Draft:X-Men (film series team)

• Comment: Many unsourced paragraphs/primary sources. GoldRomean (talk) 18:15, 16 May 2025 (UTC)

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X-Men
X-Men logo
Universe	Earth-10005
First appearance	X-Men (2000)
Based on	X-Men by Stan Lee Jack Kirby
Adapted by	David Hayter Tom DeSanto Bryan Singer Ashley Edward Miller Zack Stentz Jane Goldman Matthew Vaughn Sheldon Turner
In-universe information
Type	Superhero
Founder	Charles Xavier
Founded	1962
Fate	Original timeline: Erased dark future of 2023 Revised timeline: Disbanded as of 2028
Address	Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Westchester County, New York
Key people	Team roster
Affiliations	Cable, Caliban, Gambit, Moira MacTaggert, X-Force
Enemies	Apocalypse, Brotherhood of Mutants, D'Bari, Essex Corporation, Hellfire Club, Horsemen of Apocalypse, Robert Kelly, Magneto, Sentinels, William Stryker, Bolivar Trask, Weapon X

The X-Men are a fictional team of superhero mutants and the protagonists of 20th Century Fox's X-Men films (2000–2020), based on the Marvel Comics team of the same name created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Founded by Charles Xavier, to defend mutantkind from those who oppress and discriminate them, and to use their mutant powers for the benefit of man and mutants: a subspecies of the human race, who possess latent super-human abilities from birth, due to the presence of the mysterious "X-Gene" within their genetic codes.

The X-Men are depicted as operating in the state of New York: Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Westchester County, New York in both respective timelines.

Various X-Men teams from alternate universes were depicted across the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse Saga, including appearances in the films The Marvels (2023) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024). A new incarnation of the X-Men are set to be introduced in Avengers: Doomsday (2026) set in the MCU's Phase Six, concluding the Multiverse Saga.

Fictional team biography

The X-Men' story takes place in the Earth-10005 universe. The fictional biography below includes events that happened to the team from more than one Earth-10005 timelines, as well as events that occurred in alternate universes.

Division X, First Class and the Hellfire Club

Further information: X-Men: First Class

In 1962, telepath Charles Xavier and his adopted sister Raven, a scaly blue-skinned shapeshifter, were contacted by Moira MacTaggert agent of the Central Intelligence Agency. Seeking Xavier's advice on mutation, MacTaggert takes him and Raven to the CIA, where they convince Director McCone that mutants exist and that Sebastian Shaw is a threat. Another CIA officer sponsors the mutants and invites them to the secret "Division X" facility meeting young scientist Hank McCoy, a mutant with prehensile feet and enhanced intelligence. The Central Intelligence Agency provides him access to Cerebro, which he uses to locate and recruit other mutants for the government. Around the same time, he meets Erik Lehnsherr after saving him from drowning in a botched attempt to kill Shaw with his magnetic abilities. Xavier and Lensherr become friends and together they locate mutants for the CIA. Including exotic dancer Angel Salvadore, taxi driver Armando Muñoz, Army prisoner Alex Summers and the young Sean Cassidy.

Once the team is assembled, Shaw and the Hellfire Club attack the CIA facility, kill all the human personnel including Muñoz, and persuade Salvadore to defect. Xavier retreats with the survivors to his Westchester, New York mansion to harnessing their abilities and train them as an independent team of operatives to prevent nuclear war between the US and USSR as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis. McCoy believes Raven's DNA may provide a "cure" for their appearance and manages to get a cure ready, but Raven, after being persuaded by Lehnsherr, decides she does not want to hide her identity and refuses the cure. McCoy uses the cure on himself, but it backfires, giving him blue fur and a leonine appearance. With McCoy piloting, the mutants and MacTaggert fly to the blockade line. Xavier uses telepathy to make a Soviet sailor destroy the missile ship, while Lehnsherr uses his magnetic powers to lift Shaw's submarine onto land. Lehnsherr grabs Shaw's helmet in battle, allowing Xavier to immobilize him. However, Lehnsherr reveals that he shares Shaw's exclusivist view of mutants but wants revenge for his mother's death. Lehnsherr pushes a Nazi coin through Shaw's brain, killing him. Forced to witness this, Xavier endures Shaw's death.

Both fleets fire at the mutants in fear, but Lehnsherr intercepts the barrage. As he redirects their fire, MacTaggert shoots him, but Lehnsherr deflects them, with one bullet hitting Xavier's spine when he tries to intervene. Distracted by Xavier's injury, Lehnsherr lets the artillery fall into the ocean. Xavier and Lehnsherr part ways over their differing views on mutants and humans, and Lehnsherr leaves with Angel, Azazel, Riptide, and Raven. Later, a wheelchair-bound Xavier returns to the mansion with his mutants to open a school. MacTaggert promises to keep Xavier's location secret, but he wipes her memories to ensure it. Meanwhile, Lehnsherr, now Magneto, formed the Brotherhood of Mutants with Raven and the remaining members of the Hellfire Club freed Frost from prison.

Original Earth-10005 timeline

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

Further information: X2 (film), X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men (film)

In the 1960s, Xavier opened his home as "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters". During the Vietnam War, Alex left the X-Men and joined the military to combat the Vietnam War. Lehnserr was accused and imprisoned for assassinating JFK, and later was acquitted. While former X-Men members, Cassidy and Salvadore were captured, experimented, tortured and killed by Bolivar Trask for his Sentinel program. In 1973 Paris, Raven had assassinated Trask, leading the US government to see the dangers of mutants and to approve Trask's Sentinel program as a response. She was captured and tortured by Stryker and other government officials for scientific study, with her genome later being mapped out for use in the Sentinel program. This causes McCoy to leave the Institute, becoming an activist and for thirty-three years, was fighting for Mutants Rights. McCoy later got involved in politics and was sworn in by the U.S. Cabinet to be the Secretary of Mutant Affairs. At some point in the preceding 30 years, Raven escaped captivity.

In the mid-1970s, Major William Stryker sent his son Jason to Xavier's school in hopes of ridding his mutation, regarding it as a disease that he believed needed be cured. Xavier had no interest or belief in 'curing' mutants, which angered Stryker and pulled Jason out of the school. In 1979, Xavier helped liberate the mutant children (including Scott Summers, he emits powerful beams of energy from his eyes) held prisoner by Stryker's Weapon X lab on Three Mile Island. Xavier telepathic guides Scott and the rest of the mutants to safety. He takes everyone into his helicopter, to his school. Scott would go on to lead the X-Men.

In the 1980s, Xavier rekindled his relationships with Lehnserr and MacTaggert. In 1986, Xavier and Lehnserr meet young Jean Grey at her parents' house to invite her to join their school. After her parents had been concerned about what they believed to be a type of "illness" in their daughter. Jean is shown levitating multiple cars and other objects with her telekinetic powers and the two elder mutants. Xavier put psychic dampers on her mind to preventing her powers from spiraling out of control and hurting others and herself. As well to control a supposed "dark side" within her subconscious, developing a second personality known as "The Phoenix".

Eventually, anti-mutant U.S. Senator Robert Kelly attempts to pass a "Mutant Registration Act" in Congress, which would force mutants to reveal their identities and abilities. Xavier and Lehnserr's relationship strains, he eventually leaves the school and re-establishes his Brotherhood with Raven.

The Brotherhood and recruiting Wolverine

Further information: X-Men (film)

In the 2000s, through Cerebro, Xavier sends Scott and Ororo Munroe to Laughlin City, Alberta to rescue the seventeen-year-old mutant, Rogue (has the mutant ability to absorb the power and life force of others) and Logan (with animal-keen senses, regenerative ability and a skeleton reinforced with adamantium) from Sabretooth, a member of Lehnserr's Brotherhood. Logan and Rogue are brought to Xavier's school. Believing that Lehnserr is interested in capturing Logan, Xavier asks him to stay while he investigates the matter. Rogue enrolls in the school, and visits Logan while he is having a nightmare. Startled, he accidentally stabs her, but she is able to absorb his healing ability to recover. Disturbed by this event, Rogue leaves the school, and Logan finds her on a train and convinces her to return. Before they can leave, Lehnserr arrives, knocks out Logan and subdues Rogue, revealing it was Rogue who he wants rather than Logan. Although Xavier attempts to stop him by mentally controlling Sabretooth, he is forced to release his hold when Magneto threatens the police who have converged on the station, allowing the Brotherhood to escape with Rogue. Although Xavier and Jean attempts to stop him by mentally controlling Sabretooth and Toad at the same time, he is forced to release his hold when Lehnserr threatens the police who have converged on the station, allowing the Brotherhood to escape with Rogue.

