---
title: 'X-MEN The Last Stand (2006) Breakdown | Ending Explained, Easter Eggs, & Hidden Details'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=CgHVTeg8_eQ'
video_id: 'CgHVTeg8_eQ'
date: 2026-07-01
duration_sec: 3572
---

# X-MEN The Last Stand (2006) Breakdown | Ending Explained, Easter Eggs, & Hidden Details

> Source: [X-MEN The Last Stand (2006) Breakdown | Ending Explained, Easter Eggs, & Hidden Details](https://youtube.com/watch?v=CgHVTeg8_eQ)

## Summary

This video provides an in-depth breakdown of 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006), exploring the film's production history, box office performance, and narrative choices. It delves into the behind-the-scenes drama, including the departure of Bryan Singer and the hiring of Brett Ratner, while dissecting key scenes, Easter eggs, and character arcs.

### Key Points

- **Welcome and Episode Purpose** [0:00] — The host, MT, introduces the video as a breakdown of 'X-Men: The Last Stand' (2006), the first film to tackle the Dark Phoenix saga, continuing the series' analysis of the original Fox X-Men trilogy.
- **Box Office and Budget** [0:27] — The film had a $210 million budget and grossed $460.4 million worldwide, making it the most lucrative X-Men film up to that point, surpassing the previous film's $407.7 million.
- **Director Switch from Bryan Singer to Brett Ratner** [0:52] — Bryan Singer was replaced due to his unprofessional behavior on set and clashes with cast members like Halle Berry, as well as his decision to direct 'Superman Returns' after Fox CEO Tom Rothman delayed production.
- **Rothman's Pettiness and Rush** [2:22] — Upon learning Singer was directing 'Superman Returns,' Rothman rushed the production of 'X-Men: The Last Stand' to release before Singer's film, leading to a rushed and troubled production.
- **Merchandise Promotion** [2:57] — The host plugs the Heavy Spoilers merch store, featuring a Cyclops 'full power' shirt and a Doctor Doom 'emperor' shirt.
- **Directors Considered** [3:21] — Darren Aronofsky, Alex Proyas, Joss Whedon, Peter Berg, and Zack Snyder were all considered for the director role before Matthew Vaughn was briefly hired and then quit.
- **Matthew Vaughn's Departure** [4:48] — Matthew Vaughn quit directing after discovering Fox executives planned to trick Halle Berry into signing by using a fake script featuring a heroic Storm scene, which would be discarded once she was legally obligated to the film.
- **Brett Ratner Hired** [6:57] — Six days after Vaughn left, Fox hired Brett Ratner as director. Halle Berry eventually signed on due to her career decline after 'Catwoman' (2004).
- **Composer John Powell Selected** [7:17] — Brett Ratner chose John Powell to compose the score due to his work on the 'Bourne Identity' trilogy, replacing John Ottman who worked on 'Superman Returns' with Bryan Singer.
- **Opening Scene and Location** [8:05] — The film opens in 1986 at the Grey residence, filmed in Vancouver, Canada. The address is 1769 Golf Club Drive in Tsawwassen, British Columbia.
- **First Use of De-Aging VFX** [8:37] — The scene features de-aging visual effects on Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, marking the first use of such technology in a major motion picture, executed by Lola Digital Effects using younger photographs.
- **Comic-Accurate Costumes and Marvel Cameos** [9:04] — Magneto wears red and purple, his comic colors. Chris Claremont and Stan Lee make cameo appearances as neighbors during the scene where young Jean Grey demonstrates her powers.
- **Cameo of Young Warren Worthington III** [11:44] — Young Warren Worthington III (Angel) is played by Cayden Boyd, known for 'The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl.'
- **Angel's Comic Background** [12:13] — Angel is one of the original X-Men from X-Men #1 (1963) but almost appeared as Archangel in X2. His wings growing is a visual metaphor for puberty, an idea from Matthew Vaughn.
- **Danger Room Scene** [13:13] — The Danger Room features a Sentinel simulation. Halle Berry's flying scenes were a contractual stipulation, though she experienced nausea from the stunts.
- **Colossus and Rogue Interaction** [14:00] — Colossus uses a practical suit instead of full CGI. Nightcrawler is absent due to budget and time constraints, despite appearing at the end of X2.
- **Elliot Page as Kitty Pryde** [15:04] — Elliot Page's first appearance as Kitty Pryde; Brett Ratner cast him after seeing 'Hard Candy,' but Page later regretted the decision due to Ratner's homophobic behavior on set.
- **Fastball Special** [16:03] — Wolverine performs the famous 'fastball special' move from Uncanny X-Men #100 (1976), with Colossus throwing him at the Sentinel.
- **Deleted Cyclops Danger Room Scene** [17:01] — Bryan Singer intended to show Cyclops building the Danger Room as a response to losing Jean Grey, a scene that was cut from the final film.
- **Beast (Hank McCoy) Introduction** [18:00] — Kelsey Grammer plays Beast, his first appearance in the series. Grammer auditioned for the role, which was rare at that point in his career. Beast's makeup took 2.5–3 hours to apply and 45 minutes to remove.
- **Trask and Mystique** [20:22] — Bolivar Trask is played by Bill Duke, though the race-bent version differs from the comics. Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) has diminished role due to Ratner's behavior and her prior commitments; she later expressed gratitude for his public cancellation.
- **Leech and the Mutant Cure** [22:00] — Leech, a bald white boy in the film (played by Cameron Bright), has the power to deactivate mutant powers. This is a major change from the comics where Leech has green skin and a deformed appearance.
- **Moira MacTaggart and Xavier's Twin Brother** [24:02] — Olivia Williams plays Moira MacTaggart. Xavier's brain-dead twin brother is introduced as a plot device, foreshadowing the post-credits scene where Xavier's consciousness transfers into his brother's body.
- **Stepford Cuckoos and Hellion** [25:00] — The Stepford Cuckoo sisters (telepathic clones of Emma Frost) and Hellion appear as background characters. Xavier tells Storm she will lead the school if he dies.
- **Warren Worthington II and the Cure** [26:10] — Warren Worthington II presents the mutant cure at Alcatraz. Dr. Kavita Rao (Shohreh Aghdashloo) is introduced. Rogue is excited about the cure, but Anna Paquin disagreed with the direction.
- **Mutant Meeting at Church** [27:25] — Magneto holds a meeting at St. Andrew's Wesley United Church. Psylocke appears with teleportation powers, but this is a random change; the character was not originally intended to be Psylocke. The Morlock-like Omegas group is introduced.
- **Callisto and Omegas** [30:00] — Callisto (Dania Ramirez) has super speed and power detection, unlike the comics. Arclight generates seismic shockwaves. Stacy X was considered but cut. Glob Herman and Ash appear as Omegas.
- **Magneto's Speech and Recruitment** [32:45] — Magneto recruits mutants, drawing parallels to Holocaust rhetoric. Quill is a porcupine-like mutant; Pyro threatens him with a toaster.
- **Beast Visits Leech** [33:33] — Beast visits Leech at Alcatraz. Leech plays the Xbox 360 game 'Pitfall: The Lost Expedition.' A 'Robo Raptor' toy is visible in his room.
