Recurring characters in the X-Men movies

When the X-Men leapt off the comic book page and into a long-running series of movies, countless iconic characters took to the screen. From Wolverine, Magneto, and Professor Charles Xavier, to Toad, Iceman, and Caliban, the X-Men movie series made good use of a huge portfolio of heroes and villains.

In fact, it didn’t just make ‘good use’ of these characters, the X-Men movie series incorporated them extensively into the films. Many established heroes and villains from the X-Men comics appeared in the movies, bringing these characters to life in the process.

Some of these characters came and went, popping up just once in the series (Riptide, Mondo, Darwin, etc), but there were a large number who became a recurring presence. These characters appeared in more than one movie, and in some cases appeared across the vast majority of the series.

But who are the recurring characters in the X-Men movies, which movies did they appear in, and who played them?! All of these questions are answered below.

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Recurring characters in the X-Men movies

Below is a list of all the characters who appear in more than one X-Men movie. As you will see from the list, a large number of characters reappear throughout the series, and are often played by multiple actors.

Professor Charles Xavier – Eleven movies

• Played by Patrick Stewart* in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Logan.
• Played by James McAvoy in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
• Played by Laurence Belcher in X-Men: First Class. Belcher briefly played Xavier as a child.

*Please note: Patrick Stewart also played Charles Xavier in the non-X-Men movie, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Wolverine – Ten movies

• Played by Hugh Jackman in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Logan, and Deadpool & Wolverine.
• Played by Troye Sivan in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Sivan played Wolverine/James ‘Logan’ Howlett as a child.

Cyclops – Eight movies

• Played by James Marsden in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Tim Pocock in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• Played by Tye Sheridan in X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

Magneto – Eight movies

• Played by Ian McKellen in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Brett Morris in X-Men. Morris briefly played Magneto as a child.
• Played by Michael Fassbender in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men Apocalypse, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
• Played by Bill Milner in X-Men: First Class. Milner briefly played Magneto as a child.

Mystique – Seven movies

• Played by Rebecca Romijn in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and in a brief cameo in X-Men: First Class.
• Played by Jennifer Lawrence in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
• Played by Morgan Lily in X-Men: First Class. Lily briefly played Mystique as a child.

Jean Grey – Seven movies

• Played by Famke Janssen in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Haley Ramm in X-Men: The Last Stand. Ramm briefly played Jean Grey as a child.
• Played by Sophie Turner in X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
• Played by Summer Fontana in X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Fontana briefly played Jean Grey as a child.

Storm – Seven movies

• Played by Halle Berry in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Alexandra Shipp in X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

The Beast – Seven movies

• Played by Steve Bacic in X2. Bacic had a ‘blink-and-you’ll miss it’ cameo as Beast’s alter-ego, Hank McCoy.
• Played by Kelsey Grammer** in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Nicholas Hoult in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

**Please note: Kelsey Grammer also played the Beast in the non-X-Men movie, The Marvels.

Colossus – Seven movies

• Played by Daniel Cudmore in X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Donald MacKinnon in a brief cameo role in X-Men.
• Played by Stefan Kapičić in Deadpool, Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Kitty Pryde – Four movies

• Played briefly by Sumela Kay in a ‘blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ cameo role in X-Men.
• Played briefly by Katie Stuart in a cameo role in X2.
• Played by Elliot Page in X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Deadpool – Four movies

• Played by Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine.
• Played by Scott Adkins in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Adkins briefly played the Weapon XI version of Deadpool.

Quicksilver – Four movies

• Played by Evan Peters in X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

William Stryker – Four movies

• Played by Brian Cox in X2.
• Played by Danny Huston in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• Played by Josh Helman in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Nightcrawler – Four movies

• Played by Alan Cumming in X2.
• Played by Kodi Smit-McPhee in X-Men: Apocalypse, Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

Iceman – Four movies

• Played by Shawn Ashmore in X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Jubilee – Four movies

• Played by Heather McComb in Generation X.
• Played by Katrina Florece in a brief cameo role in X-Men.
• Played by Kea Wong in a brief cameo role in X2.
• Played by Lana Condor in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Havok – Three movies

• Played by Lucas Till in X-Men: First Class, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Moira MacTaggert – Three movies

• Played by Olivia Williams in X-Men: The Last Stand.
• Played by Rose Byrne in X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Apocalypse.