Kelly arrives at the school, and Xavier reads his mind to learn that Kelly was a test subject for a machine powered by Lehnserr's magnetic abilities that generates a field of radiation, which induces mutations in normal humans. Realizing the strain of powering it nearly killed him, the X-Men deduce he intends to transfer his powers to Rogue and use her to power it at the cost of her life. Kelly's body rejects his mutation, and his body dissolves into liquid. Xavier uses Cerebro to locate Rogue when she runs away but is poisoned when he uses it later due to it having been tampered with by Raven. Jean fixes Cerebro and uses it, learning that the Brotherhood plans to place their machine on Liberty Island and use it to "mutate" the world leaders meeting at a summit on nearby Ellis Island. The X-Men scale the Statue of Liberty, battling and overpowering the Brotherhood while Lehnserr transfers his powers to Rogue and activates the machine. As Logan confronts and distracts Lehnserr, Scott subdues him, allowing Logan to destroy the machine. He transfers his powers to Rogue, rejuvenating her while incapacitating himself.

Xavier and Logan recover from their comas, the group also learns that Raven escaped the island battle and is impersonating Kelly. He advises Logan to search Alkali Lake for answers to his past, taking Scott's motorcycle. Xavier visits Lehnserr, now imprisoned in a complex constructed of polycarbonate.

Weapon X and Stryker's siege

Further information: X2 (film)

In 2003, Jean has been having premonitions and struggles to concentrate as her powers become increasingly difficult to control. Logan returns to Xavier's school for mutants, and Xavier using Cerebro tracks the mutant Kurt Wagner who attacked the President of the United States, at the White House, wounding many agents. Xavier and Scott go to question the imprisoned Lehnserr about the attack, while Jean and Ororo retrieve Kurt. Colonel Stryker's forces invade the school and abduct some of the students. Colossus leads the remaining students to safety while Logan, Rogue, Bobby Drake, and John Allerdyce escape, and Stryker's assistant Yuriko Oyama captures Scott and Xavier. During the attack, Logan confronts Stryker, who addresses him as "Wolverine" and seems to know about his past. Logan, Rogue, Bobby, and John visit Bobby's parents and brother in Boston. Bobby's parents do not accept that he is a mutant. His brother secretly goes upstairs and calls the police to their house. The police arrive and surround the house. An impulsive officer shoots Logan in the head after feeling threatened by his claws, John refuses to surrender and takes matters into his own hands by attacking and fending off the police with his pyrokinesis. Logan regenerates from the gunshot shortly before Ororo, Jean, and Kurt arrive in their jet to pick up the group. The X-Jet is attacked by fighter jets while flying back to the mansion and is shot down, but an escaped-Lehnserr and Raven saves them from crashing. Lehnserr explains to the group that Stryker has built the second Cerebro to use it and Xavier to telepathically kill every mutant on the planet. Stryker's son, Jason, whom Stryker will use to force Xavier to do this. Stryker had also previously used Jason's powers to orchestrate Kurt's attack as a pretense to gain approval to invade Xavier's mansion. Lehnserr also tells Logan that Stryker was the man who grafted adamantium onto his bones and is responsible for his amnesia. Jean reads Kurt's mind and determines that Stryker's base is underground in a dam at Alkali Lake.

Disguised as Logan, Mystique infiltrates Stryker's base, letting the rest of the mutants in while she and Magneto head to disable Cerebro before the brainwashed Xavier can activate it. Storm and Nightcrawler rescue the captured students, and Grey fights a mind-controlled Cyclops; their battle frees Cyclops but damages the dam, which begins to rupture. Logan finds Stryker in an adamantium smelting lab and remembers it as where he received his adamantium skeleton. Logan fights and kills Yuriko, then chases Stryker to a helicopter pad and chains him to the helicopter's wheel. Magneto stops Cerebro and, using Raven impersonating Stryker to command Jason, has Xavier redirect its powers on humans. The two subsequently use Stryker's helicopter to escape, accompanied by John, who has been swayed to Lehnserr's views. Kurt teleports Ororo inside Cerebro, where she creates a snowstorm to break Jason's concentration and free Xavier from his control. The X-Men flee the dam as water engulfs it, killing Stryker, but the X-Jet loses all power and struggles to take flight as the flood water rushes towards them. Jean sneaks off the jet and telepathically wishes the team goodbye. She holds back the water and raises the jet above it as flames erupt from her body, until she lets go and allows the flood to crash down upon her. The X-Men give Stryker's files to the President, and Xavier warns him that humans and mutants must work together to build peace. Back at the school, Xavier, Scott, Ororo and Logan remember Grey, as Xavier begins to hold a class.

Phoenix and Mutant Cure

Further information: X-Men: The Last Stand

In 2006, Worthington Labs announces an inoculation to suppress the X-gene that gives mutants their abilities and offers the "cure" to any mutant who wants it. The cure interests some mutants such as Rogue, who cannot touch anyone without harming them, while others are wary of it. McCoy now the Secretary of Mutant Affairs, contacted Xavier and informed him of the situation saying he could understand why some mutants would want to be free of persecution. Scott, still distraught over the loss of Jean, drives to her resting location at Alkali Lake. Jean suddenly appears to Scott, but kills him as they kiss. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends Logan and Ororo to investigate. When they arrive, they find only telekinetically floating rocks, Scott's glasses, and an unconscious Jean. At the X-Mansion, Xavier explains that when Jean sacrificed herself to save them, she also freed the "Phoenix", a dark alternate personality with godlike destructive potential which Xavier had telepathically repressed. Logan is disgusted to learn of this psychic tampering with Grey's mind but, once she awakens, he discovers that she killed Cyclops and is not the woman he once knew. The Phoenix emerges, knocks out Logan, and escapes to her childhood home. Learning of Grey's return, Lehnserr and his Brotherhood (whom he re-established to opposed the cure) arrive at the house at the same time as the X-Men, with Lehnserr and Xavier both vying for Grey's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces. She destroys the house and disintegrates Xavier, then leaves with Lehnserr.

Once the weaponization of the cure was made without his knowledge, McCoy resigned from his position in the government and returned to Xavier's mansion. Lehnserr, Phoenix and the Brotherhood attack Alcatraz with the intention to kill a young mutant named Jimmy, whose genome is used to create the cure. They overwhelm the military troops until the remaining X-Men arrive to confront them. During the fight, Kitty Pryde saves Jimmy from the Juggernaut, Bobby subdues Pyro, and Logan distracts Lehnserr for McCoy to inject him with the cure, nullifying his powers. The Phoenix awakens and begins destroying anyone within range of her powers. Logan realizes that only he can stop the Phoenix due to his healing factor and adamantium skeleton. When Logan approaches her, Jean momentarily gains control and begs him to save her. Logan is forced to fatally stab Jean, killing her. Sometime later, Xavier was buried on the campus grounds, with Scott to his right and eventually Jean to Scott's right. Mutant rights are finally obtained and Xavier's school is still operating with Storm as headmistress. The President of the United States appoints McCoy as ambassador to the United Nations.

However, Xavier was able to survive his encounter with Jean by transferring his consciousness into his brother's comatose body on Muir Island under the care of McTaggert. Since P. Xavier was born brain-dead and stuck in a coma, Xavier couldn't walk in his brother's body and had to use his old wheelchair.

Upcoming crisis and the Free Mutants

Further information: The Wolverine (film), X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Deadpool & Wolverine

In the early 2010s, Trask Industries had evolved their Sentinel models, from DNA collected by Raven in the 1970s and by Rogue, the Sentinels now have the ability to adapt and counter any mutant ability. Upon learning this information, Xavier secretly reconnects with Lehnserr who has regained his mutant abilities. In 2013, Logan has left the X-Men and began living life in isolation as a hermit in the Yukon, due to being tormented by hallucinations of Jean and the trauma of her death.

In 2015, Logan returns to the United States after being in Japan for two years and is approached at the airport by Xavier and Lehnserr, who warn him of the Sentinel program that would bring an end to the mutant race.

In 2018, violence to mutants have increased due to the Sentinels, including McCoy was murdered by an angry mob of human protesters outside his home in upstate New York. The mutant Bishop formed a global network of mutant resistance known as the "Free Mutants" in response to increased attacks and mass killings by the Sentinels. Kitty gained and eventually learned how to use her abilities to bring the consciousness of others into their past selves so that they could provide advance warning to escape upcoming-Sentinel assaults. Allerdyce has been presumed dead by the Free Mutants, he had been pruned by the Time Variance Authority and sent to the Void. The members of Bishop's Free Mutants would begin to ally and eventually join the X-Men as an adjacent-team.

Dystopian 2023 and a better future

Further information: X-Men: Days of Future Past

By the 2020s, the world has become dystopian as the Sentinels continue to hunt and kill mutants, as well as humans who either possess the genetic potential to have mutant offspring or try to protect them.