- **Cyclops Dies** [34:16] — Cyclops travels to Alkali Lake and is killed by the reborn Phoenix, who absorbs his life force. This was due to James Marsden's scheduling conflict with 'Superman Returns.'
- **Phoenix Entity Explained** [35:19] — Professor Xavier reveals he created psychic barriers in Jean's mind to suppress the Phoenix, creating a dual personality. This differs from the comics where the Phoenix is a cosmic entity that merged with Jean.
- **Famke Janssen's Dislike of the Script** [36:53] — Actress Famke Janssen was disappointed with the film's unfaithful adaptation of the Dark Phoenix saga, noting that Fox prioritized the mutant cure storyline over the Phoenix subplot.
- **Angel's Cure Refusal** [37:15] — Warren Worthington III (Ben Foster) is about to take the cure but refuses at the last moment, breaking free and flying out a window. Foster played a superhero despite a fear of heights.
- **Magneto Frees Prisoners** [38:44] — Magneto attacks a prison transport convoy, freeing Mystique, Multiple Man (Eric Dane), and Juggernaut (Vinnie Jones). Juggernaut actor hated the costume and declined a cameo in 'Deadpool & Wolverine' because of it.
- **Mystique's Cure and Magneto's Betrayal** [41:08] — Mystique takes a cure dart for Magneto, losing her powers. Magneto, disgusted by her newfound humanity, kicks her out of the brotherhood.
- **Beast Resigns** [42:06] — Beast resigns as Secretary of Mutant Affairs in protest of the government's use of the mutant cure as a weapon.
- **Phoenix Kills Professor X** [43:00] — Magneto, Xavier, Storm, and Wolverine confront Phoenix at the Grey house. Xavier is disintegrated by the Phoenix's powers.
- **Bobby and Kitty Ice Skating** [43:45] — Bobby Drake and Kitty Pryde go on a date, leading Rogue to decide to take the cure. A deleted scene included a kiss, which Ratner cut due to concerns about Page's youthful appearance.
- **Gambit Considered** [44:44] — The production considered introducing Gambit, with Josh Holloway, Keanu Reeves, and Channing Tatum considered. Channing Tatum later played Gambit in 'Deadpool & Wolverine' (2024).
- **Marvel Characters Considered but Unavailable** [45:08] — Carol Danvers (originally Ms. Marvel or Captain Marvel) and Nick Fury were considered for cameos but were unavailable due to rights issues.
- **Wolverine Finds Phoenix** [46:39] — Wolverine hears the Phoenix and goes to the forest to find her, leaving the X-Mansion.
- **Wolverine Infiltrates Camp** [48:17] — Wolverine fights through Magneto's mutant camp, including a character named Spike (originally from X-Men: Evolution).
- **Magneto Lifts Golden Gate Bridge** [49:00] — Magneto lifts the Golden Gate Bridge to reach Alcatraz. The production spent $35 million to recreate a basketball court-sized section of the bridge for the scene.
- **X-Men Prepare for Battle** [50:09] — Wolverine gives a pep talk to the X-Men, insisting they must fight for Xavier's legacy.
- **Beast's Catchphrase Included Due to Kevin Feige** [51:49] — Beast says 'Oh my stars and garters,' a catchphrase from the comics. Kevin Feige, then executive producer, insisted it be included.
- **Juggernaut's Famous Line** [53:29] — Kitty Pryde phases Juggernaut into the floor, prompting him to say his iconic line: 'I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!'—a reference to a popular internet video.
- **Deleted Scene: Here's Juggy** [54:22] — A deleted scene had Juggernaut saying 'Here's Juggy,' a nod to 'The Shining.'
- **Pyro vs. Iceman Showdown** [54:30] — Iceman and Pyro engage in a Dragon Ball Z-style clash of powers.
- **Magneto is Defeated** [54:40] — Wolverine uses a Fastball Special to get close to Magneto, who is stabbed with multiple cure vials.
- **Wolverine Kills Jean Grey** [54:51] — The Phoenix begins a wave of destruction. Wolverine reaches Jean, professes his love, and kills her with his adamantium claws, absorbing the Phoenix's power.
- **Rogue Returns Cured** [55:42] — Rogue returns to the school after taking the cure, removing her mutant powers. A deleted alternative shows her deciding not to go through with it.
- **Becomes UN Ambassador** [56:32] — Beast (Hank McCoy) accepts the position of US Ambassador to the United Nations.
- **Deleted Scene: Logan Returns to Alberta Bar** [56:57] — A deleted scene shows Logan returning to the bar from the first X-Men film.
- **Magneto's Chess and Post-Credits Scene** [57:53] — Magneto, now powerless, plays chess alone but subtly moves a black queen piece, hinting at his powers returning. In the post-credits scene, Professor Xavier's consciousness awakens in his brain-dead twin brother's body on Muir Island, speaking with Moira MacTaggart.

### Conclusion

The video concludes that 'X-Men: The Last Stand' was a troubled production marked by directorial changes and executive interference, resulting in a film that many, including the host, found disappointing. The breakdown highlights numerous deleted scenes, character choices, and the first use of de-aging VFX, while lamenting that the Dark Phoenix saga was poorly adapted.

## Transcript

What's good my mutants? It's me MT and
welcome back to the heavy spoiler show
y'all. With the Fox X-Men about to make
their big return to the big screen in
Avengers Doomsday, we thought it'd be
the perfect time to finish up our
breakdowns of the original Fox X-Men
trilogy by breaking down X-Men The Last
Stand from 2006, the first movie to
tackle the beloved Dark Phoenix saga
from the Marvel comics. So, let's make
like the Juggernaut and just break this
thing on down my nerd babies. With a
budget of $210 million dollars, X-Men
The Last Stand would become known as the
most expensive movie of its time. A
movie that will go on to gross $460.4
million dollars at the box office,
making it the most lucrative X-Men movie
of the franchise up until that point. As
the previous film made $407.7
million dollars, which is around $53
million dollars less. And even though
the first two X-Men movies were directed
by certified creepo Bryan Singer, X-Men
The Last Stand would switch things up by
being directed by Brett Ratner, another
creepo. And there are two reasons for
this. Bryan Singer's shitty behavior
while directing the previous X-Men
films, as well as the pettiness of
former 20th Century Fox CEO Tom Rothman.
Apparently, Bryan Singer wasn't exactly
the easiest person to work with in
previous movies and clashed hardcore
with some of the main cast, especially
Storm actress Halle Berry, who was
pretty fed up with Bryan Singer's
unprofessional use of drugs on set. So
much so that she was straight up not
interested in working with him at all
for an X-Men sequel. Not only this, but
Singer would also routinely waste the
time of set designers who would bust
their ass creating sets that Singer
would just randomly write out of the
movie as he went on, causing the cost of
production to balloon constantly. But on
top of all of that, former Fox CEO Tom
Rothman just really didn't like the
X-Men franchise at all and hated that
the movies were received so well by
audiences despite him predicting that
both the previous movies would flop
hard. So, because of that and Singer's
bad reputation, Rothman would put off
the X-Men 3 production by pushing back
the signing of Singer's contract for a
third film. However, because of this,
Warner Brothers would see that Bryan
Singer was single and ready to mingle
and scoop his ass up to direct a
Superman movie. With that Superman film
eventually becoming the critically mixed
Superman Returns film from 2006.
