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"Mutants. Since the discovery of their existence they have been regarded with fear, suspicion, often hatred. Across the planet, debate rages: are mutants the next link in the evolutionary chain, or simply a new species of humanity fighting for their share of the world? Either way it is a historical fact: sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute."
Charles Xavier[src]

X2: X-Men United, also known as X2 and internationally as X-Men 2, is the sequel to X-Men and the second installment in the X-Men film series. The film was released worldwide on May 2, 2003.

Plot

The opening scene shows a powerful teleporting mutant by the name of Nightcrawler attempting an assassination of President McKenna of the United States in the White House Oval Office. After a lengthy battle with Secret Service agents and successfully defeating the President's Secret Service detail using his teleportation, he is shot in the arm by a disabled guard and then vanishes at the last moment, leaving behind a knife with a tag that reads "Mutant Freedom Now!" The incident stirs up anti-mutant feelings around the country, supporting the Mutant Registration Act that eliminates peaceful coexistence.

Wolverine finally reaches the snowy Alkali Lake, the facility used for experiments on mutants like him. Hoping to learn about his origins, he finds nothing but an abandoned, empty and decayed buildings near a dam.

Meanwhile, the mutants of "Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted" visit a museum. Jean Grey is confronted by Cyclops after she demonstrates her lack of focus. She confesses to him that she has been having bad feelings about the future, expressing fear of not controlling her powers. In another part of the museum, Jubilee is walking around until her powers start to flare. A few women see her, but Jubilee quickly hides her powers and walks away. In the food court, Iceman, Rogue, and Pyro engage in an altercation with two other young men. After Pyro sets one of the boys' clothes on fire and Iceman extinguishes him, everyone in the museum freezes as if time has stopped. Only the mutants are unaffected. Professor Xavier wheels in, unamused by the situation, lectures Pyro on "showing off" and decides that it is time to leave.

A retired military scientist, Colonel William Stryker, who hates and wants to destroy the entire mutant race, visits the President, mentioning how close the teleporter had gotten to the President. He gets approval for an attack on the school, which he has discovered by interrogating the imprisoned Magneto. Mystique, in the disguise of the late Senator Kelly tries to object, but fails. Later, Stryker visits Magneto in his Plastic Prison to question him again, using a chemical placed on the back of his neck. Stryker demands to know everything Magneto knows about Cerebro.

Wolverine reappears at the School for the Gifted to get more answers about his past. Professor Xavier shows him the powerful Cerebro system which can connect him to everyone on the planet, mutants and humans alike. Wolverine wants the Professor to read his mind again for more information about his past, but Xavier explains that he can't tell Wolverine everything, that he will have to find out some things for himself. Wolverine is then immediately forced to "babysit" the children of the school. After some difficulty, Professor Xavier locates Nightcrawler with Cerebro and sends Storm and Jean to retrieve him. They find Nightcrawler in a church and he willingly comes along with them. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Professor X visit Magneto in his plastic prison to see if he had any part in the attack on the President. While reading Magneto's thoughts, Professor X discovers that a covert government operative, William Stryker, has been extracting information from Magneto. During their conversation, a trap is sprung and Cyclops and Professor X are captured.

Mystique disguises herself and breaks into Stryker's computers to learn more about his plans. Jean Grey and Storm find the fast-moving mutant assassin, Nightcrawler. It becomes evident that he was coerced; he has a scar similar to the one on the back of Magneto's neck, indicating that he's been influenced by Stryker himself.