In Moscow 2023, the Sentinels attacked X-Men and Free Mutants survivors Kitty, Colossus, Blink, Warpath, Bishop, Bobby, and Sunspot. All of the mutants sacrifice themselves to buy Kitty enough time to send Bishop's consciousness a few days into the past to warn the others of the coming attack and ensure their survival. Having averted the attack, the group retreats to a remote Chinese temple and are joined by the their teammates Ororo, Logan, Xavier, and Lehnsherr. Xavier explains that the Sentinels were originally conceived by Trask, the government captured Raven and experimented on her, using her DNA to create Sentinels capable of adapting to any mutant power. With Kitty's having developed ability, Xavier proposes that he be sent back into his past self in 1973 so that he can prevent Raven. However, Kitty explains that the process of projecting someone's mind into the past would be too psychologically traumatic, even for Xavier to survive it, prompting Logan to volunteer to go back instead as his power would allow him to recover from the damage inflicted.

The young Xavier briefly communicates with Xavier, Logan's projected mind acting as a psychic 'bridge' between the past and the future. Xavier convinces his younger self to maintain his faith that humanity can rise above its mistakes rather than judge it by when it stumbles despite the future he lives in. He offers his young self advice on how to get past the fear of emotional pain that is hindering his powers by telling him that he can accept the pain of others by focusing on the hope for a better future. Xavier also allows his young counterpart to see his memories, which include the differences he had made in his students. The X-Men and Free Mutants make their last stand as an onslaught of Sentinels attacks the temple, with most of the mutants perishing with Lehnserr injured while trying to buy more time. In 1973, Xavier telepathically convinces Raven to spare Trask, leading the public to realize that a mutant saved the President. As a result, the Sentinel program is decommissioned, altering the timeline and erasing the dark future of 2023 from history.

Revised Earth-10005 timeline

Vietnam War and the Sentinel program

Further information: X-Men: Days of Future Past and Dark Phoenix (film)

In 1973, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters has closed. Charles Xavier is seen to be bitter and leading a reclusive life, having given up on his dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants due to the Vietnam War. Despite having been paralyzed by Lehnserr a decade prior, he regained his mobility from Hank McCoy's serum, but at the cost of suppressing his mutation. Similar to the original timeline; Alex Summers joined the military to combat the Vietnam War. Erik Lehnsherr has been accused and imprisoned for assassinating JFK. While former X-Men members, Sean Cassidy and Angel Salvadore were captured, experimented, tortured and killed by Bolivar Trask for his Sentinel program.

Logan (whose mind back in time into his 1973 body) goes to the X-Mansion, learning from McCoy about the broken Xavier. Hoping to reunite with Raven, Xavier agrees to help Logan. They recruit Peter Maximoff, a mutant with superhuman speeds, and break Lehnsherr out of The Pentagon, learning that he was in fact attempting to save JFK, who was also a mutant. Raven discovers Trask has been experimenting on mutants and plots to assassinate him at the Paris Peace Accords, but Xavier, McCoy, and Logan foil her attempt. Returning to the X-Mansion, Xavier abandons the serum and, by reading Logan's mind, communicates with his future self, who inspires him to protect the future between mutants and humans. After Xavier uses his mutant-tracking computer Cerebro to find Raven, he, McCoy, and Logan travel to Washington, D.C. to stop her from assassinating Trask.

At a ceremony where Nixon unveils the Sentinels, Lehnsherr activates the Sentinels (who secretly taken control of the Sentinels by infusing them with steel) and barricades the White House by lifting the RFK Stadium over it. During the battle, Nixon, Trask, and a disguised Raven retreat to the White House Bunker. However, Lehnsherr rips the bunker out of the building to kill everyone inside. Raven reveals herself and subdues Lehnsherr with a plastic gun, saving Nixon and his cabinet. Before she can kill Trask, Xavier telepathically convinces her to spare him, leading the public to realize that a mutant saved the President. As a result, the Sentinel program is decommissioned, altering the timeline and erasing the dark future of 2023 from history.

Shortly after, Xavier adopts a young Jean Grey after her psychic powers cause a car accident that kills her mother and her resentful father abandons her. The experience deeply traumatizes Jean and Xavier alters her memories to make her forget that she caused the accident and that her father survived, in order to prevent the trauma from making her psychic mind unstable. He begins teaching Jean, trying to help her develop more gradual control of her powers without the telepathic blocks of the original timeline.

Age of Apocalypse and the Transigen virus

Further information: X-Men: Apocalypse and Logan (film)

In 1983, Xavier believes that humans and mutants have now achieved peace, prompting him to focus on building up the Institute as a more conventional school, intending to bring humans into the school as well as mutants, although McCoy and Raven each make preparations for a future conflict to prepare for the worst even if McCoy wants to hope. Xavier meets Alex's younger brother, Scott. When Xavier hears rumors of an ancient mutant, he makes contact with a new foe, Apocalypse, while using Cerebro. This allows Apocalypse to take remote control of Xavier's telepathy and use him to make the governments launch all their nuclear missiles, before teleporting to the mansion to abduct Xavier with his Horsemen of Apocalypse (Angel, Ororo Munroe, Psylocke and Lehnserr). Alex attempts to stop them but causes an explosion that destroys the mansion. Peter, having learned he is Lehnsherr's biological son, arrives and uses his super-speed to evacuate everyone except Alex, who got killed in the explosion before his arrival. Colonel Stryker's forces, believing Xavier to be responsible, capture McCoy, Raven, Peter, and Moira MacTaggert, and take them for interrogation. Scott, Jean, and Kurt Wagner secretly follow them and liberate their comrades using Stryker's experiment Weapon X, whose memories Jean partially restores.

Although Apocalypse forces Xavier to transmit a telepathic message to the human race by enhancing his powers (proclaiming Apocalypse's intentions to launch a plan of conquest against the world) Xavier uses the opportunity to transmit a private message to Jean with his location, and concludes the message by telling those with power to protect those without rather than to prepare for conquest. Apocalypse attempts to use his equipment to transfer his essence into Xavier's body, allowing him to gain full access to Xavier's telepathy. Although the energy shield of the transference burns off Xavier's hair as he tries to escape, he is finally rescued by Kurt before the process can be completed. During the later conflict, Xavier uses the still-existing telepathic link between himself and Apocalypse to attack the latter on the in an astral plane while the other X-Men confront him in the real world. Lehnsherr and Ororo turn on Apocalypse and keep him occupied physically with Scott's help. Xavier begs Jean to unleash the full strength of her abilities, and she incinerates Apocalypse. Xavier restores MacTaggert's memory and they reconcile. Lehnsherr and Jean help reconstruct the school, but Lehnsherr turns down Xavier's offer to stay and help teach; Peter decides not to tell Lehnsherr yet about their relationship. Using confiscated Sentinels, McCoy and Raven train the new X-Men recruits: Scott, Jean, Ororo, Kurt, and Peter.

During the late 1980s, Dr. Zander Rice and his company, Alkali-Transigen began tampering with the mutant population in order to suppress and control the mutant gene. Rice also later began breeding genetically enhanced mutants using genetic material salvaged by the Essex Corporation.

Dark Phoenix and D'Bari invasion

Further information: Dark Phoenix (film)

In 1992, during the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s first mission, the shuttle is damaged by solar flare-like energy, and the president calls upon the X-Men to save the astronauts. Rescuing the crew, Jean is struck by the energy; absorbing the cosmic force and her psychic powers become amplified, but harder to control as her emotional state deteriorates. Xavier reveals to the other X-Men that he suppressed Jean's memory of causing the car crash as a child to keep the psychological trauma and is now experiencing PTSD symptoms.

The X-Men arrive at Jean's hometown, and after a skirmish in which Peter is injured, Xavier mentally freezes everyone to allow Raven to persuade Jean to come home, but Jean accidentally kills Raven during a violent telekinetic episode. McCoy, blaming Xavier for Raven's death, leaves the school and allies with Lehnsherr and his faction of mutants in a plan to kill Jean in New York City. Learning of Lehnsherr's plan, Wagner teleports the X-Men to New York to save her. While the two factions battle, Lehnsherr confronts Jean and Vuk, leader of a shape-shifting alien race known as the D'Bari, but is defeated by Jean's amplified powers. Xavier convinces Jean to read his memories, helping her former personality resurface. Remorseful, she attempts to let Vuk take the Phoenix Force from her, but Scott stops her when Vuk reveals the D'Bari's intent is to use the force to conquer Earth. Government troops subdue both mutant factions while Vuk escapes.

The mutants are confined on a train, and Vuk and her D'Bari forces attack, overpowering the soldiers while the mutants are freed. Xavier and Scott convince McCoy, Lehnsherr, and their allies that Jean is not beyond help, and they unite to fend off the D'Bari attackers before Vuk arrives. Xavier confers with Jean within his mind, and she forgives him, saving the mutants from the ensuing train wreck and disintegrating the remaining D'Bari. Vuk again attempts to drain the force from Jean, who flies them into space to unleash all of her power and kill Vuk. Jean then transforms into a phoenix-shaped being of energy. Xavier's school is briefly renamed the "Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters" and Xavier retires as dean, with McCoy taking his place.