However, when Tom Rothman found out
about Bryan Singer's big Superman deal,
bro crashed the hell out hard and even
had Bryan Singer kicked out of the Fox
studio lot. And because he was extra
petty, Rothman would then rush the X-Men
3 production to find a director that
could make the X-Men movie before
Superman Returns came out. And Bryan
Singer would eventually go on to very
much deeply regret choosing Superman
Returns over the opportunity to conclude
his X-Men trilogy his way, especially
after seeing how badly X-Men: The Last
Stand actually turned out. But you will
not regret heading on over to
heavyspoilers.shop
to pick up some nerdy merch for your
bodies. We've got an incredible new full
power shirt inspired by Cyclops of the
X-Men that you guys can wear while
watching Avengers: Doomsday. Or, you can
rep the god Doom himself by wearing our
new emperor shirt inspired by Doctor
Doom. We've got all that and so much
more over at the Heavy Spoilers merch
store. So, be sure to visit today.
But yeah, Darren Aronofsky, known for
the harrowing addiction drama Requiem
for a Dream, the Oscar-winning
psychological thriller Black Swan, and
his breakthrough surreal indie debut Pi,
was one of the directors considered.
Hugh Jackman himself actually
recommended him after finding him
pleasant to work with while filming the
2006 movie The Fountain together. And
director Alex Proyas was also being
heavily considered, but he would
immediately reject the idea after going
through hell with CEO Tom Rothman during
development of his I, Robot film. I
actually do go into that a bit in my
breakdown of I Robot that you guys can
watch on this channel anytime when you
subscribe. Future Avengers and Avengers
Age of Ultron director Joss Whedon could
have also gotten the job if his hands
weren't already full with working on a
Wonder Woman movie that would never
actually end up happening. And even
though Joss Whedon was a little bit of a
creep himself, Whedon would have
actually been a fantastic choice for
this movie considering that the whole
mutant cure part of the X-Men 3 story
was inspired by Whedon's own Gifted
storyline from 2004 that spanned
Astonishing X-Men issues 1 to 6. Peter
Berg, known for directing the sports
drama Friday Night Lights, the
biographical war film Lone Survivor, the
superhero action movie Hancock, and the
disaster drama Deepwater Horizon also
turned down the opportunity to direct
the film. As did Zack Snyder, who was
far too busy working on his smash hit
300 to do an X-Men movie. Eventually,
the production would manage to secure
director Matthew Vaughn for the job.
However, Vaughn would end up dropping
out for a number of reasons. Not only
did Matthew Vaughn not believe that a
good X-Men movie could be made in Tom
Rothman's rushed timeframe, but he also
wasn't a fan of how sneaky and deceptive
the Fox executives at the time were
being with Storm actress Halle Berry.
Apparently, Matthew Vaughn discovered
that the Fox executives were planning on
tricking Halle Berry into signing onto
X-Men 3 by making a fake script which
started with her saving an African
village with her superpowers, knowing
damn well that they weren't ever going
to use that script at all as soon as she
was legally obligated to return.
>> I I
Hollywood is really political and and
and odd. And I went into one of the
executives' office and I saw an X3
script. And I immediately knew it was a
lot faster. I was like, "What the hell
is this this draft?" They were like,
"Don't worry about it." And I was like,
"No, no, no, I'm the director. I'm
worrying about this draft. Tell me what
it is, please." Wouldn't tell me. He's
like, "Grab the minute." it was like a
crazy moment where I grabbed it, opened
the first page, and it said Africa,
storm,
kids dying of no water. She creates a
thunderstorm and saves all these
children. I was like, "Okay, that's a
pretty cool idea."
Um
What is this? And then I was like, "Oh,
it's a Halle Berry script." I was like,
"Okay, um cuz she hasn't signed up yet."
But once she says what she wants to do
with me, and once she signs up, we'll
throw it in the bin.
And I was like, "Well, wow, you're going
to do that to an Oscar-winning actress
to play Storm?
I'm out of here." So, I quit at that
point. I got fired. Um
um minced meat. So, um So, that stayed
with me. And that made me think,
"Hollywood do You know what I'm saying?
Look, they do some stuff well,
but not in my style."
>> But yeah, as soon as Matthew Vaughn saw
that they were going to treat Halle
Berry that way, his conscious pushed him
to leave the production. And when he
did, Tom Rothman crashed out once again,
threatening him by saying that he would
never work in this town again. But
Matthew Vaughn would famously go on to
direct beloved films like 2007's
Stardust and 2010's Kick-Ass before
getting a chance to tackle the X-Men in
2011's X-Men: First Class. But yeah,
about 6 days after Matthew Vaughn left
the production, Fox would end up hiring
Brett Ratner for the directing job. And
with Singer gone, Halle Berry would
eventually sign on to do X3. But her
decision to do so was motivated by her
career taking a huge hit following her
embarrassing appearance in the 2004
Catwoman movie. But yeah, composing the
score for this film is composer John
Powell, who is known for his awesome
work on the Bourne Identity trilogy, and
recently for both of the Wicked movies.
And it was actually because of his work
on the Bourne Identity that Brett Ratner
chose him to do the music for X-Men: The
Last Stand. Composer John Ottman was
originally tapped to do the music for
the movie back when Bryan Singer was
thought to be involved, but he ended up
working on Superman with Singer instead.
And much like the Marvel movies of this
time, X-Men: The Last Stand begins with
a Marvel logo animated with flipping
comic book pages. But this time around,
most of these comic book pages are from
the X-Men story arcs that inspired this
third X-Men movie. Mainly Chris
Claremont's Dark Phoenix Saga from 1980
and Joss Whedon's Gifted story arc from
2004. The movie then brings us to a New
York suburb 20 years in the past in the
year 1986. And even though this location
is made to look like New York, the
production actually filmed this scene in
Vancouver, Canada. The Grey residence
actually resides at 1769
Golf Club Drive in Tsawwassen, British
Columbia. And this city is no stranger
to paranormal happenings as the 1995
Jumanji film was also filmed in that
city as well. And rolling up in their
Mercedes-Benz 600 are a young Charles
Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. And the scene
was actually a bit of cinematic history
as it marks the first time where
de-aging visual effects had been used in
a major motion picture. The geniuses at
Lola Digital Effects used a bunch of
younger photographs of Sir Patrick
Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen in order to
bring the effect to life. And honestly,
for 2006, this effect looks pretty damn
good and holds up very well to this day.
I mean, the effect is still very
noticeable by today's standards, but it
still looks pretty damn fantastic if you
ask me. And as the two walk up to the
Grey residence, we can see that Magneto
is wearing his favorite hues of red and
purple, the same colors as the Magneto
costume in the comics. And Charles
Xavier is very noticeably walking on
feet instead of in a wheelchair. And
while we don't exactly know what
happened to land Charles Xavier in a
wheelchair in this particular cinematic
timeline, we do get an explanation for
that in 2011's X-Men: First Class when
we see a bullet deflected by Magneto
ricochet into Charles Xavier's body,
paralyzing him.
