The original live-action superhero team-up movie, 2000’s X-Men featured an eclectic cast of mutants varying greatly in power level. Kickstarting the entire Fox X-Men movie universe, the original X-Men film introduced both Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and the Brotherhood of Mutants led by Magneto. Both factions contain some versatile mutant abilities, but not all of them are equally matched in terms of raw threat.
The cast of 2000’s X-Men features both powerhouse mutants and weaker fledgling characters that struggle to keep up. Famously, mutant abilities are far from equal, sometimes giving the recipient godlike powers and other times giving them a lifelong disability that is difficult to control. Each mutant has their own strengths, weaknesses, and levels of tactical experience, but only one sits clearly atop the hierarchy of power when it comes to the very first X-Men film.
10
Mystique
More of a spy than a combatant
The тιтle of the lowest-ranking mutant of 2000’s X-Men in terms of threat goes to one of the more compelling characters in the franchise, Mystique. Despite this, Mystique is quite a valuable member of Magneto’s Brotherhood of Mutants, able to use her mutant ability of shapeshifting to almost unerringly disguise herself as anyone. Later on in the series, Mystique even threatens to change the course of the entire world by attempting to ᴀssᴀssinate a high-ranking government official.
However, as far as the scope of the first film is concerned, Mystique is easily the least threatening mutant. While she is an experienced martial artist by ability, her shapeshifting mutation is more useful for espionage and subterfuge than straight-up combat. This can certainly be threatening in its own way, but once her cover is blown, Mystique is more or less a normal human with no grandiose combat-oriented powers.
9
Jean Grey
Still quite underdeveloped by the first movie
By the end of the series, Jean Grey is easily among the most powerful mutants alive. Between her staggering psychic powers and her status as the vessel for the terrifying Dark Phoenix, it seems impossible that she could rank so low among the original cast of mutants in the Fox franchise. Sadly, looking at her track record specific to the scope of the first movie, Jean Grey leaves much to be desired in terms of threat level.
Jean Grey’s powers are still quite underdeveloped this early in the franchise, with only low-level telekinesis and telepathy. She’s barely strong enough to hold a grown man in place for a few moments, and when Toad spits in her face, she instantly loses concentration. She also isn’t yet strong enough in this film to handle the mᴀssive psychic strain of utilizing Cerebro, her telepathy not even threatening enough to be used in combat. Jean Grey goes a long way as the series continues, but in the first film, she was far from threatening.
8
Toad
An amphibian-themed thug
A literal toadie to Magneto, Toad is the X-Men series’ go-to when an unflattering villain aligned with the Brotherhood of Mutants is required. True to his name, Toad is one of the few mutants whose mutation actually results in a variety of different powers, each contributing to his frog-like physiology. Toad can cling to walls, leap vast distances with alarming agility, and even spit up toxic blinding goo. However, his most prominent ability is his long prehensile tongue, strong enough to throw around grown adults.
Even if his theming is a bit unfortunate, Toad is formidable enough to outclass the average human by far. In terms of other mutants, Toad manages to get the drop on the X-Men a couple of times in the original film, but his unimpressive mutation ultimately isn’t able to contend with more overtly powerful characters. Storm demonstrates this in their infamous battle, in which she ᴀsserts “You know what happens to a Toad when it’s struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.“
7
Rogue
The definition of a glᴀss cannon
Sometimes mutant powers give as much as they take away, and no member of the X-Men feels more cursed by their abilities than Rogue. Introduced as just a nervous teenager still struggling with the manifestation of her mutation, Rogue is the viewpoint character of 2000’s X-Men who serves as the audience’s nervous viewpoint into the world of mutants. Her ability violently drains the life-force from anyone she touches with direct contact, absorbing their memories and powers before ultimately killing them.
The danger of this ability has made Rogue’s romantic life a struggle, as detailed by her appearance in the shocking mid-season finale of X-Men ’97. Unlike this more comic-accurate version of herself, however, Fox’s Rogue has no other inherent abilities, like flight or super-strength. This means she has no special durability or ability to close the gap with her opponents. Even if she can take anyone out by getting her hands on them, getting to that point is far from easy.
6
Sabretooth
A weaker, yet more vicious Wolverine
The half-brother of Wolverine, a.k.a. Logan, Sabretooth has some incredibly similar powers, though with a few key differences. Another animalistic mutant, Sabretooth’s enhanced senses, strength, and feline agility makes him no threat to take lightly in a combat scenario, with centuries of killing under his belt. Despite being the more feral of the two brothers, Sabretooth loses out to his eternal nemesis for a couple of key reasons.