Modern day

Further information: X-Men: Days of Future Past, Logan (film), Deadpool (film), and Deadpool 2

Over the preceding 30 years, Xavier is reinstated as the headmaster, Jean returns back to Earth and the school is renamed back to "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters".

In 2004, mutants began to stop being born entirely due to the Transigen virus. Concurrent with the ongoing-mutant infertility, Logan joined the X-Men and ultimately becoming a history teacher at Xavier's school. The team went on several adventures together, including one involving a fight at the Statue of Liberty.

In the 2000s–2010s, comic books about the X-Men's escapades were produced.

In 2016, X-Men member, Colossus attempted to convince Wade Wilson to join the team, but he declined on numerous occasions. He and his trainee Negasonic Teenage Warhead attempt to apprehend Wilson; however he manages to escape. Shortly after, Wilson contacts Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead for their assistance. The three confront Ajax, a cruel scientist from Weapon X and his men, where Wilson is able to save his fiancee Vanessa and ultimately kill Ajax, much to Colossus' dismay. In 2018, Wilson reluctantly agrees to join the X-Men. He, Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead respond to a standoff between authorities and the unstable young mutant Russell Collins at an orphanage owned by the Essex Corporation, labeled a "Mutant Re-education Center." Realizing that Russell has been abused by the orphanage staff, Wilson kills one of the staff members before being restrained by Colossus, and both Wilson and Russell are arrested. Sometime after, Wilson escapes prison and asks for help from Colossus to stop Russell and Juggernaut. He fights against Juggernaut with the help of Negasonic Teenage Warhead and her girlfriend Yukio.

In 2023, the consciousness of the original timeline's Logan awakes in his body but with no memory of this timeline. He is happy to see Jean and Scott alive, as they never died. Logan asks Xavier for information about modern history from 1973 to the present. Upon realizing that the Logan from the original timeline has returned, Xavier assents.

Disbandment and the legacy of the X-Men

Further information: Logan (film)

By 2028, the mutant population is dwindling because of the Transigen virus. Xavier develops Alzheimer's and inadvertently kills several hundred people, including several of the X-Men, in a seizure-induced psychic attack in Westchester County, leaving Logan among the only survivors. Xavier's school is shut down, mutants are hunted down en masse by humans, and Logan and Xavier are branded international fugitives. Logan asks the assistance of Caliban to help care for Xavier. He and Caliban take Xavier to a place in Mexico near the US border, caring for him over the following year while attempting to raise money to purchase a Sunseeker yacht for the two of them to live on in peace. Even after the incident, comic books and now merchandise based on the legacy of the X-Men's escapades were still being produced.

In 2029, Logan's healing factor is deteriorating due to the virus, causing him to finally age past his prime and suffer from terminal adamantium poisoning. He spends his days working as a chauffeur under his birth name, "James Howlett" and hustling for prescription drugs along the border between the United States and Mexico. Logan and Caliban live in an abandoned smelting plant across the border in Mexico and care for the senile Xavier. He is tasked by Transigen's former nurse Gabriela Lopez to escort the 11-year-old Laura to a place in North Dakota called "Eden." Logan, Charles and Laura escape Transigen's hunters led by Donald Pierce and discover that Laura is Logan's daughter bred from his DNA and has inherited his bone claws and healing factor. After the three accept shelter from the Munson family they helped on the highway, Xavier is killed by a feral clone of Wolverine. Logan and Laura escape and bury Xavier's body near a lake.

Eventually, Logan and Laura arrive at Eden, a safe haven run by Rictor and former Transigen test subjects. There, Logan learns that the children will make an eight-mile journey across the forest to the Canadian-American border and entrusts Laura to lead before departing on his own. But when the children are located and captured, Logan uses a mutant serum provided by Rictor to restore his strength and healing factor. He meets Rice, killing the mutant virus' creator. Without his healing factor, Logan is no match for his clone, who impales Logan with a tree. Laura shoots the clone in the head with an adamantium bullet that Logan had kept with him for years. Logan tells Laura not to become the weapon that she was made to be, and after she tearfully acknowledges him as her father, he dies peacefully in her arms. Laura and the children bury him before continuing the journey across the border. Laura places Logan's cross-shaped grave marker on its side to create an "X" to honor him as the last of the X-Men.

Alternate versions

X-Men: The Animated Series and '97

Further information: X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men '97

In an alternate 1990s, the X-Men are a team of mutants brought together by Charles Xavier, to defend mutantkind from those who hate and fear them, and to use their mutant powers for the benefit of both man and mutant. The First Class roster consisted of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel, with the next recruit being Iceman's girlfriend Polaris. The couple and Angel would later leave the team. Over time, new members of the X-Men were recruited, including Storm, Wolverine, Gambit, Morph and Rogue, a former member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. Later Morph is presumed deceased during a mission and Jubilee was rescued from the Sentinels and later joined the team.

The X-Men would ally themselves with Bishop, Cable, Moira MacTaggert and her boyfriend Banshee, X-Factor, the Starjammers, Spider-Man, the Morlocks, Lilandra Neramani, the Shi'ar empire and their Imperial Guard. While fighting enemies such as Magneto, Apocalypse, Mister Sinister, Fabian Cortez, Mystique and her Brotherhood, Mojo, Sabretooth, Graydon Creed, Henry Peter Gyrich, Bolivar Trask, Master Mold and the Sentinels. In 1997, the team features multiple new members including Bishop, Cable, Morph, a redeemed-Magneto, Madelyne Pryor, Nightcrawler, Forge and Sunspot join the team, they suffer a great loss with the death of Gambit and fighting a new enemy with Bastion and his human-sentinels.

Adjacent X-Men universe

Further information: The Marvels (film) and Avengers: Doomsday

Introduced in the post credit scene of The Marvels (2023), set in the vast multiverse. Monica Rambeau from Earth-616 was found in space by Binary—an alternate version of her deceased mother Maria—and is brought to the X-Mansion. Following her displacement into their world, due to an averted incursion between it and Earth-616. Monica awakens and meets Maria, whom she never parented and is allies with the X-Men in this reality. Dr. Hank McCoy enters and believes Monica is in a parallel universe.

McCoy will return in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and will feature multiple members of this universe's X-Men. Including variants of Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnserr, Kurt Wagner, Raven Darkhölme, Scott Summers and Remy LeBeau.

Other versions

• In The Gifted (2017-19), set in an alternate timeline where all X-Men and the Brotherhood have disappeared from public eye, passing of strict anti-mutant laws across the country. Leading to the formation of the Mutant Underground by the former X-Men, John Proudstar who did not disappear.
• In Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), set in the vast multiverse. A variant of the X-Men consisted of Xavier, Scott, Jean, Ororo and McCoy; offered Logan the chance to join the team. He initially turned them down, though he eventually accepted the offer. While on the team, he was presented with a yellow and blue uniform, but refused to wear it as he did not want the X-Men to think he wanted to be a part of the team. One night, while Logan was out binge-drinking at a bar, the X-Men were killed by a group of mutant-hunting humans. Following this incident, he fell into a depressive spiral, believing he had let his new family down, he went berserk and murdered many people indiscriminately; both those who killed his fellow mutants, and innocent civilians. His actions desecrated the X-Men’s legacy, and led to him being considered the worst Wolverine in the multiverse by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). He chooses to memorialize them by wearing the uniform at all times under his normal clothes, spending his days depressed and drinking.

Team roster

Further information: List of X-Men members

The First Class–team is featured in both timelines. Some of the character's outcomes in the original timeline will be different due to the revised timeline being created through the aversion of the war between Sentinels, humans, and mutantkind.