The original explanation for Professor
Xavier's paralysis came in the pages of
Uncanny X-Men issue number 20. And in
that issue, it was revealed that an
alien supervillain by the name of
Lucifer dropped a giant slab of rock
onto Xavier's legs when the professor
tried to stop him from terrorizing a
town in Tibet. But anyways, Charles and
Eric then enter the Grey household and
meet John and Elaine Grey, the parents
of a 12-year-old Jean Grey. John and
Elaine made their first appearance in
the fifth issue of Uncanny X-Men in
1964. But in that comic and beyond,
Jean's mother Elaine actually has blonde
hair instead of being a brunette. And we
can immediately see that Elaine is the
much more empathetic of the two as she
tries to correct her husband when he
refers to Jean's mutation as an illness.
And I appreciate how the movie also
gives Elaine heart-shaped earrings to
show her compassionate nature.
Professor Xavier and Eric then asked to
speak to Jean Grey alone. And when they
do, Jean Grey immediately showcases how
powerful she is by lifting all the cars
in her neighborhood with her telekinetic
powers. And in addition to these cars,
she also manages to lift the lawnmower
of one of her neighbors, with that
neighbor being played by famous Dark
Phoenix Saga writer Chris Claremont. And
right after that, we get another cameo
from cameo king and Marvel god Stan Lee
as a neighbor watching the water from
his garden hose levitate upwards.
Charles then challenges Jean to let them
help her control her powers before her
powers control her before we jump
forward in time 10 years to around the
year 1996. We then see the exterior of
Worthington Labs, which is actually the
Sheraton Wall Center in Vancouver,
British Columbia. And inside, we see a
young Warren Worthington III played by
an 11-to-12-year-old Cayden Boyd, who
famously played the dreaming protagonist
in 2005's The Adventure of Sharkboy and
Lavagirl.
>> HE STOLE MY DREAM JOURNAL.
>> I did not. Mr. Electric, send him to the
principal's office and have him
expelled.
>> And as most X-Men fans already know,
Warren Worthington III, aka Angel, is
actually one of the original members of
the X-Men that were introduced in X-Men
number one in 1963 alongside Scott
Summers Cyclops, Jean Grey Marvel Girl,
Bobby Drake Iceman, and Hank McCoy
Beast. And even though Angel does make
his live-action debut in this X-Men
movie, the character almost made an
appearance in the previous movie X2:
X-Men United as one of William Stryker's
prisoners. If one of the discarded
versions of the X2 script came true, we
could have seen William Stryker and his
people transform Angel into his darker
Archangel persona with metallic wings.
Something that was originally done by
the Omega Class mutant Apocalypse in
X-Factor issue number 23 when Warren
became his Horseman of Death. Warren's
father, Warren Worthington II,
starts knocking on the bathroom door
wondering what his maturing preteen son
has been doing in there for over an
hour. And when he busts down the door,
he quickly discovers that puberty has
caused his son to furiously tug his
growing body parts with various
instruments. And by growing body parts,
I of course mean his wings growing on
his back. This scene was actually one of
Matthew Vaughn's ideas back when he was
involved with the production that Brett
Ratner decided to preserve in the final
cut of the film. Then after the intro
cinematic, we are brought to the present
day where the X-Men attempt to learn
teamwork in their ultra-advanced battle
simulation room famously known as the
Danger Room. And one of the first images
that we see is Ororo Monroe, aka Storm,
flying into frame. And because Halle
Berry didn't really get to do any flying
scenes as Storm in the previous films,
one of her main stipulations for doing
this movie was that her character have a
series of flying moments. And even
though she would get exactly what she
wanted, Halle Berry would soon discover
that some of the flying stunts that they
had in store for her would make her
crazy nauseous, to the point where she
literally threw up from spinning around
so much, much like we see Storm do
during the big showdown at the Grey
household a little later on the movie.
And right after this, we are
reintroduced to Daniel Cudmore's
Colossus, as he protects Anna Paquin's
Rogue from incoming debris by having her
absorb his ability to cover himself in
organic steel. And in order to save
money on CG, the production would
actually choose to make Colossus's look
practically by making a shiny reflective
suit for him. I mean, they did go the
all CG route for X2: X-Men United, but
decided to switch things up this time
around. And speaking of saving money on
expensive X-Men from the previous film,
it is not hard to notice that
fan-favorite X-Men hero Nightcrawler is
100% absent this time around, despite
having seemingly joined the X-Men team
at the end of the last film. Even though
the production initially planned for
Alan [ __ ] to have a small cameo in
this movie, they felt like the money,
time, and energy needed to bring
Nightcrawler to life just was not worth
it. So, they just wrote his
Smurf-looking ass out of the film
entirely, which sucks. But anyways,
directly after this, we watch Bobby
Drake, aka Iceman, use his frost powers
to save Kitty Pryde from a missile
before Kitty Pryde returns the favor by
using her phasing powers to force a
missile to go right through the both of
them, as a jealous Rogue watches from
afar. And while this is actor Shawn
Ashmore's third time playing the role of
Iceman in the Fox X-Men trilogy, this
would be Elliot Page's first time as
X-Men Kitty Pryde. After watching Elliot
Page in the 2005 psychological thriller
Hard Candy, Brett Ratner knew that the
actor would be the perfect choice for
Kitty Pryde, even going as far as to
call Page himself after they rejected
their offer to play the part. However,
Elliot Page would grow to regret that
decision as he truly hated working with
director Brett Ratner throughout the
entire production. Mostly because Brett
Ratner was kind of a dick and would say
a bunch of rude and homophobic [ __ ] to
Elliot on set, which is a huge bummer.
And before Elliot Page was cast as Kitty
Pryde, actresses Eliza Dushku, Summer
Glau, and Maggie Grace auditioned for
the role as well. With Maggie Grace
eventually briefly being cast as Kitty
before the production decided that she
was a little bit too old to play the
character. In the previous X-Men films,
actress Sumela Kay played Kitty in the
first X-Men movie, while actress Katie
Stuart [clears throat] would play Kitty
in X2: X-Men United. But both of those
roles are pretty much just background
characters. And with the X-Men
absolutely failing to work as a team,
Wolverine would decide to take matters
into his own hands by asking Colossus to
throw him at their unseen enemy. A move
that has come to be known as Logan's
famous fastball special ever since it
first debuted in Uncanny X-Men issue
number 100 from 1976.
Wolverine does his slicing and dicing
off-screen before it's revealed that the
X-Men have been fighting a giant
simulation of a Sentinel, the infamous
mutant-hunting machines from the X-Men
comics created by Bolivar Trask in the
pages of 1965's Uncanny X-Men number 14.
And it's kind of weird how the Sentinels
show up for the first time in this
universe as a danger room simulation
before actually appearing as threats
created by Bolivar Trask in X-Men: Days
of Future Past. But I still appreciate
the reference nonetheless.
room, apparently if Bryan Peter Singer
got to direct this movie instead of
Brett Ratner, he apparently would have
shown Scott Summers taking the
initiative to build the danger room
himself. Specifically as a result of
losing Jean Grey in the previous movie.
Jean's loss would have pushed Scott to
make the X-Men better so we didn't have
to suffer a major loss like that again.