Sabretooth has his own healing factor similar to Wolverine’s, allowing him to walk off wounds that would be fatal to anyone else. However, this element of his powers doesn’t get much focus in 2000’s X-Men, which depicts him as more of an ambush predator who prefers to ᴀssault his prey with surprise attacks. In an open one-on-one, Sabretooth falls short of more gifted mutants like Cyclops.
5
Cyclops
The X-Men’s field leader for a reason
Speaking of Cyclops, Scott Summers perfectly rounds out the middle of the pack when it comes to the average power of a Fox universe mutant. Like his comic counterpart, Cyclops’ eyes serve as portals to a dimension containing boundless kinetic energy, unleashing devastating blasts of red force every time he opens them. He’s able to control this “always on” aspect of his power thanks to a special rose quartz visor, which allows him to precisely control his sH๏τs.
Cyclops is the premiere ranged attacker of the original X-Men team, and his beams can take out mutants like Toad and Sabretooth with no problem. However, when he loses his visor, Cyclops has to blind himself or risk friendly fire, unable to contain the raw energy of his destructive mutation. Compared to his comic self, Cyclops often ends up playing second fiddle to Wolverine in the X-Men both in terms of leadership and power level.
4
Wolverine
The ultimate melee fighter
One of the most iconic superhero movie performances ever put to screen, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine got his start in 2000’s X-Men. The film establishes his enhanced reflexes, speed, and eerily good sense of smell, but these are only minor mutations that pale in comparison to his more famous abilities. Wolverine’s incredible healing factor makes him nigh-immortal, quickly recovering from nearly any form of attack with ease. Offensively, his adamantium-laced claws can slice through anything, making him the ultimate killing machine.
Wolverine is a good gatekeeper separating the decently powerful mutants from the truly strong in 2000’s X-Men. As an unstoppable force of nature, Wolverine is next to impossible to permanently put down, and his reinforced skeleton supplements his already staggering durability. Despite being the most terrifying melee combatant of the universe, his threat is ultimately limited by his range and area of effect, able to be endlessly kited by more powerful mutants.
3
Magneto
A truly threatening villain
Entering into the upper echelon of mutant power, Magneto is the weakest mutant in the first X-Men film to be arguable for “Omega-level” status. The ideological foil to Charles Xavier, believing humankind and mutantkind are incapable of co-existing, Magneto is the leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Magneto alone makes the faction a chilling threat, as his powers allow him to telekinetically manipulate any metallic material to a fine degree.
The sheer scale on which Magneto’s powers operate even in the first X-Men film makes him an impossibly powerful being, with his versatile powers allowing him to bury opponents in debris or fly around by manipulating the metal in his own costume. His costume also includes his iconic helmet, rendering him immune to telepaths like Charles Xavier. As strong as Magneto is, he is still ultimately reliant on finding metallic objects to manipulate within a certain range, leaving him vulnerable in certain environments like forests or plastic prisons.
2
Storm
The most powerful X-Men member in the field
Another Omega-level mutant, Storm has one of the most overpowered mutations ever created. Ororo Munroe was gifted the incredible ability to manipulate the weather itself, allowing her to form and shape wind, rain, hail, and even lightning out of thin air. In addition to affecting mᴀssive areas with area of effect attacks, Storm’s fine control over air currents allows her to fly, making her one of the few mutants of the Fox X-Men universe capable of being airborne.
Unlike Magneto, Storm needs only an open sky above her to use her powers, making her a far more versatile threat on a similar scale. Yet Storm doesn’t need to risk friendly fire to use her powers, either, able to direct single bolts of lightning to a designated target as shown with Toad. Even if Storm is technically vulnerable to psychic attacks, her sheer versatility and breadth of power make her easily among the strongest mutants even later into the series.
1
Professor X
The leader of the mutants for a reason
While Cyclops might be the squad leader of the X-Men in the field, the team wouldn’t even exist if it were not for the wisdom of Professor Charles Xavier. Professor X has the power to back up his lofty position as the founder of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Professor X’s strength comes from his staggering psychic abilities, allowing him to read minds and mentally command others to do his bidding.
Despite being an old man confined to a wheelchair, Professor X is easily the strongest mutant depicted in the original X-Men. With Cerebro, his range encompᴀsses the entire planet, and his ability to utterly dominate the minds of anyone within it is terrifying enough to warrant Magneto’s use of his famous helmet. Even though Professor X has made some dubious decisions as a leader, his status as the strongest of the X-Men is utterly uncontested.
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