Every Ben 10 Series & How To Watch Them In Order

Though there are several Ben 10 series, there’s a way to watch them in order.

Beginning in 2005, the Ben 10 Franchise has spanned nearly 2 decades with 5 television series, 5 movies, and dozens of video games, comic books, and external appearances. Following the adventures of Ben Tennyson, a boy who gets a watch that allows him to transform into alien species at their prime. He travels the world, universe, and sometimes time, to stop evil forces.

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The series had a continuous through-line in the first 4 series in the classic timeline. In 2016, Cartoon Network relaunched the franchise with a reboot of the same name that redid many of the plot elements of the classic timeline, though at a much faster pace. With so many series and movies to watch, it can be hard to figure out just what order to watch them all in.

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Ben 10 (2005) Follows A 10-Year-Old With Alien Transformation Powers

The original Ben 10 series that launched the franchise in 2005 follows Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max Tennyson as they road trip across the country, saving people along the way. After Ben finds the Omnitrix, he is able to transform into 10 different aliens, including Heatblast and Four-Arms, though he adds more as the series continues.

Gwen and Max help out with magic and technology respectively. Featuring over 20 distinct alien transformations by the end of the series, the original Ben 10 series was well-received. Additionally, the series set the stage for a nearly 20-year franchise.

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Ben 10: Alien Force Shows What A 16-Year-Old Would Do With The Power

Set 5 years after the events of the original series, the now teenaged Ben and Gwen Tennyson return to action after Grandpa Max goes missing. Joining them is the villain turned hero from the original series Kevin Levin, an alien tech dealer that can absorb any material akin to Absorbing Man.

The series reintroduced the Omnitrix in an upgraded form and featured 10 new aliens including Swampfire and Humongousaur. Ben 10: Alien Force introduced a genocidal alien species called the Highbreeds who sought to purge all other life forms and the Plumber’s Children who would assist Ben in stopping the Highbreeds.

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Ben 10: Ultimate Alien Continued The Story With A Famous Ben

At the end of Alien Force, Ben turns on the Omnitrix’s self-destruct sequence to stop his long-time foe Vilgax from using it. Luckily, a new version of the Omnitrix called the Ultimatrix is taken by Ben, allowing him to access new forms of his Aliens, called Ultimate, which takes their DNA to its highest evolutionary status.

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In addition to the new powers granted by the Ultimatrix, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin have to deal with their secret identities being exposed and the attention, and threats, that follow. This series featured the first crossover with Generator Rex.

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Ben 10: Omniverse Performed A Minor Reset With New Art

When Gwen and Kevin head off for college, Ben goes off on his own set of adventures alongside his Plumber-In-Training partner Rook. Portrayed as a buddy-cop series, the pair tackle crime and bad influences from a secret alien city known as Undertown. Omniverse includes two versions of Ben, one 11 and one 16 years old, with alternating split storylines.

Unlike the previous series, Omniverse had a completely different art-style thanks to the art teaming directly involved with story meetings and the art being hand-drawn, save for some CGI elements. This series featured a crossover with The Secret Saturdays, noting that both series exist in the same universe.

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Ben 10 (2016) Rebooted The Franchise

The Ben 10 rebooted series lasting from 2016 to 2021, reset to the idea of the original series where Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max are traveling across America on a road trip. Many aspects from all 4 of the previous seasons were worked into the reboot, including several Aliens from the later seasons being available within the first season of the reboot. In addition to including more aliens, the previously explored aliens were also given new forms thanks to armors, enhancements, and amalgamations.

The finale of the reboot brings all the past Bens, from the classic timeline (though stylized in the new art) together to face a dimension-hopping villain. This series featured crossovers with several Cartoon Network shows in the form of a crossover event called Crossover Nexus, in which Ben’s Omnitrix allows him to transform into dozens of Cartoon Network characters including Finn from Adventure Time, Gumball Watterson from The Amazing World Of Gumball, Chowder from Chowder, and Captain K’nuckles from The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

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There are 5 Important Ben 10 Movies

There have been 5 movies in the Ben 10 franchise, with two of them being live-action. Secret of the Omnitrix follows Ben after he activates a self-destruct sequence on the watch and has to find Azmuth, the creator. Race Against Time is a live-action movie where Ben returns home at the end of summer and attempts to return to a normal life while being hunted.

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Alien Swarm follows the 16-year-old Ben of Alien Force in a live-action romp against a nanotech controlling foe. Destroy All Aliens is the only CGI movie of the franchise, taking place 1 year after Secret of the Omnitrix, where Ben is hunted by an evil Way Big. The final movie, Versus the Universe: The Movie is connected to the reboot and sees Ben head into space as Earth is attacked by Vilgax.

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How To Watch Them In Order

The watch order is fairly simple with this series as the movies are mostly considered non-canon, though they do have a place in the timeline. The order starts with the entire 2005 Ben 10 series, followed by the movies Secret of the Omnitrix, Race Against Time, and Destroy All Aliens. After those, viewers should watch Ben 10: Alien Force to the end of season 2, then the movie Alien Swarm, followed by the rest of the season.

Ultimate Alien and Omniverse can be watched back-to-back as there are no movies needed for them. These end the classic timeline. Finally, for the reboot timeline, watch Ben 10 2016 followed by Ben 10: Versus The Universe: The Movie to achieve the goal of watching every Ben 10 series in order.

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