And speaking of Scott, the movie then
transitions to him grieving the loss of
Jean Grey alone in his bedroom before he
experiences images of a drowning Jean
calling out to him from Alkali Lake. And
what's particularly interesting about
this moment is how the production seemed
to purposely put a painting of a red
ocean behind Cyclops' bed and head, like
a symbolic piece of foreshadowing
towards his own demise at Alkali Lake at
the hands of the red-haired Phoenix. And
in response to this vision, Cyclops
leaves the mansion to head towards the
lake ignoring Wolverine's attempts to
encourage him to move on. And after
this, we are shown the exterior of the
Department of Mutant Affairs, which is
actually an office building at 1075 West
Georgia Street in Vancouver, British
Columbia in real life. And if you're a
fan of the Arrow TV series, the rooftop
battle from the second episode of season
1 was also filmed at this building. And
inside the Department of Mutant Affairs
is Dr. Hank McCoy, the X-Man known as
Beast and Secretary of Mutant Affairs.
This is the first time the role of Beast
will be played by actor Kelsey Grammer
of Frasier fame. With Hank McCoy
actually appearing in a quick cameo on
TV in X2: X-Men United as played by
actor Steve Basic, much like I mentioned
in my heavy spoilers breakdown of that
movie. Kelsey Grammer was actually so
enthused about the idea of portraying
Beast that he actually went through the
audition process for it, something that
Grammer rarely ever did at that point in
his career. Grammer was actually cast in
the movie back when Matthew Vaughn was
director and Brett Ratner decided to
keep him on when Vaughn left. Matthew
Vaughn was also responsible for the
casting of Juggernaut actor Vinnie Jones
as well. But before Kelsey Grammer's
casting, actor Jason Flemyng was heavily
considered to play Beast when his buddy
Matthew Vaughn was going to direct the
project, but that never ended up panning
out. But luckily, Matthew Vaughn would
get a chance to work with Flemyng on an
X-Men movie when he got to direct X-Men:
First Class years later, casting Flemyng
in the role of the teleporting Azazel.
Afterwards, actor Sam Neill of Jurassic
Park fame was apparently cast as Beast
at one point, but had to drop out of the
film due to other commitments. But yeah,
as Beast hangs upside down from his
ceiling, he holds a real-life copy of
the October 2005 edition of Scientific
American magazine with the article
tracking mutations by writer Dennis
Draena very likely being the focus of
Beast's attention. And we can also see
that Beast has green eyes in this movie,
which differs from Nicholas Hoult's
Beast that would be introduced in 2011's
X-Men First Class, which shows Beast
with yellow eyes instead.
>> My blue eyes, white dragon.
>> Sorry.
>> [clears throat]
>> And in order to achieve the look of
Beast, Kelsey Grammer had to sit in the
production's makeup chair for about 2
and 1/2 to 3 hours. But luckily, the
makeup removal process was much shorter
at just 45 minutes. And as Beast's
secretary informs him of a meeting, we
can see the logo for the Department of
Mutant Affairs in the background, which
features a bald eagle above an American
flag shield that also has a DNA double
helix on it to represent the mutant
genome. Beast then heads to the meeting
hosted by the unnamed president of the
United States played by actor Joseph
Sommer, an actor that previously worked
with Brett Ratner in the Family Man film
that he directed in the year 2000. At
the beginning of X2: X-Men United, the
president was a different man known as
President McKenna played by Cotter
Smith, but there appears to have been an
election between now and then. Also at
the meeting is the infamous X-Men
villain Bolivar Trask played by actor
Bill Duke. And when the character was
first introduced in X-Men issue number
14, Trask is a Caucasian man with an
extensive background in robotics, a
background that eventually lead him to
create the Master Mold machine that
cranked out an army of mutant-hunting
Sentinels. But in this particular
live-action X-Men timeline, this Trask
is just the head of the Department of
Homeland Security who was recently
duplicated by the X-Men villain Mystique
before she was captured and
interrogated. Actress Rebecca Romijn
returns as Raven Darkholme, aka
Mystique, but her role was greatly
diminished this time around in
comparison to previous movies, mostly
because of prior commitments to other
projects and her growing family. And
while Mystique still has her piercing
yellow eyes, what's different this time
around is that her eyes are completely
computer generated, which was a huge
relief for Rebecca after suffering with
super uncomfortable and irritating
yellow contacts in the previous two
films. However, even though Rebecca
Romijn's eyes were comfortable, Rebecca
herself wasn't exactly comfortable
working with Brett Ratner and would
later go on record to say that she was
thankful that the director got publicly
canceled during the height of the Me Too
movement. But anyways, as the movie
transitions to Mystique's interrogation,
she mocks the interviewer by
transforming into Magneto, the very
magnetic madman that they were all
searching for. And on Mystique Magneto's
chest is the number 0001, which likely
refers to X-Men issue one, which
featured the first appearance of Magneto
along with the OG X-Men. And after
witnessing Mystique assault her
interrogator, the president and his
staff then transition to the real matter
at hand, the intel that Mystique was
trying to steal from the FDA regarding a
young mutant named Jimmy, aka Leech.
Introduced in 1983's Uncanny X-Men 179,
Leech has the power to deactivate any
mutant power, much like we see in this
movie. However, unlike this film, comic
book Leech has slightly deformed green
skin that very much alienated him from
the rest of society. But for some
reason, Brett Ratner decided to just
make him look like a bald white boy
played by actor Cameron Bright.
Recently, there was actually a reference
to the character Leech in one of the
latest trailers for Insomniac's new
Wolverine video game, where he is
pictured in all of his green-skinned
glory. Beast then learns that
Worthington Labs has used Leech's DNA to
manufacture a cure before the movie
brings us to Xavier's School for Gifted
Youngsters. The production will return
to Hatley Castle in Colwood, British
Columbia, Canada to film the X-Mansion
scenes, much like they did in X2: X-Men
United. And this mansion was also the
same mansion used for the Smallville TV
show for Lex Luthor's home. We then hear
the voice of Charles Xavier as he says
the following.
>> When an individual acquires great power,
the use or misuse of that power is
everything. Will it be for the greater
good or will it be used for personal
or for destructive ends? This very much
feels like a shout-out to the Marvel
character Spider-Man and his Uncle Ben's
famous with great power there must also
come great responsibility mantra.
>> Remember,
with great power
comes great responsibility.
>> Along with Kitty Pryde, other notable
mutants in Xavier's classroom during
this scene include the sonic screaming
siren to the left of Kitty played by
Shauna Cain, the energy producing
Jubilee to the right of Kitty played by
Kio Wong, and the technology controlling
Jones on the far right played by Connor
Widdows. And sitting behind Jones is the
fork-tongued Ardy Maddox played by Bryce
Hodgson. And all four of these actors
are reprising the roles that they played
in X2: X-Men United. The Professor then
shows the class some footage of his
colleague Moira MacTaggart, a love
interest of Charles Xavier in the comics
that made her first appearance in 1975's
X-Men issue number 96. And even though
the character is very much Scottish in
the comics, she is played by British
actress Olivia Williams in this movie
before the role be taken over by
Australian actress Rose Byrne in the
First Class timeline. And behind Moira
is actually Professor Xavier's
brain-dead twin brother. And it's never
revealed what his first name is, but we
know that it starts with the letter P.
