s)

X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men ’97 (2024)

Character(s)

Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23

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