Now that X-Men are going to make their official comeback and become a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is time to take a look at the top 10 movie villains of the 20th Century Fox X-men movie franchise.
These top 10 X-Men movie villains from the previous franchise have left their mark on the hearts of the fans who are still enjoying this exciting and impressive take on the X-Men superheroes and villains. Over the years, the franchise brought numerous mutant villains to life. But which mutant supervillains are the most powerful? Let’s find out!
William Stryker (Used Government Connections to Find and Capture Mutants)
William Stryker was first seen in the 2003’s X2: X-Men United. Brian Cox portrayed the role perfectly. This supervillain was adapted from Chris Claremont and Brent Anderson’s iconic 1984 graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.
Although his personal power kept him low in the rankings, he had support and funding from the government to assemble a team that would capture the young mutants from X-Men. General Stryker highlighted his power and threat over the years in the movie with his cinematic history with Wolverine and the young mutants of Xavier’s first class.
Demon Bear and The Smiley Men
Demon Bear and The Smiley Men threatened The New Mutants in one of the last movies of the franchise. Disney released this movie years after it was filmed. This movie gave rise to a powerful set of villains created by Demon Bear. This was the manifestation of the mutant abilities of young Dan Moonstar as he couldn’t control his powers.
Demon Bear gave rise to other powerful villains such as The Smiley Men. They tortured young mutants like Illyana Rasputin. The Demon Bear was able to show its true powers after it ate the movie’s other villain, Dr. Cecilia Reyes before the young mutants could save Dan Moonstar and help her get hold of her mutant abilities.
Sabertooth Was a Powerful Enemy of Wolverine
Bryan Singer’s 2000 X-Men was the first movie of the franchise that also introduced the feral villain Sabertooth. In the initial movie, the character was played by Tyler Mane. But the villain didn’t get much screen time in the movie.
But the second version of this character played by Liev Schrieber got much more screen time in the further movies and the actor brought the best out of the character. The villain fought several battles with Wolverine in the 2009s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie also saw the savagery of the character along with the healing factor and steel-shredding claws.
X-24: Powerful Clone of Logan
2018 Logan directed by James Mangold unleashed numerous supervillains that include the cyborg Donald Pierce and his Reavers who are a threat to the future mutants on the timeline. But one of the most threatening villains introduced in the movie was X-24. He was the clone of Logan filled with rage and anger that made him a powerful weapon.
X-24 was unleashed on Logan when he was trying to escape with Laura/X-23. This rage-filled, berserk villain would destroy anything that came into his way. X-24 was the younger version of Logan with a powerful healing factor, a mutant Logan feared he would become.
Bolivar Trask and His Sentinels
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) introduced another villain named Bolivar Trask portrayed by Peter Dinklage who introduced his mutant-hunting robots called Sentinels. These villains came into the X-Men world in the 70s eventually becoming a threat to the mutants in the dark timeline of the mutant universe.
Bolivar Trask didn’t have much physical power, but his team of mutant robots was able to incorporate the power of mutants and attack them with the same power. However, the X-Men were able to stop the Sentinel Program before they got too far but they were some of the most threatening villains to the mutant universe.
Sebastian Shaw and The Hellfire Club
Matthew Vaughn directed 2011’s X-Men: First Class and introduced Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw, a powerful enemy to the mutants. The character was retconned in the origin story of Magneto but at the same time introduced his secret organization Hellfire Club.
Sebastian Shaw could absorb and redirect the energy of other mutants making him a powerful nemesis to the X-Men. But when he combined his powers with Emma Frost/The White Queen, Azazel, and Riptide, they increased exponentially. Sebastian Shaw also became one of the first villains in the X-Men Cinematic Universe.
Juggernaut: A Powerful Villain with Multiple Appearances
Brett Ratner’s 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand, first introduced Juggernaut portrayed by Vinnie Jones. This movie reimagined the character as a mutant rather than Xavier’s stepbrother who got his powers from a ruby stone. Shadowcat defeated this character easily in the movie.
Although, Juggernaut made another appearance in 2018s Deadpool 2 directed by David Leitch. The director also gave the motion capture for this giant supervillain. Juggernaut was able to show his power in Deadpool, however, he doesn’t really have a strategic mind.
Magneto and His Brotherhood
Professor X and Magneto’s relationship dominated most of the storyline for Fox’s X-Men franchise. Both these characters got a lot of screen time in the original trilogy along with appearances in other movies. Ian McKellen portrayed the older Magneto whereas Michael Fassbender portrayed the younger version of the character.
Magneto and his rage gave more power to his mutant abilities but along with Mystique, Sabertooth, and other mutants in his Brotherhood, he gave a tough fight to the X-Men.
Apocalypse with His Eternal and Multiple Mutant Abilities
This eternal mutant and movie villain was introduced in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse as En Sabah Nur. He was none other than Apocalypse who had multiple mutant abilities. He wanted to use these abilities and create mutant superiority around the world. However, his vision was filtered through the lens of ‘survival of the fittest’ making him the villain in the X-Men universe.
Apocalypse got his multiple mutant abilities by absorbing the bodies of other mutants over the years. He was able to transform other mutants into his Horseman and make them do his dirty work. But he could also hold himself on his own against all the X-Men combined. Such was his power.
Jean Grey Became Dark Phoenix
The iconic “Dark Phoenix Saga” from Chris Claremont and John Byrne was adapted in the movie franchise. This showed Jean Grey consumed by her own power and become Dark Phoenix twice. Her power was so much that she could destroy the whole world in a single snap.
Jean Grey was first introduced in X-Men: The Last Stand. Famke Janssen portrayed the character along with her typical telepathic ability. The 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix saw Sophie Turner as young Jean Grey doubling her power after her interaction with cosmic forces.
These are our top 10 X-Men movie villains rated from least powerful to the most powerful supervillain. Do you think we could have added someone else to the list? Comment down below.