Xavier then introduces the idea of
transferring one's consciousness into a
brain-dead body like the one on the TV
screen, very much foreshadowing what
Professor Xavier would do to cheat death
in the movie's post-credit scene. And
after class, Professor Xavier meets up
with a Storm who is tired of hiding in
the shadows waiting for humanity to
accept mutants. And as they talk in the
hallways of the school, we can actually
see the mutant Hellion using telekinesis
on some paper airplanes. Introduced in
2003's New Mutants issue number two,
Julian Keller, aka Hellion, is
eventually revealed to be an omega-level
mutant with extremely powerful
telekinetic abilities as well as some
light telepathy. But in the comics,
whenever Hellion uses his telekinesis, a
green energetic aura usually surrounds
whatever he's manipulating. Also,
walking behind Storm and Xavier are a
group of young female triplets. These
are, of course, the Stepford Cuckoo
Sisters, genetic children of the mutant
Emma Frost after some scientist creepo
stole a thousand of Emma's eggs in the
comics. There were originally five of
these telepathic Cuckoo Sisters when
they first made their debut in 2001's
New X-Men 118, but eventually two of the
sisters, Sophie and Esme, would die
leaving only Irma, Phoebe, and Celeste
alive. Xavier then brings up the idea of
Storm taking over as leader of the
school if he ever were to pass away, a
role that would have gone to Scott if he
didn't let Jean's death change him so
much. 1980's X-Men issue number 139 is
when we first see Storm become deputy
leader of the X-Men following Cyclops
taking a brief leave of absence from the
team. The two of them are then surprised
by a sudden visit from Hank McCoy who is
looking at a painting of the Grand Canal
in Venice, Italy when they enter the
room. Beast then tells Xavier Storm, and
Wolverine about Worthington Labs' mutant
cure before the movie brings us to
Worthington Labs' Alcatraz facility,
which, of course, used to be a famous
prison island before it was shut down in
1963. And as Warren Worthington the
Second presents the mutant cure to the
world, we can see Dr. Kavita Rao sitting
behind him, played by Iranian actress
Shohreh Aghdashloo, despite the
character very much being of Indian
descent when the character first
appeared in Joss Whedon's Astonishing
X-Men number one from 2004. Back when
Matthew Vaughn was directing the
project, he would actually cast Shohreh
as a completely different character
named Dr. Cecilia Reyes. Introduced in
1997's X-Men issue number 65, Dr.
Cecilia Reyes is a medical doctor with
the mutant power to project protective
force fields around her body, eventually
becoming a member of both the X-Men and
X-Factor teams. But when Brett Ratner
took over directing duties, he would
recast her as Dr. Kavita Rao. Other
actresses the production were
considering for the role of Dr. Rao
include Bollywood actresses Tabu,
Sumitha Fatima Hashmi, and Shabana Azmi.
And as all the students in the X-Mansion
watch the press conference, Rogue gets
excited about the idea of finally being
able to touch her boyfriend that she
immediately heads to Xavier's office to
see if the news is for real. But while
Storm tries to assure her that her
mutation isn't actually disease that
needs to be cured, Rogue doesn't exactly
seem to buy it. And even though Rogue
was very enthusiastic about the idea of
taking this mutant cure, Rogue actress
Anna Paquin wasn't as jazzed about the
idea and tried her best to get the
production to reverse their decision.
But ultimately, it would be to no avail.
Meanwhile, angered at the announcement,
a group of mutants hold a 7:00 p.m.
meeting at Holy Trinity Church to
discuss how they should react. And
remember that scene from X2: X-Men
United where Storm and Jean Grey first
run into Nightcrawler? This is actually
the very same church from that scene,
St. Andrew's Wesley United Church in
Vancouver to be exact. This church is
actually right across the street from
Sheraton Wall Centre where they shot the
Worthington Lab exteriors. And as a
mutant man calls for the mutant
community to be civil by forming a
committee to talk to the government, a
reptilian mutant crawling on the wall
behind him watches from above. And while
this mutant is credited as Lizard Man in
this film, in the comics, his real name
was actually Victor Borkowski before
adopting the mutant name Anole after the
iguanian lizard. And even though he ends
up joining Magneto's Brotherhood of
Mutants in this movie, in the comics, he
actually joins the X-Men as a good guy.
Anole makes his first appearance in
2003's New Mutants number two, just in
case you guys were curious.
>> Thanks for the good news.
>> And also in the audience is Big William
Robert Riley, also known as the mutant
Fat with a ph. Originally a body fat
manipulating Caucasian mutant when he
was first introduced in 2001's X-Force
117, in this movie, the big version of
the character is played by Samoan actor
Vinnie Sallyamua, while the smaller
version of the character is played by
Chinese actor Richard Yee. Richard Yee
also played the Ninja Turtle Donatello
in the short-lived Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles: The Next Mutation TV series.
And interrupting the speaker is a woman
with purple highlights in her hair who
claims that the humans are planning to
exterminate them. And while it's kind of
hard to believe, this woman is actually
supposed to be the mutant Psylocke, even
though she barely has any of the powers
of her comic book counterpart. This
version of Psylocke only has the ability
to teleport through shadows, an ability
that comic book Psylocke would not
acquire until X-Men issue number 338 in
1996 as a result of drinking a shadow
elixir called the Crimson Dawn. Before
then, comic book Psylocke was mainly
known as a powerful telepathic and
telekinetic ninja with energy projecting
abilities. All attributes pretty much
absent from this take of the character.
And there's actually a big reason for
this. That character wasn't actually
meant to be Psylocke at all when it was
first created. It was only much later on
in production that somebody decided to
just name the character Psylocke, which
is kind of super random and careless in
my opinion. Like Psylocke is a pretty
damn important and badass character in
the comics. So, to not give much thought
as to how such a character would be
introduced in live action for the first
time is kind of disrespectful in my
opinion. But anyways, Psylocke and Fat
are part of a gang of mutant outcasts
known as the Omegas, a group heavily
based on the Morlocks from the X-Men
comics. And much like how the mutant
Callisto was the head of the Morlocks in
the comics, we see Callisto as the
leader of the Omegas in this movie, a
group that she reps with a big old Omega
symbol on her chest. However, though she
shares the name of the leader of the
comic book Morlocks, her power set is a
little bit different. When Callisto was
first introduced in 1983's Uncanny X-Men
169, comic book Callisto's powers
consisted of having all five of her
senses cranked up to 11, making her an
incredibly formidable hunter. However,
in this movie, Callisto inexplicably has
super speed like Quicksilver as well as
the ability to detect the power level of
mutants around her like the mutant
Caliban. And this will not be the only
superhero role for Callisto actress
Dania Ramirez as a year later she would
play a superhuman with deadly poison
powers named Maya Herrera in NBC's
Heroes TV series. Next to Callisto to
the left is Philippa Soo as well known
as the mutant Arclight played by actress
and model Omaira Moda. And much like her
comic book counterpart, Arclight has the
ability to generate seismic shockwaves
with her body. However, when she first
appeared in the pages of 1986's Uncanny
X-Men 211, she was actively working to
destroy the Morlocks as part of a group
called the Marauders. But here, she's
essentially part of the Morlocks since
the Omegas were based off of the
Morlocks. And back when Matthew Vaughn
was working on the movie, the character
Arclight wasn't included in the film at
all. In her place, Matthew Vaughn wanted
to introduce the pheromone-manipulating
mutant Stacy X, introduced in the pages
of 2001's Uncanny X-Men 399. Stacy X has
the power to project her own pheromones
into the air in order to affect the body
chemistry of others, making them feel
however way she wants, whether that be
happy, nauseous, dizzy, aroused, or even
hopped up on adrenaline. And before
Daniella Ramirez was ultimately cast as
Callisto, she initially went in for the
role of Stacy X. But then the production
decided to give that role to Amara Moda
before changing their minds again and
making Moda's character Arclight,
exiting out Stacy from the script for
good. And standing two rows back to the
right of Psylocke is Robert Herman, also
known as Glob Herman, whose body is
completely made out of transparent wax.