Character	Portrayed by	First Appearance	Notes
Founder
Charles Xavier	Patrick Stewart James McAvoy (young)	X-Men (2000)	Original Earth-10005: Altered the timeline; erasing the dark future of 2023.
			Revised Earth-10005: Deceased; killed by X-24.
"Division X" / First Class (1962)
Sean Cassidy / Banshee	Caleb Landry Jones	X-Men: First Class (2011)	Deceased; experimented and killed by Bolivar Trask.
Raven Darkhölme / Mystique	Rebecca Romijn Jennifer Lawrence (young)	X-Men (2000)	Original Earth-10005: Joined the Brotherhood; later depowered with the Mutant Cure.
			Revised Earth-10005: Deceased; accidentally killed by Jean Grey.
Erik Lehnserr / Magneto	Ian McKellen Michael Fassbender (young)	X-Men (2000)	Original Earth-10005: Formed the Brotherhood; later died from injuries by the Sentinels.
			Revised Earth-10005: Formed the Brotherhood; current president of Genosha and former Horsemen of Apocalypse.
Hank McCoy / Beast	Kelsey Grammer Nicholas Hoult (young)	X2 (2003)	Original Earth-10005: Killed by the Sentinels.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status uknown; former member of the X-Men and temporary headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
Armando Muñoz / Darwin	Edi Gathegi	X-Men: First Class (2011)	Deceased; killed by Sebastian Shaw.
Angel Salvadore	Zoë Kravitz		Deceased; experimented and killed by Bolivar Trask. Former member of the Hellfire Club and the Brotherhood.
Alex Summers / Havok	Lucas Till		Original Earth-10005: Joined a special division of the U.S. Army.
			Revised Earth-10005: Killed in explosion.
Recruits (Original Earth-1005 Timeline)
Jean Grey	Famke Janssen Sophie Turner (young)	X-Men (2000) X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)	Original Earth-10005: Killed by Logan.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status unknown; former member of the X-Men.
Scott Summers / Cyclops	James Marsden Tye Sheridan (young)		Original Earth-10005: Deceased; killed by Grey. Originally rescued by Xavier and became leader of the X-Men.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status unknown; former member and leader of the X-Men.
Ororo Munroe / Storm	Halle Berry Alexandra Shipp (young)		Original Earth-10005: Former leader of the X-Men; killed by the Sentinels.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status unknown; former member of the X-Men and Horsemen of Apocalypse.
James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine	Hugh Jackman		Original Earth-10005: Deceased; sacrificed himself and killed by X-24 to protect Laura. Former member of Weapon X and Team X.
			Revised Earth-10005: The consciousness of the original timeline's Logan awakes in this timeline's body.
Marie / Rogue	Anna Paquin		Original Earth-10005: Altered the timeline; erasing the dark future of 2023.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status unknown; former member of the X-Men.
Bobby Drake / Iceman	Shawn Ashmore		Original Earth-10005: Killed by the Sentinels.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status unknown; former member of the X-Men.
Kitty Pryde	Elliot Page		Original Earth-10005: Altered the timeline; erasing the dark future of 2023.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status unknown; former member of the X-Men.
Piotr Rasputin / Colossus	Daniel Cudmore Stefan Kapičić (voice) Andre Tricoteux (mocap)	X2 (2003) Deadpool (2016)	Original Earth-10005: Killed by the Sentinels.
			Revised Earth-10005: Status unknown; former member of the X-Men and trained X-Men trainees.
Bishop's Free Mutants
John Allerdyce / Pyro	Aaron Stanford	X-Men (2000)	Presumed dead; pruned by the Time Variance Authority.
Bishop	Omar Sy	X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)	Killed by the Sentinels.
Blink	Fan Bingbing
Sunspot	Adan Canto
Warpath	Booboo Stewart
Recruits (Revised Earth-1005 Timeline)
Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver	Evan Peters	X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)	Status unknown; former member of the X-Men.
Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler	Kodi Smit-McPhee	X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
Negasonic Teenage Warhead	Brianna Hildebrand	Deadpool (2016)
Wade Wilson / Deadpool	Ryan Reynolds		Ousted after murdering an abusive Essex orphanage staff member.
Yukio	Shioli Kutsuna	Deadpool 2 (2018)	Status unknown; former member of the X-Men.

Xavier Institute students

Further information: List of Xavier Institute students and staff

The student bodies at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in both original and revised timelines.

• John Allerdyce
• Alison Blaire
• Bobby Drake
• Jean Grey
• Jimmy
• Jubilation Lee
• Artie Maddicks
• Marie
• Danielle Moonstar
• Ororo Munroe
• Negaonic Teenage Warhead
• Kitty Pryde
• Douglas Ramsey
• Piotr Rasputin
• Theresa Rourke
• Stepford Cuckoos
• Jason Stryker
• Scott Summers
• Kurt Wagner
• Warren Worthington III

Concept and creation

Initial castings

Rather than auditioning other actors, X-Men director Bryan Singer actively pursued Patrick Stewart for the role of Charles Xavier. The success of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV and film franchises had typecast Stewart as his character, Jean-Luc Picard, and obtaining other roles became difficult. However, in the late 1990s, he accepted the role of Xavier, a role similar in many ways to Picard. He was initially reluctant to sign on to another major franchise, but his interest in working with director Bryan Singer persuaded him. While Singer worked to persuade Stewart to take the role, others who expressed interest in the part included actor Terence Stamp and singer Michael Jackson.

Before Ian McKellen was cast as Erik Lehnserr / Magneto, Christopher Lee, Terence Stamp and David Hemblen (who voiced Magneto for the 1992-1997 animated series) were considered for the role. Many actors were considered for playing the part of Wolverine in a film adaptation of X-Men. Viggo Mortensen was offered the role but turned it down as it conflicted with another role he was scheduled for. At one point in the 1990s, Glenn Danzig was approached for the role due to a slight resemblance, however, Danzig declined as the shooting would interfere with his band's nine-month tour. Bryan Singer spoke to a number of actors, including Russell Crowe, Keanu Reeves and Edward Norton, for the role. Fox ruled out Mel Gibson as being too expensive. Dougray Scott was cast but was forced to drop out due scheduling conflicts with Mission: Impossible 2 and was injured in a motorbike accident, after which the role went to Hugh Jackman on Crowe's recommendation. Despite what was thought to be a highly controversial move due to his much taller stature than Wolverine's comic depictions by a nearly full foot of height, Jackman's actual performance was well received; Wolverine's original depiction is said to be 5 feet 3 inches (160 cm), while Jackman stands at 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm). While possessing all the same powers as his comic book counterpart, this portrayal is shown to have a much more powerful healing factor, able to mend and regenerate any damage (short of decapitation) within seconds, and also rendering him ageless, being nearly twice as old as in the comics while still in his prime.

In mid-2010, director, Matthew Vaughn cast James McAvoy as a young Charles Xavier, in the prequel, X-Men: First Class. The film focused on the relationship between Xavier and Magneto and the origin of their groups. McAvoy did not read comics as a child, but was a fan of the X-Men animated cartoon series. Vaughn had already cast McAvoy as Xavier before starting to go through auditioners for the Magneto role; he quickly recognized the acting chemistry between McAvoy and Michael Fassbender upon pairing them together. Actors who auditioned for the younger Magneto in the prequels include Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Andrew Garfield, Jack Huston, Eddie Redmayne and Frank Dillane.

Stewart announced that he was retiring from his role as Xavier in the X-Men film franchise after Logan. In 2022, Stewart reprises his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) as an alternate version of Xavier who is a member of the Illuminati.

Background and development

X-Men original trilogy (2000–2006)

X-Men

Marvel Comics writers and chief editors Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas wrote an X-Men screenplay in 1984 when Orion Pictures held an option on the film rights, but development stalled when Orion began facing financial troubles. Throughout 1989 and 1990, Stan Lee and Chris Claremont were in discussions with Carolco Pictures for an X-Men film adaptation, with James Cameron as producer and Kathryn Bigelow directing.

A story treatment was written by Bigelow, with Bob Hoskins being considered for Wolverine and Angela Bassett as Storm. The deal fell apart when Stan Lee piqued Cameron's interest in a Spider-Man film, Carolco went bankrupt, and the film rights reverted to Marvel. In December 1992, Marvel discussed selling the property to Columbia Pictures to no avail. Meanwhile, Avi Arad produced the animated X-Men television series for Fox Kids. 20th Century Fox was impressed by the success of the television series, and producer Lauren Shuler Donner purchased the film rights for the property in 1994, bringing Andrew Kevin Walker to write the script.

Walker's draft involved Professor Xavier recruiting Wolverine into the X-Men, which consisted of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Beast, and Warren Worthington III. The Brotherhood of Mutants, which consisted of Magneto, Sabretooth, Toad, Juggernaut and the Blob, try to conquer New York City, while Henry Peter Gyrich and Bolivar Trask attack the X-Men with three 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) Sentinels. The script focused on the rivalry between Wolverine and Cyclops, as well as the latter's self-doubt as a field leader. Part of the backstory invented for Magneto made him the cause of the Chernobyl disaster. The script also featured the X-Copter and the Danger Room. Walker turned in his second draft in June 1994.

Laeta Kalogridis was brought on for a subsequent rewrite in 1995. An early script kept the idea of Magneto turning Manhattan into a "mutant homeland", while another hinged on a romance between Wolverine and Storm. Michael Chabon had pitched a six-page film treatment to Fox in 1996. It focused heavily on character development between Wolverine and Jubilee and included Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Beast, Iceman, and Storm. Under Chabon's plan, the villains would not have been introduced until the second film.

Fox considered Brett Ratner, who would later direct X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), as a director and offered the position to Robert Rodriguez, but he turned it down. After the commercial success of Mortal Kombat (1995) in the United States, Paul W. S. Anderson was offered the position but turned it down, wanting to shift away from making another PG-13-rated film in favour of making an R-rated horror film, Event Horizon (1997). Following the release of The Usual Suspects (1995), Bryan Singer was looking to do a science fiction film and Fox offered him Alien Resurrection (1997), but producer Tom DeSanto felt he would be more appropriate for X-Men. Singer was hesitant to direct a comic book film, but changed his mind after DeSanto presented the themes of prejudice in the comic that resonated with Singer.