Vanessa – Three movies

• Played by Morena Baccarin in Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Blind Al – Three movies

• Played by Leslie Uggams in Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Dopinder – Three movies

• Played by Karan Soni in Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Negasonic Teenage Warhead – Three movies

• Played by Brianna Hildebrand in Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Emma Frost – Three movies

• Played by Finola Hughes in Generation X.
• Played by Tahyna Tozzi in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• Played by January Jones in X-Men: First Class.

Pyro – Four movies

• Played by Alexander Burton in a brief cameo in X-Men.
• Played by Aaron Stanford in X2, X-Men: The Last Stand and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Angel/Archangel – Two movies

• Played by Ben Foster in X-Men: The Last Stand.
• Played by Cayden Boyd in X-Men: The Last Stand. Boyd briefly played the young version of Angel.
• Played by Ben Hardy in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Sunspot – Two movies

• Played by Adan Canto in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Henry Zaga in The New Mutants.

Yukio – Three movies

• Played by Rila Fukushima in The Wolverine.
• Played by Shioli Kutsuna in Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Apocalypse/En Sabah Nur – Two movies

• Played by Brendan Pedder in the post-credit scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Played by Oscar Isaac in X-Men: Apocalypse.
• Played by Bedj Garabedian in X-Men: Apocalypse. Garabedian briefly played a young version of Apocalypse.

Weasel – Two movies

• Played by T.J. Miller in Deadpool and Deadpool 2.

Shatterstar – Two movies

• Played by Lewis Tan in Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Buck – Two movies

• Played by Randal Reeder in Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

X-23/Laura – Two movies

• Played by Dafne Keen in Logan and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Azazel – Two movies

• Played by Jason Flemyng in X-Men: First Class.
• Appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Gambit – Two movies

• Played by Taylor Kitsch in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• Played by Channing Tatum in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Banshee – Two movies

• Played by Jeremy Ratchford in Generation X.
• Played by Caleb Landry Jones in X-Men: First Class.

Juggernaut – Three movies

• Played by Vinnie Jones in X-Men: The Last Stand.
• Played by Ryan Reynolds and David Leitch in Deadpool 2. Reynolds and Leitch provided the voice and motion capture work for Juggernaut’s appearance.
• Appears in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Peter – Two movies

• Played by Rob Delaney in Deadpool 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Senator Robert Kelly – Two movies

• Played by Bruce Davison in X-Men and X2.

Bolivar Trask – Two movies

• Played by Bill Duke in X-Men: The Last Stand.
• Played by Peter Dinklage in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

The Blob – Two movies

• Played by Kevin Durand in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• Played by ‘Giant’ Gustav Claude Ouimet in a brief cameo in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Victor Creed/Sabretooth – Three movies

• Played by Tyler Mane in X-Men and Deadpool & Wolverine.
• Played by Liev Schreiber in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• Played by Michael-James Olsen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Olsen played Victor Creed as a child.

Caliban – Two movies

• Played by Stephen Merchant in Logan.
• Played by Tómas Lemarquis in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Psylocke – Two movies

• Played by Meiling Melançon in X-Men: The Last Stand.
• Played by Olivia Munn in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Toad – Three movies

• Played by Ray Park in X-Men.
• Played by Evan Jonigkeit in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
• Appeared in Deadpool & Wolverine.

In addition to the above list of characters and actors, comic book writer, publisher, and cameo king, Stan Lee appeared briefly in four X-Men movies: X-Men, X-Men: The Last Stand, Deadpool, and X-Men: Apocalypse.

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Editor/writer/mutant

Alex Wiggan

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Thank you for taking the time to read this post about the X-Men movies on It’s A Stampede!. For more movie posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.