This Glob Herman looks a lot different
from the giant pink mutant with a
visible skeleton that was introduced in
2001's X-Men 117. But adapting that
character faithfully would have
undoubtedly cost the production a lot of
money in VFX. And also part of the
Omegas is the mutant Ash who we see
shortly after Psylocke's outburst,
played by actor Mark Helferich. With
skin composed of burning charcoal, Ash
has the ability to incinerate people and
objects by shooting out burning charcoal
out of his mouth. And as far as I can
tell, Ash is an original character
created for this movie.
Ash and the other Omegas then listen as
Magneto warns them that humanity would
inevitably seek their extermination,
much like Hitler sought the
extermination of various peoples during
the Holocaust. And because of that,
Magneto attempts to rally as many in the
meeting to his mutant brotherhood.
Unconvinced, a mutant by the name of
Quill attempts to talk down to Magneto
before Pyro threatens him with a toaster
if he doesn't back off. Quill, whose
real name is Maxwell Jordan and has the
power to generate porcupine-like quills
on his body, is played by actor Ken
Leung, famous for roles like Detective
Sing in the Saw movies and Sang in the
Rush Hour movies. And he would later go
on to play the Marvel character Karnak
in the absolutely ass Inhumans TV series
later on. Callisto then approaches
Magneto right afterwards and flexes her
mutant powers before Magneto asks her to
attempt to locate Mystique for him,
who's currently being transported by the
government in a heavily guarded truck.
Meanwhile, Beast makes a visit to the
Alcatraz facility of Worthington Labs.
There, Dr. Rao escorts him to meet
little Jimmy, who is playing the Xbox
360 port of the 2004 game Pitfall: The
Lost Expedition when Beast enters the
room, specifically the Jungle Canyon
level of Pitfall. Later on the movie
when we see a family playing video games
in a car on the Golden Gate Bridge, we
can see that they're also playing
Pitfall: The Lost Expedition. But in
that instance, they're playing the
Renegade Headquarters level of that
game. And also in Jimmy's room is a
white Robo Raptor toy made by WowWee
toys, showing off his love of dinosaurs.
Beast marvels at the boy's abilities
before the movie transitions to Scott
riding his Harley-Davidson V-Rod 1130 to
Alkali Lake, the place where his former
lover Jean Grey was thought to have been
crushed by the weight of the lake's
waters attempting to save her friends.
Brett Ratner would actually go on to
purchase Cyclops' bike at the end of
filming. And honestly, I don't blame him
because who else is going to use it?
Scott? That motherfucker's dead as hell.
Well, not quite yet because Scott has to
shoot his optic blast at the lake first
like the drama queen that he is. But
that blast seems to activate the lady
lying in the lake leading Jean Grey to
emerge from the lake reborn. And excited
that his dead girlfriend is back, Scott
eventually gives her a big old smooch.
But that smooch would unfortunately be
the kiss of death for old Scotty four
eyes as we can literally see the Phoenix
suck the life out of him from his face.
And the reason for James Marsden's quick
death in this movie is directly tied to
director Bryan Singer and his work on
Superman Returns. As Singer would cast
Marsden in the role of Lois Lane's
fiance, Richard White. So Marsden could
not stick around for both superhero
productions at the same time.
Sensing Scott's demise, Xavier sends
Storm and Wolverine to Alkali Lake in
the X-Jet, a vehicle that has been a
staple of the X-Men ever since it
debuted in Giant-Size X-Men number one
alongside mutants Storm, Colossus,
Nightcrawler, and Thunderbird. And when
the two of them head to the shore,
Wolverine finds Cyclops's custom Oakley
Penny sunglasses telekinetically
floating in the air right before
discovering Jean Grey herself. The two
then rushed Jean to the X-Mansion's
infirmary where Professor Xavier
theorizes that the Phoenix may have
manifested a telekinetic cocoon around
Jean in order to keep her safe from the
weight of the lake. And this idea of a
cocoon protecting Jean Grey was
introduced in Avengers 263 from 1985
when the Avengers discovered that the
Phoenix cocooned Jean Grey underneath
Jamaica Bay in New York. Professor
Xavier then goes on to inform Logan of
how the root of Jean Grey's mutation has
always been the Phoenix. And because
Xavier felt the Phoenix entity was too
powerful for a little girl to control,
he isolated the Phoenix behind several
psychic barriers within Jean's mind
effectively creating a dual personality
within Jean Grey's host body that is
similar to dissociative identity
disorder, a disorder that Jean Grey
actress Famke Janssen did her homework
on in order to play both characters
effectively. And this is significantly
different to how the Phoenix operates in
the comics as the Phoenix was originally
a cosmic entity that merged with Jean
Grey while she was pushing her powers to
the limit attempting to save her friends
in Uncanny X-Men 101. And Jean Grey
actress Famke Janssen really was not a
fan of Brett Ratner's take on Jean
throughout the movie and was super let
down that the film was not a faithful
adaptation of the beloved Dark Phoenix
story arc from the comics. And one of
the main reasons why the Dark Phoenix
story was presented so awfully in this
movie was because the Fox executives at
the time wanted to prioritize the mutant
cure story instead, making the whole
Dark Phoenix subplot a little bit of an
afterthought. But yeah, Wolverine gets
angry at Professor Xaviar for caging
Jean Grey's mind, before the movie
transitions to Worthington Labs where
Ben Foster's Warren Worthington III
arrives to be the first mutant to take
the mutant cure in order to make his
father happy. And this is actually the
second time actor Ben Foster would star
in a Marvel movie after appearing in the
2004 Punisher movie alongside Mystique
actress Rebecca Romijn. And before Ben
Foster got the role of Angel, actors Jed
Bernard and Nick Stahl auditioned for
the chance to play Angel. Ultimately,
actor Mike Vogel would get the role but
eventually would have to leave the
project because it got in the way of his
work on the 2006 film Poseidon where he
played the arrogant Chris Sanders. This
would lead Ben Foster to landing the job
as the high-flying Angel despite Foster
ironically having a significant fear of
heights himself, which is kind of funny.