Wolverine awakens to nightmares of his first memories and heads to the kitchen. While conversing with Iceman, a military invasion of the school begins. A handful of people are awake before the treacherous raid on the School for Gifted Youngsters. Wolverine and many of the students use their abilities to defend themselves. Most of the mutants escape, but six of the children are captured and taken away. The soldiers attempt to sedate every mutant they find, but Siryn wakes everybody up with one of her sonic screams. Colossus and Wolverine round up a number of the students. Wolverine stays behind to confront the attackers but is shocked to discover that they are being led by William Stryker. Stryker, himself surprised to see Wolverine in the mansion, reveals that he knows much about Wolverine and wishes for him to come with the military to discuss it, after admitting that the Institute was the last place he'd expect to find him in. Confused, Wolverine asks who he was, but to Wolverine's frustration, Bobby erects an icewall to allow their escape. Stryker and his henchmen break into Cerebro to strip it for parts. Wolverine, Rogue, Bobby and Pyro escape in Cyclops' Car and head to Boston to meet Storm and Jean Grey. Wolverine reveals to the three teens that the man who invaded the mansion was Stryker, but he's unable to remember who he was or what he does. Bobby is from Boston, so the group stops at his house until they can contact Storm and Jean Grey.

Mystique meets Magneto's guard, Mitchell Laurio, in a bar and drugs him, then gives him an injection of a silver-colored fluid.

Cyclops and Professor Xavier go to visit Magneto in the peculiar plastic prison they have created to nullify Magneto's powers. Magneto explains that Stryker has been questioning him, and points out that his son Jason Stryker was once a student at the school. To Professor Xavier's horror, Magneto confesses that he has told Stryker everything. At that moment, gas enters the prison chamber and both men pass out. Outside, Cyclops fights the prison guards but is defeated by Stryker's powerful assistant, Lady Deathstrike.

Professor Xavier awakes with Stryker and his assistant, Lady Deathstrike. Stryker explains that the metal brace on Xavier's head prevents him from using his psychic power. They argue about mutants and Stryker's son, a powerful mutant illusionist who did not stay at Xavier's school. At one point Deathstrike seems to look around her in a daze, and Stryker gives her another dose of the chemical he uses to control her on the back of her neck. Xavier realizes that Stryker caused the assassination attempt in order to manipulate the President. Stryker admits his chemical would not be strong enough to work on the Professor, so he brings in his mutant son Jason to influence Professor Xavier's mind.

In the meantime, Mystique has been posing as Senator Robert Kelly and also Stryker's assistant Yuriko Oyama in order to obtain information about Magneto's prison. She eventually manages to trick one of his security guards, Laurio, and drugs him and injects something into him. Later, Laurio brings Magneto his breakfast. Magneto notices "something different" about him—it seems Mystique has put iron into his blood, which Magneto pulls out with his powers, killing Laurio in the process. He forms the iron taken from the guard into small ball bearings which he uses to demolish his plastic prison and escape.

Wolverine and the kids (Pyro, Iceman, and Rogue) head to Iceman's home in Boston. After an awkward meeting between his parents and Wolverine, Iceman decides to tell his parents (who believe he has been going to a boarding school) that he is a mutant. His parents are shocked to learn the truth, especially when their son demonstrates his power by freezing a cup of tea. During the discussion, Iceman's disgruntled brother runs upstairs and calls the police, telling them that mutants are holding his family hostage. Wolverine meanwhile receives a call from Storm who decides to come and pick them up.

When the police arrive, a police officer mistakes Wolverine's claws for knives and orders him to drop them. When Wolverine tries to explain and sheathes his claws, the officer shoots Wolverine in the head, which doesn't go completely through, thanks to his adamantium skull. Pyro becomes enraged and begins using his flame-controlling powers to attack the officers and destroy their cars blasts of fire and seems intent on killing several officers. Just before his attack turns deadly, Rogue grabs hold of his ankle with her bare hand. Pyro falls to the ground, drained of his powers, which Rogue then uses to put the fires out. The X-Jet arrives to pick them all up, and Wolverine, now fully recovered, stands up and the bullet falls out.

