If you enjoyed Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class this past summer, it was probably in part because you were wise enough to take the '60s tale as something of a reboot -- some standalone tale divorced from the much-panned continuity of 20th Century Fox's wider X-Men film franchise. Most fans have been happy to do so especially considering the already inconsistent storytelling that extends through X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Problem is, the film is officially billed as a prequel. We're not authorized to award No-Prizes, but IGN's animated infographic certainly deserves one for laying the whack X-Men movie timeline bare while inserting a few plausible (if facetious) explanations for the phenomena. If you're waiting to catch First Class when it drops on DVD and Blu-ray on September 9, beware of mild spoilers after the jump.

[Via IGN]

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