In August 1996, Ed Solomon began work on the script. By December 1996, Singer was in the director's position, while Solomon completed a rewrite that month. Solomon's hiring was publicly revealed in April 1997, and Singer went on to film Apt Pupil (1998). Fox then announced a Christmas 1998 release date. John Logan and James Schamus provided script revisions, with the latter focusing solely on fleshing out the characters. In late 1997, the budget was projected at $60 million. In 1998, Claremont returned to Marvel and, seeing how Fox was still struggling with the script, sent them a four-page-long memo where he explained the core concepts and what differentiated the X-Men from other superheroes. In late 1998, Singer and DeSanto sent a treatment to Fox, which they believed was "perfect" because it took "seriously" the themes and the intent of the Xavier and Magneto comparisons to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, unlike the other scripts. They made Rogue an important character because Singer recognized that her mutation, which renders her unable to touch anyone, was the most symbolic of alienation. Singer merged attributes of Kitty Pryde and Jubilee into the film's depiction of Rogue. Magneto's plot to mutate the world leaders into accepting his people is reminiscent of how Constantine I's conversion to Christianity ended the persecution of early Christians in the Roman Empire; the analogy was emphasized in a deleted scene in which Storm teaches history. Senator Kelly's claim that he has a list of mutants living in the United States recalls Joseph McCarthy's similar claim regarding communists.

After the disastrous reception of Batman & Robin (1997), the release of Blade (1998) convinced some film studios that a Marvel character "could carry on" a movie. Fox, who had set the budget at $75 million, rejected the treatment, which they estimated would have cost $5 million more. Beast, Nightcrawler, Pyro, and the Danger Room had to be deleted before the studio greenlighted X-Men. Fox head Bill Mechanic argued that this would enhance the story, and Singer concurred that removing the Danger Room allowed him to focus on other scenes he preferred. Elements of Beast, particularly his medical expertise, were transferred to Jean Grey. In mid-1998, Singer and DeSanto brought Christopher McQuarrie from The Usual Suspects and together they did another rewrite. McQuarrie was initially slated to work on the script for only three weeks but had not yet delivered his draft by October 1998. Joss Whedon was brought in during production to rewrite the last act. Whedon was highly critical of the script and instead performed a "major overhaul". Whedon's draft featured the Danger Room and concluded with Jean Grey dressed as the Phoenix. According to Entertainment Weekly, this screenplay was rejected because of its "quick-witted pop culture-referencing tone", and the finished film contained only two dialogue exchanges that Whedon had contributed. Whedon also claimed to have been invited to the table read, completely unaware that his script had been thrown out.

Actor and producer David Hayter, who at the time was working as Singer's assistant, was brought in for rewrites due to his extensive knowledge of the original comics. Hayter took great pride in retaining much of the core elements from the source material, such as Wolverine's Canadian background, as the studio wanted to make him American. He received solo screenplay credit from the Writers Guild of America, while Singer and DeSanto were given story credit. The WGA offered McQuarrie a credit, but he voluntarily took his name off when the final version was more in line with Hayter's script than his. In July 2020, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that McQuarrie and Solomon both removed their names from the film due to the studio's "tortuous process". Solomon would later express regret towards removing his name. Hayter claims that 55 percent of his script ended up in the finished film, while other insiders claim that the majority of what is onscreen was written by McQuarrie and Solomon with only small contributions from Hayter.

X2

The financial and critical success of X-Men (2000) persuaded 20th Century Fox to immediately commission a sequel. Starting in November 2000, Bryan Singer researched various storylines (one of them being the Legacy Virus) of the X-Men comic book series. Singer wanted to study, "the human perspective, the kind of blind rage that feeds into warmongering and terrorism," citing a need for a "human villain". Bryan and producer Tom DeSanto envisioned X2 as the film series' equivalent to the Star Wars franchise's The Empire Strikes Back (1980), in that the characters are "all split apart, and then dissected, and revelations occur that are significant... the romance comes to fruition and a lot of things happen". Producer Avi Arad announced a planned November 2002 theatrical release date, while David Hayter and Zak Penn were hired to write separate scripts. Hayter and Penn combined what they felt to be the best elements of both scripts into one screenplay. Singer and Hayter worked on another script, finishing in October 2001. Penn was partially hired when he convinced Singer to not adapt "The Dark Phoenix Saga" storyline for the film, feeling that the franchise's universe should be established much more before "going cosmic". Instead, in what he feels was his major contribution to the project, Penn based the film's outline on Chris Claremont's graphic novel X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (1982) before leaving to work on another movie.

Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris were hired to rewrite Hayter and Penn's script in February 2002, turning down the opportunity to write Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005). they turned in hundreds of drafts to Singer. Angel and Beast appeared in early drafts, but were deleted because there were too many characters. Dr. Hank McCoy can be seen on a television interview in one scene. Beast's appearance was to resemble Jim Lee's 1991 artwork of the character in the series X-Men: Legacy. Angel was to have been a mutant experiment by William Stryker, transforming into Archangel. A reference to Dougherty's and Harris's efforts to include Angel remains in the form of an X-ray on display in one of Stryker's labs. Tyler Mane was to reprise as Sabretooth before the character was deleted. In Hayter's script, the role eventually filled by Lady Deathstrike was Anne Reynolds, a character who appears in God Loves, Man Kills as Stryker's personal assistant/assassin. Singer changed her to Deathstrike, citing a need for "another kick-ass mutant". There was to be more development on Cyclops and Professor X being brainwashed by Stryker. The scenes were shot, but Fox cut them out because of time length and story complications. Hayter was disappointed, feeling that James Marsden deserved more screentime.

Rewrites were commissioned once more, specifically to give Halle Berry more screen time. This was because of her recent popularity in Monster's Ball (2002), earning her the Academy Award for Best Actress. A budget cut meant that the Sentinels and the Danger Room were dropped. Guy Hendrix Dyas and a production crew had already constructed the Danger Room set. In the words of Dyas, "The control room [of the Danger Room] was a large propeller that actually rotated around the room so that you can sit up [in that control room] and travel around the subject who is in the middle of the control room. The idea for the traveling is that if it's a mutant has some kind of mind control powers they can't connect."

X-Men: The Last Stand

Singer left the project in July 2004 in favor of developing Superman Returns (2006) for Warner Bros. Pictures. Singer stated that he "didn't fully have X-Men 3 in my mind" in contrast to a fully formed idea for a Superman film and interest in joining that franchise. By the time of his departure, Singer had only produced a partial story treatment with X2 (2003) screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, who accompanied him to Superman Returns. The treatment focused on Jean Grey's resurrection, which would also introduce the villainess Emma Frost, a role intended for Sigourney Weaver. Frost was an empath manipulating Jean's emotions in the treatment and, like the finished film, Magneto desires to control her. Overwhelmed by her powers, Jean kills herself, but Jean's spirit survives and becomes a god-like creature, which Dougherty compared to the star child in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).

New contracts for returning cast members were made, as the actors and actresses had signed for only two films. Hugh Jackman's contract included the approval of director, initially offering the position to Darren Aronofsky, with whom he had just finished filming on The Fountain (2006). Joss Whedon, whose comic book storyline "Gifted" from Astonishing X-Men which he wrote was integrated into the script's plot, turned down the offer because he was working on a Wonder Woman film. Rob Bowman and Alex Proyas were also rumored to be up for consideration, though Proyas personally turned it down, citing feuds with Fox president Thomas Rothman while producing I, Robot (2004). Zack Snyder was also approached, but he was already committed to 300 (2007). Peter Berg was also considered to direct the film but he too turned down the job. Guillermo del Toro was also offered to direct the film but turned down as he was already committed to Pan's Labyrinth (2006). In February 2005, with still no director hired, Fox announced a May 5, 2006, release date, with filming to start in July 2005 in Vancouver. One month later, the studio, signed Matthew Vaughn to direct, and pushed the release date three weeks to May 26, Memorial Day weekend. Vaughn cast Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Dania Ramirez as Callisto, and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut, but family issues led him to withdraw before filming began. Vaughn was also cautious of the tight deadlines imposed by Fox, stating that he "didn't have the time to make the movie that I wanted to make". In October 2023, Vaughn stated that he left the project after a group of executives had tried to sign Halle Berry on with a fake script, which included scenes of Storm rescuing kids from Africa. Channing Tatum was vied for the role of Gambit before the character was written out of the film.

Ratner, who was previously considered to direct X-Men (2000) in 1996, and John Moore were both in the running to replace Vaughn during pre-production. On June 5, 2005, Ratner was confirmed as Vaughn's replacement. Ratner said he was surprised to get an invitation, as he thought he would have no chance to do a comic-book film after the cancelled Superman: Flyby for Warner Bros. With a limited knowledge of the X-Men mythos, Ratner trusted his writers on doing something faithful to the comics, having the script drawing all of its scenes from the original Marvel publications.