During the flight, the X-Jet is targeted by two Air Force F-16s who attempt to force a landing. After the X-Jet refuses to land, the pilot's fire missiles. Storm creates a number of tornadoes in order to lose the aircraft. One plane is unable to maintain control and ejects. The other is able to fire two missiles before ejecting. Storm attempts evasive maneuvers but quickly loses distance. Jean uses her powers at an unnaturally high level (partial manifestation of the Phoenix?) and is able to destroy one of the missiles. Unfortunately, the other detonates directly behind the jet, rupturing the fuselage. In the ensuing depressurization, Rogue is pulled out of her seat and out into a free fall. Nightcrawler teleports outside the jet to grab Rogue, then teleports back in, saving her life. The jet, still en route to a crash landing, is stopped at the last moment by Magneto, who is standing on the ground.

Magneto explains that he has learned that Stryker has cerebro and has orchestrated the attack on the President in order to gain approval to attack the school and has been experimenting on mutants (including Nightcrawler) at a secret base. With it, he can make Professor Xavier focus on any group of people, such as mutants, and kill them. Magneto also reveals that Stryker is one of the only people who can manipulate adamantium, the metal on Wolverine's bones. has the plans for Stryker's base, but they need Jean to read Nightcrawler's mind to get the location. Jean Grey reads Nightcrawler's mind and determines that Stryker's base is located at Alkali Lake. When Wolverine claims that there is nothing at Alkali Lake, Jean insists that the base is inside the dam, to which is the reason why Wolverine could never find it. Stryker is able to control mutants with a powerful drug that he has used on Nightcrawler, Magneto, and a number of other mutants, including Lady Deathstrike. He has also stolen enough equipment from Xavier's own Cerebro unit to build a second Cerebro and plans to use Professor X to kill all of the mutants in the world. The X-Men and Magneto join together to stop Stryker in the morning. During a night's rest, Mystique torments Wolverine by entering his tent disguised as Jean Grey. When they fly to the base the next day, Magneto taunts Rogue about the white streaks in her hair. He then complements Pyro's abilities.

Stryker gains control over Professor Xavier through his son, Jason Stryker (a former student of the professor), who is able to project powerful visions in the mind, blinding a person to reality. Jason (in the form of a young girl) instructs Professor X to use Cerebro to find all existing mutants and kill them. Lyman asks Stryker why they are keeping the mutant children. He explains that he wants to be sure mutants are really dying when Cerebro operates.

Magneto, Mystique, and the remaining X-Men stage their assault on the facility. Wolverine volunteers to enter the lab first, since Stryker will want him alive. Magneto disagrees. When Wolverine appears at the door, Stryker instructs the soldiers to let him in, as he believes his experiment has finally decided to come home, but as soon as Stryker sees Wolverine in person he knows it's not him. The imposter quickly changes into Mystique, who quickly incapacitates and pacifies several guards and manages to get into the laboratory's heavily fortified control room, opening up the main gates so that the X-Men can enter the Alkali Lake Facility. Storm and Nightcrawler pair off, searching for the kidnapped students. Jean Grey joins Magneto and Mystique in order to keep an eye on them as they attempt to bring Professor Xavier back to his senses and rescue him.

Professor Xavier is in an elaborate illusion created by Jason, who accompanies him in the guise of a little girl. The two enter the Cerebro room, although in reality it's a grungy dome that Stryker has fabricated. Stryker goes to the dome and orders Jason to make the Professor kill all mutants he finds through Cerebro.

Jean Grey, Magneto and Mystique, on their way to rescue Xavier, are attacked by a brainwashed Cyclops. Jean stands her ground against Cyclops in order to buy Magneto enough time to get to Dark Cerebro and stop the coming mutant annihilation. Jean withstands Cyclops' optic blast, in which he uses a full power. Jean reflects the blast again at an extremely high level (another partial manifestation of the Phoenix), causing both of them to be propelled backward, and causing damage to the generators that keep the dam from collapsing. The destruction of the base is unstoppable. Cyclops finally remembers himself and takes Jean with him.

Wolverine has gone on his own to search the laboratory for its secrets. He finds the room where the adamantium was applied to his bones, sees xrays on the walls, finds the liquid metal. Then, Wolverine remembers escaping the facility using his new metal claws after he overheard Stryker planning to erase his memory. Stryker finds him there. When Wolverine goes to attack Stryker, Deathstrike attacks him in a duel to the death. She stabs him repeatedly with her own adamantium claws. Wolverine also discovers that she has the same regenerative ability he does and the two battle to a near stalemate. Wolverine seems to gain an advantage when he stabs her with an adamantium nozzle and fills her body with it, leaving her unconscious form preserved by the adamantium in the water tank. Pyro leaves the plane, tired of waiting with Rogue and Bobby.

Magneto, donning his helmet, breaks into the new Cerebro. The attack on mutants begins; the others fall to the floor screaming, their minds full of pain from the signal. Magneto stops the attack, then reconfigures the dome as metal panels fly around to different places. Mystique enters in the guise of Stryker, and tells Jason with a "change of plans" - to have Xavier kill all of the humans instead of the mutants.

Stryker leaves the complex, but Wolverine finds him and angrily punches him into submission and impales him with his claws. Wolverine demands answers, such as why he bonded him with the Adamantium and why erased his memories. Stryker only tells him that he'd volunteered for the procedure and that the two of them worked together. He says Wolverine is a failed experiment, that he was an animal before and an animal now. Wolverine chains him to the helicopter, gets rid of his mutant dog tags and goes back for the others.

In the meantime, Magneto and Mystique have found Stryker and commandeered his helicopter. Pyro has voluntarily joined them. However, Rogue flies the X-Jet over to the helicopter pad. As everyone struggles aboard, Wolverine notices Stryker chained to the dam—clearly the work of Magneto. Stryker demands to be let go, pleading with Wolverine and suggesting Wolverine will forever be an outcast like his friends. Wolverine decides to take his chances with his fellow mutants. As he walks away with a child named Artie Maddicks, the boy sticks his black, forked tongue out at Stryker.

Magneto escapes on the helicopter, taking Pyro along with him. The X-Men realized that the Professor is attacking "everyone else". Storm persuades Nightcrawler to try to get inside Cerebro, to extend his powers. Inside, they see a little girl and not the Professor. But Storm isn't fooled and intensifies the cold in the chamber, freezing Jason to save Professor X and stop the killing process, but the dam is falling apart. As the ceiling panels start to collapse, Nightcrawler rescues Storm and then the Professor. The group runs away and finally finds the way outside.

A malfunction aboard the X-Jet prevents it from taking off and the dam finally bursts. The flood gets stronger, drowning Stryker. Jean Grey leaves the jet, uses her heightened powers to prevent everyone from getting her back aboard. She holds off the flood waters while lifting the plane at the same time, all the while surrounded by a flaming energy field (the Phoenix fully manifesting itself). Nightcrawler attempts to grab her but she chooses to stay. She raises the jet just high enough for it to take off as the water floods over her. She saves the group, and then is overwhelmed and Cyclops and Wolverine both mourn Jean's death, though the whole team is devastated.

Back at the White House, the President prepares to address the country on the perceived mutant threat. Just as he begins his speech, the lights flicker and everyone in the room freezes except for himself. The X-Men appear before him and Rogue gives him the files from Stryker's private offices while Professor X tells him about the events of the last few days, saying that in the files some humans and mutants tried to start a war and there have been causalities on both sides. Then Professor X gives him an ultimatum: either humans and mutants work together to build peace, or they will destroy each other through war. The mutants leave in the same manner they entered. As everyone else in the room returns to motion, the shocked President looks at the files and is uncertain whether to continue his speech, though the mutant message is simple: "We're here to stay."

The film ends with a voiceover by Jean Grey on the process of evolution, identical to the voiceover at the start of the initial film. The camera floats over Alkali Lake, showing a vague but ominous shape in the water surface, the shape of a burning bird, the Phoenix.