X-Men prequel films (2011–2019)

X-Men: First Class

During the production of X2 (2003), producer Lauren Shuler Donner had discussed the idea of a film focusing on the young X-Men with the crew, which was met with approval; the concept was revived during the production of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Zak Penn, one of The Last Stand's writers, was hired to write and direct this X-Men spin-off, but this idea later fell through. Penn explained in 2007 that "the original idea was to have me do a young X-Men spin-off, a spin-off of the young X-Men characters. But someone came up with a pretty interesting idea ... it was this guy who worked with me named Mike Chamoy, he worked a lot with me on X3. He came up with how to do a young X-Men movie which is not what you'd expect."

In December 2004, Fox hired screenwriter Sheldon Turner to draft a spin-off X-Men film, and he chose to write Magneto, pitching it as "The Pianist (2002) meets X-Men". According to Turner, the script he penned was set from 1939 to 1955, following Magneto trying to survive in Auschwitz. He meets Xavier, a young soldier, during the liberation of the camp. He hunts down the Nazi war criminals who tortured him, and this lust for vengeance turns him and Xavier into enemies. In April 2007, David S. Goyer was hired to direct. The film would take place mostly in flashbacks with actors in their twenties, with Ian McKellen's older Magneto as a framing device, and some usage of the computer-generated facelift applied to him in the prologue of The Last Stand, McKellen reiterated his hope to open and close the film. The Magneto film was planned to shoot in Australia for a 2009 release, but factors including the 2007–08 Writers Guild of America strike caused the producers to cancel plans for the movie.

As producer Simon Kinberg read the comic series X-Men: First Class (2006–2009), he suggested studio 20th Century Fox to adapt it. Kinberg, however, did not want to follow the comic too much, as he felt "it was not fresh enough in terms of storytelling", considering them too similar to Twilight (2005) and John Hughes movies, and also because the producers wanted an adaptation that would introduce new characters. Both Kinberg and Shuler Donner said that they wanted characters with visuals and powers that had not been seen and that worked well as an ensemble, even if they did not work together in the comics. Shuler Donner later said that the original idea was to green-light First Class depending on the success of X-Men Origins: Magneto. That project was seeking approval to film in Washington, D.C., and by December 2008, Goyer said filming would begin if X-Men Origins: Wolverine was successful. The story was moved forward to 1962 and involves Xavier and Magneto battling a villain.

In 2008, Josh Schwartz was hired to write the screenplay, while declining the possibility of directing X-Men: First Class. Fox later approached Bryan Singer, director of X-Men (2000) and X2, in October 2009. Schwartz later said that Singer dismissed his work as "he wanted to make a very different kind of movie", with the director instead writing his own treatment which was then developed into a new script by Jamie Moss.

In addition to Moss, Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz were hired to rewrite the script. Miller compared it tonally to Singer's work on the first two X-Men films. The pair centered the film on Xavier and Magneto's relationship, and wrote the other characters and storylines in terms of "how they fit in the tension between Erik and Charles". Singer dropped out of the director's position in March 2010 due to his commitment to a Jack the Giant Killer (2013) adaptation. He formalized his duties from director to producer.

The producers listed various possible directors, but at first did not consider Matthew Vaughn because he started working on The Last Stand before backing out. After seeing Vaughn's satirical superhero film Kick-Ass (2010), Kinberg decided to contact Vaughn to see if he would be interested in First Class. When Fox offered Vaughn the "chance to reboot X-Men and put your stamp all over it", he first thought the studio was joking, but accepted after discovering that it was to be set in the 1960s. The director stated that First Class would become the opportunity to combine many of his dream projects: "I got my cake and ate it, managed to do an X-Men movie, and a Bond thing, and a Frankenheimer political thriller at the same time". Vaughn signed on as Singer's replacement in May 2010, and Fox subsequently announced a June 3, 2011 release date. Vaughn also rewrote the script with his screenwriting partner Jane Goldman, adding new characters and changing existing character arcs and dynamics—for instance, the idea of a love triangle between Xavier, Magneto and Moira MacTaggert was cut. The character of Sunspot was also cut, as the director felt that "we didn't have enough time or money" to make the character work. Vaughn and Goldman considered including mentions to the civil rights movement, but ultimately the director felt that "I had enough political subplot in this movie". Vaughn stated that his biggest concern was to both make Erik and Charles' friendship believable given the short timespan of the film, and on how the character of Magneto was built—"Shaw was the villain, but now you're seeing all those elements of Shaw going into Magneto." An action scene that was to have been set in a dream sequence with revolving rooms was scrapped after the release of Inception (2010).

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Shuler Donner stated in August 2006 that a continuation of the X-Men main film series would require a renegotiation. New cast members of The Last Stand (2006) were signed, while the older cast members were not. Donner said, "There is forty years worth of stories. I've always wanted to do Days of Future Past and there are just really a lot of stories yet to be told". She later pitched the idea of a fourth installment of the X-Men franchise to director Singer, following the completion of the First Class (2011). In March 2011, Donner said the film was in "active development at Fox"; she said, "We took the treatment to Fox and they love it ... And X4 leads into X5".

Fox saw First Class as the first film of a new X-Men trilogy. Donner compared the franchise plans to the darker, more mature content of the Harry Potter film series. Early reports said Matthew Vaughn and Singer were returning to direct and produce the sequel, respectively. While still attached to the project as a director, Vaughn said, "First Class is similar to Batman Begins (2005), where you have the fun of introducing the characters and getting to know them, but that takes time. But with the second one, you can just get on with it and have a rollicking good time. That's the main difference between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (2008)". Describing the possible beginning of the film, Vaughn said, "I thought it would be fun to open with the Kennedy assassination, and we reveal that the magic bullet was controlled by Magneto". Singer said the film could be set around the civil rights movement or the Vietnam War, and that Wolverine could once again be featured. Singer also talked about "changing history" in an interview with Empire magazine. He said he does not want people to panic about events in the past "erasing" the storylines of the previous X-Men films, as he believes in multiverses, explaining the possibility of certain events can exist equally in the histories of alternate universes.

In 2019, Vaughn revealed that Days of Future Past was originally planned to be the third installment in the trilogy but the studio decided otherwise which contributed to his decision to leave the project. Speaking with ComingSoon.net he said "That’s one of the reasons I didn’t continue, because they didn’t listen to me. My plan was 'First Class,' then second film was new young Wolverine in the 70’s to continue those characters, my version of the X-Men. So you’d really get to know all of them, and my finale was gonna be 'Days of Future Past.' That was gonna be my number three where you bring them all… because what’s bigger than bringing in McKellen and Michael and Stewart and James and bringing them all together? When I finished the 'Days of Future Past' script with it ready to go I looked at it and said, 'I really think it would be fun to cast Tom Hardy or someone as the young Wolverine and then bring it all together at the end.' Fox read 'Days of Future Past' and went 'Oh, this is too good! We’re doing it now!'". He further commented "Hollywood doesn’t understand pacing. Their executives are driving 100 miles-per-hour looking in the rear-view mirror and not understanding why they crash."

X-Men: Apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse was announced by Singer in December 2013 via Twitter, before X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) was released to theaters. In the same month, Simon Kinberg, Dan Harris, and Michael Dougherty were revealed by Singer to be attached to work on the film's story. According to Singer, the film would focus on the origin of the mutants and feature the younger versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm. Singer also said that he was considering Gambit and a younger version of Nightcrawler to appear. According to Kinberg, it would take place in 1983, and completes a trilogy that began with First Class (2011). In September 2014, Fox officially announced that Singer would direct the film. Singer has called the film "kind of a conclusion of six X-Men films, yet a potential rebirth of younger, newer characters" and the "true birth of the X-Men".

It will address historical mutant-cy, meaning the deep past, mutant origins and things like that. It's something that's always intrigued me when we think about our Gods and our history and miracles and powers.

—Bryan Singer on what will be seen in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Singer said that Apocalypse is the main focus of the film. Kinberg said that the younger versions of Scott Summers, Storm and Jean Grey appearing in the film are "as much a part of the film as the main cast". He described Summers as "not yet the squeaky-clean leader", Storm as a "troubled character who is going down the wrong path in life", and Grey as "complex, interesting and not fully mature." Kinberg also said that the film delivers on the dramatic story and emotion of the last two films and that it acts like the culmination of the main characters portrayed by Lawrence, McAvoy, Fassbender, and Hoult. Kinberg said First Class, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse formed a trilogy about Mystique, explaining,

She starts in First Class entirely on Charles' side, ends up following Erik, and we then find her in Days of Future Past and she's on her own because Erik is gone. She's on her own side in that movie but is drawn toward Charles by the end of the film and shoots Erik. Then in Apocalypse she comes back to Charles. There's a full circle narrative over the span of this little trilogy that is about Mystique from beginning with Charles in the mansion and ending with Charles in the mansion, but not as the same timid little girl we met in First Class.