Cast

Appearances

Locations

Items

Organizations

Vehicles

Mentioned

Music

Song title Artist Location(s)
Center of the Sun Conjure One

Bobby Drake and Rogue flirting with each other a classroom.

Trivia

  • Although this idea did not carry into the movies, in the comics, Nightcrawler was the son of Mystique and Azazel, a member of the Hellfire Club , who was introduced in X-Men: First Class (2011). He gained his mother's blue skin, and his father's slightly demonic appearance and teleportation abilities.
  • Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) left the franchise after one movie, because the crew believed it wasn't worth going through the long preparation. This also includes the fact that Cumming did not enjoy putting on the heavy make-up, because his appearance was minimal. So, it was written in the video game series that Nightcrawler decided to leave, because he no longer wanted to live the violent lifestyle that X-Men have to endure.
  • Bryan Singer  credits the X-Men graphic novel "God Loves, Man Kills" (released in 1982) as an influence for the script. As in the movie, the novel concerns William Stryker (a religious leader instead of a military one) building a replica of Cerebro and kidnapping Professor Xavier so he can use it to kill all mutants. The X-Men are forced to ally themselves with Magneto to stop him.
  • In an effort to keep the ending a secret, up until the movie came out, the novelization and the movie comic have different endings.
  • This movie contains several references to Nightcrawler  being a devout Catholic. In the comics, he studied to become a priest at one point, while remaining an active member of the X-Men .
  • (At around twenty-four minutes) On Yuriko's computer, the following files of various comics characters, both famous and obscure, are listed: Guthrie (2) (Paige (Husk), and Samuel (Cannonball); Harada, Keniucho (Silver Samurai); Kane, Garrison (Weapon X); LeBeau, Remy (Gambit); Lehnsherr, Erik (Magneto); Maddicks, Artie; Madrox, Jamie (Multiple Man); Xi'an Coy Mahn (Karma); Maximoff (2) (Wanda (Scarlet Witch), and Pietro (Quicksilver); McTaggart, Kevin (Proteus); Moonstar, Danielle (Mirage); Munroe, Ororo (Storm); McCoy, Hank (Beast ); Callasantos, Maria (Feral); Cassidy (2) (Sean (Banshee ), and Tom (Black Tom Cassidy); Cheney, Lila; Creed, Victor (Sabretooth); DaCosta, Roberto (Sunspot); Dane, Lorna (Polaris); Drake, Bobby (Iceman); Dukes, Fred (Blob); Espinosa, Angelo (Skin); and Gibney, Kyle (Wild Child). On another screen, there were a series of folders on the computer's desktop. These folders listed some well-known individuals or places from the X-Men universe, including: Omega Red (Russian mutant super soldier), Muir Island (Scottish mutant research facility), Project Wideawake (Codename for the Sentinel project), Franklin Richards (son of Fantastic Four's Reed Richards and Susan Storm; born a mutant), and Cerebro (mutant tracking device created by Professor Xavier and Magneto). Closer inspection reveals that Stryker is keeping files onPyro , Sabra, Dr. Cecilia Reyes , Synch, Penance,Nightcrawler, Mystique , his own Lady Deathstrike , Copycat, Deadpool , Cyclops , Dazzler , the Von Struckers, Jamie Braddock, David North, Sunfire , Boom Boom, Mimic, Nathaniel Essex (Mr. Sinister), Toad , Wolfsbane , Strong Guy, Kitty Pryde , Sauron, Forge. Curiously, there seem to be no files for Jean Grey or Wolverine, among others. There are also files on Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Flights, Weapon X, Project Wide Awake, Department H, the Brotherhood, Graymalkin, Zero Tolerance, Massachussets Academy, Blackbird, the Danger Room, Legacy, Morlocks, Xavier's School, Omega Red, Cerebro, the Salem Centre, Franklin Richards, Kevin McTaggart, and Bolivar Trask.
  • One poster that features the main mutants walking also shows some minor characters walking in the background, including William Stryker, Colossus and two unidentified individuals.

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