Kinberg was paid $8 million for writing the script, the same amount he received for X-Men: Days of Future Past. The plot was partially inspired by the 1988 X-Men story arc "The Fall of the Mutants".

Dark Phoenix

After the timeline of the X-Men franchise was retconned with X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), it was noted that a new adaptation of the "Dark Phoenix Saga" could be made that ignores the events of The Last Stand. Kinberg and Singer both expressed interest in the prospect, and hinted that Apocalypse (2016) would set up elements for a retelling. Apocalypse introduces Sophie Turner as a young Jean Grey and begins exploring "how powerful she is". By April 2016, the sequel to Apocalypse was being rumored to indeed be a re-adaptation of "The Dark Phoenix Saga". In May 2016, Kinberg said that the next X-Men film after Apocalypse would be set in the 1990s, advancing one decade, as had been done for each of the previous few X-Men films. He also noted that Apocalypse had introduced younger versions of several characters from the original X-Men films to give them a new origin story—including Storm, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Jean Grey—with the intention of then exploring them in their own line of films. He added that he also hoped to see the cast of the previous trilogy of films return, namely James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, and Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique.

In July, Kinberg said he would begin writing the next mainline X-Men film "real soon". That November, Fox was said to be pressing "the reset button" on the franchise due to the financial and critical under-performance of Apocalypse, with the franchise being reconfigured and Singer not returning to direct the next film. McAvoy, Fassbender, Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult's contracts from the previous trilogy had ended, but Kinberg was optimistically writing the new script with them in mind. It was rumored in February 2017 that the next film would be titled X-Men: Supernova, and would begin filming that June. Also in February, Turner confirmed that she would return for the film. Kinberg was believed to be interested in making his directorial debut with the film, and was described as the top contender for the job with interest from Fox. The studio was also looking to negotiate new deals with Lawrence, Fassbender, McAvoy, and Hoult to return. By the end of the month, Kinberg described reports that he might direct the film as "premature", but added that, if he were to direct, he would not be daunted by the scale of the film due to his experience writing and producing many of the other X-Men films. He also reiterated that he would adapt "The Dark Phoenix Saga" differently than they had in The Last Stand, if given another opportunity to do so.

Logan (2017)

In November 2013, 20th Century Fox initiated discussions over another solo film starring Wolverine, with James Mangold in negotiations to write the treatment for the film and Lauren Shuler Donner returning to produce under The Donners' Company. At the time, Hugh Jackman neither confirmed nor denied his reprisal of Logan in a new film. Jackman clarified that his lapsing contract with Fox, which reportedly would need to be renegotiated after X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), did not mean he was leaving the franchise, as he had been working movie-by-movie since X2 (2003). He also stated, "I do want to do it with Jim and with [producer] Lauren Shuler-Donner because we had such a great experience. I'm really proud of The Wolverine (2013)". Later in the month, Mangold announced that the pre-production aspect of the film had not yet begun, nor the writing process, though he furthered this by stating, "... I would say I'm not there yet. But I have taken finger to key. Let's say that. There's been typing. And ideas. And talking amongst all the principles".

Shortly after the release of The Wolverine, Mangold spoke of a potential sequel with the aim of not converting it into a "Will the world survive?" film, while also stressing his need "... not to make the same picture again". In December 2013, Jackman spoke of nearing the end of his tenure as the character, while stating that the film was in the very early stages of development. Jackman also revealed that Mangold and he had begun speaking of potential ideas, adding, "... Jim Mangold and I were literally on the phone last night talking about ideas but there is no script and no writer yet so it's a way off". Mangold would later reveal that Jackman was very involved in developing the story, saying, "Hugh and I have been friends for almost twenty years now, and he was there every step of the way. For Hugh and I, the first goal was to construct something more intimate. Hugh often brought up The Wrestler (2008) and Unforgiven (1992) as examples. I used those references as well as others. I pitched to both Hugh and the studio that I had an idea for an extremely bloody, existential Little Miss Sunshine (2006)".

By March 2014, a decision was made to begin shooting after Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), with the tentative plan to shoot the films back-to-back, with producer Hutch Parker stating, "... the goal will be X-Men: Apocalypse for 2016, which means at the latest [filming begins] in summer 2015, and then the same thing with Wolverine, either before or after, but based on the script". Also in March, 20th Century Fox set a release date of March 3, 2017, Mangold boarded the project as director, Jackman signed on to reprise his role, and David James Kelly was hired to pen the screenplay. In April 2014, Jackman spoke about his ambitious feelings for the character of Logan while mentioning that they can go further than what they achieved in The Wolverine. Jackman also expressed his feelings of finality with portraying the character of Logan, while in terms of storyline, he explained that nothing had been decided as of yet. Jackman concluded by highlighting that the success of the script development would determine whether Jackman would return at all: "I haven't signed on. I'm genuinely at that point where unless it's better than the last one I'm not going to do it. I think it has to be better. I can still see where we can improve on the last one. I love the intimacy of that story, I liked the small stuff, I liked that it was a little unexpected".

In February 2015, Patrick Stewart spoke of discussions about the third Wolverine film, centering around a team-up between Jackman's Wolverine and himself as Charles Xavier, with Stewart stating to Marc Mohan that "... we have been talking about a Wolverine movie, which would team Hugh Jackman and myself together ... That would be a very different sort of X-Men from the four movies that I've already done". By April 2015, Michael Green had taken over screenwriting duties, with Mangold still actively overseeing the script development process. In September 2015, Jackman spoke of the writers being halfway through the script, and that the story would delve into the relationship between Wolverine and Professor X, to which he added, "I think it's a really important relationship but I want to see signs of that quasi-father/son sort of relationship that has not been seen before, and sides of particularly Professor X that have not been seen before". Jackman spoke of Mangold's plan to start filming the next year, though he expressed uncertainty as to filming locations. Also in September, Mark Millar, creative consultant for Fox, confirmed that Mangold's film would be a loose adaptation of the "Old Man Logan" story he had written in 2008, something that was hinted at earlier by Jackman. In October 2016, the title of the film was announced as Logan.

In January 2016, Jackman confirmed that Mangold had a full screenplay, albeit not complete. The following month, Liev Schreiber expressed interest in returning to portray Victor Creed / Sabretooth, with Jackman himself mentioning Mangold's vision to Schreiber. After the film's release, it was revealed by Jackman that originally the script had the character play a role in the film, but that Sabretooth was excluded from the final screenplay. By April 2016, Mangold had chosen Boyd Holbrook to portray the main antagonist of the movie, the chief of security for a global corporation that is pursuing Wolverine. Also by April, Richard E. Grant was cast as a villainous mad scientist, and Stephen Merchant had also been cast. In May, Eriq Lasalle and Elise Neal were cast supporting roles, and Elizabeth Rodriguez entered negotiations for a small but key role. Also in May, producer Simon Kinberg revealed that filming had already begun, and confirmed that the movie would be R-rated; regarding the setting and tonality, he stated, "It takes place in the future, and as you and others have reported, it is an R-rated movie. It's violent, it's kind of like a western in its tone. It's just a very cool, different film". Jackman wanted the film's ending be like Unforgiven, but Mangold was keen to do the ending where Logan dies.

In other media

Films

• In the parody films Epic Movie (2006) and Superhero Movie (2008), parody versions of the X-Men appear in both films.

Video games

Further information: List of X-Men video games

The X-Men appear in two movie tie-in video games including X2: Wolverine's Revenge and X-Men: The Official Game.

• X2: Wolverine's Revenge released in 2003 to coincide with the release of the film X2. The game primarily focused on Wolverine (Mark Hamill) and featured other-X-Men members in non-playable supporting roles such as Beast (Richard Portnow), Colossus (Ted Nordblum), Rogue and Professor X (Patrick Stewart reprising his role from the films). While Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm appear in non-vocal cameo roles. There are unlocked collectables scattered throughout the game including alternate outfits for Wolverine, including his classic blue and yellow outfit, his Ultimate X-Men outfit, a prototype outfit designed by Alex Ross and the uniform depicted in the X-Men films.
• X-Men: The Official Game released in 2006 to coincide with the release of the film X-Men: The Last Stand. The game covers the events between the films X2 and The Last Stand, specifically following the playable X-Men characters of Wolverine, Iceman, and Nightcrawler, each voiced by their respective film actors Hugh Jackman, Shawn Ashmore and Alan Cumming. Other X-Men members that appear in non-playable supporting roles are Professor X (Stewart), Storm (Debra Wilson), Beast (Gregg Berger), Cyclops (James Arnold Taylor), Jean Grey (Katherine Morgan), Kitty Pryde (Kim Mai Guest) and Colossus (Brad Abrell).

See also

• List of X-Men film series cast members
• Characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
• Teams and organizations of the Marvel Cinematic Universe

External links

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Categories:

• Fictional organizations
• Fictional vigilantes
• Marvel Cinematic Universe characters
• Superhero teams
• X-Men (film series) characters
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