But yeah, as Angel gets strapped in for
the procedure, Dr. Rao grabs the mutant
cure from a box with the characters
XM89248
on it. This is an Easter egg of a
shout-out to Marvel artist and writer
Jim Lee as 1989's Uncanny X-Men issue
248 was the first time Jim Lee got to
pencil an Uncanny X-Men comic. However,
at the sight of the needle about to
pierce his skin, Warren decides to break
free and tell his father off before
dramatically jumping through an insanely
high window to flex his wings for
everyone to see. And speaking of Angel's
wings, when the production first made
the wings for Ben Foster, they were
originally much too heavy for the actor
to move around in. So, to make things
easier, they went back to the drawing
board and decided to make lighter foam
wings instead. Meanwhile, Magneto and
his gang assault a prison transport
convoy to save Mystique and recruit a
few more members for their growing
mutant army. And after freeing Mystique,
she tells them about little Jimmy
No-Powers and how getting rid of him is
the key to destroying the mutant cure
forever. And right before Magneto frees
the next prisoner, Pyro reads that James
Madrox, most commonly known as the
mutant Multiple Man, resides in cell
41205,
even though the numbers 41209
can clearly be seen written on the door
before Magneto rips it off. Played by
actor Eric Dane of Charmed and Grey's
Anatomy fame, Multiple Man has the
ability to generate multiple clones of
himself. Ever since he first appeared in
1974's Giant-Size Fantastic Four number
four. And not only that, but he also has
the ability to retain the memories of
each of the clones when they merge back
with his original form, which is kind of
cool. And back before 20th Century Fox
was bought out by Disney, there were
actually plans for a standalone Multiple
Man movie starring James Franco in his
second Marvel role since starring as
Harry Osborn in Raimi's Spider-Man
films. But that, of course, never panned
out due to James Franco being canceled
for sexual misconduct. When will men
learn to keep their hands to themselves?
Never. The sun will explode before that
happens, unfortunately. Magneto then
frees his next new recruit, the massive
unstoppable Juggernaut. Born Cain Marko,
we learn that he's actually the
stepbrother of Professor X
when the character first appeared in
1965's Uncanny X-Men number 12. However,
in the comics, Juggernaut isn't actually
a mutant like his stepbrother at all.
Because in X-Men issue number 12, we
learn how Cain actually got his
superpowers after finding a glowing red
ruby in the lost temple of Cyttorak
during the Korean War. And after
touching that ruby, he was gifted the
power of a dark other dimensional being
known as Cyttorak, effectively becoming
Cyttorak's avatar. That being said, it
seems like this movie's version of
Juggernaut is based on the ultimate
universe version of the character
introduced in Ultimate X-Men number
eight from 2001. As that Cain Marko was
a mutant outright.
But yeah, Juggernaut actor Vinnie Jones
actually hated the Juggernaut costume
that they made him wear for this movie
because it was so damn uncomfortable. So
much so that he would actually decline
to cameo in the void in Deadpool and
Wolverine because he didn't want to have
to relive the horror of that suit. And
after freeing the prisoners, the last
guard left attempts to shoot Magneto
with a gun loaded with the mutant cure.
But Mystique decides to jump in front of
the dart's path, completely eradicating
the X-gene from Mystique's bloodstream.
Angered at this, Pyro then cooks that
last guard with his fire powers. And
speaking of Pyro, actor Aaron Stanford
was actually really bummed out that he
didn't get to wear a cool super villain
costume over the course of the X-Men
trilogy. But luckily, Kevin Feige and
Marvel Studios will rectify that in
Deadpool and Wolverine by giving him a
costume that was inspired by the
original Pyro costume that debuted with
the character in X-Men 141. And
disappointed at the humanity of his
former companion, Magneto leaves a naked
Raven Darkholme in the truck after
kicking her out of the mutant
brotherhood. Mystique's reduced role in
The Last Stand is not just because
Rebecca Romijn couldn't stand working
with Brett Ratner, it was also linked to
her prior commitments to the short-lived
WB sitcom Pepper Dennis, where she
starred as the lead role. And as a
result of the government making guns out
of the mutant cure, Beast would then
resign from his post as Secretary of
Mutant Affairs at the White House before
the movie transitions to Jean waking up
in the infirmary as Wolverine watches
over her, a flip scenario to their first
meeting in the first X-Men film. The
Phoenix then tries to seduce Wolverine,
but Logan realizes that the woman he's
making out with isn't the Jean that he
fell in love with. In anger that Logan
doesn't want to give her an adamantium
bone of a different kind, the Phoenix
then breaks out of the X-Mansion, but
not before Jean Grey briefly emerges
begging for Logan to kill her out of
guilt for killing Scotty Four-Eyes at
the lake. And sensing the Phoenix's
awakening, Caliban, I mean Callisto,
informs Magneto that a class five mutant
with powerful electromagnetic abilities
is on the loose. Magneto then asks where
she is, even though she never specified
a gender. Bro just knew that it could
not be anyone but the Phoenix that he
met all those years ago at the Grey
household. Magneto then meets up with
Xavier, Storm, and Wolverine at Jean
Grey's family house in New York. And
when the two walk in alone, Xavier
wheels his ass right on past the
Juggernaut, not giving him a second
look, seemingly confirming that the two
of them have no history as stepbrothers
like they do in the comics. And walking
through the Grey house, Xavier and
Magneto witness objects floating and
water boiling, almost like the Phoenix
was a giant star with a strong
gravitational pull and scorching heat.
But all of those powers will be turned
against Charles Xavier after his
attempts to get Jean to control the
Phoenix fail, leading to a bunch of
Charles chunks flying all over the Grey
family living room.
>> Oh, no.
She's spoiled.
>> And after Charles Xavier's funeral,
Bobby Drake decides to go check up on
his not girlfriend, Kitty Pryde. When
said not girlfriend mentions that she
misses being back home, Bobby decides to
take this not girlfriend on an impromptu
ice skating date using the fountain at
the X-Mansion. And in the comics, Kitty
Pryde is originally from Deerfield,
Illinois, so it makes sense for her to
miss the snow a little bit, even though
it does snow in New York. Watching the
two of them from afar as they share
physical contact is Bobby's actual
girlfriend, Rogue, who takes the sight
as her 13th reason to end her life as a
mutant once and for all by taking the
mutant cure. Rogue should count herself
lucky because in a deleted scene, Bobby
and Kitty actually do share a kiss on
the ice while Rogue gets big time cocked
from a distance. However, Brett Ratner
would remove the scene entirely mostly
because he felt like Elliot Page, quote
unquote, looked like a 12-year-old next
to the adult Bobby and felt like the
scene looked a little bit too creepy.
And while we're on the subject of this
Rogue, Kitty, Bobby love triangle, at
some point during production, there were
talks of introducing the mutant Gambit
to the X-Mansion in order to compete
with Iceman for Rogue's love. Actors
Josh Holloway, Keanu Reeves, and
Channing Tatum were all considered
before they scrapped the entire idea.
But we all know that Kevin Feige would
ultimately get Channing Tatum the chance
to play Gambit in Deadpool and
Wolverine. And hey, speaking of surprise
cameos, the production originally wanted
to include Marvel characters like Carol
Danvers, Ms. Marvel, the original male
Captain Marvel, Mar-Vell, along with
SHIELD leader Nick Fury in this movie.
But as we all know, the rights to those
characters belong solely to Marvel, so
they were [ __ ] out of luck. But yeah,
while Rogue is on her way out of the
X-Mansion for good, she runs into Logan
who asks her if she needs a lift. A
slight nod towards their first surprise
meeting in Logan's truck in the first
X-Men film. And instead of trying to
stop her, Logan simply encourages her to
figure out whether or not she's aiming
to take the cure for herself or for
Bobby.
A little bit later, when Bobby finds
Rogue's bedroom completely empty, he
asks Pete where she's at, to which he
says that Rogue took off. And as many
X-Men fans already know, Colossus'
original name in the comics is actually
Piotr Rasputin due due the character
originally being from Mother Russia. But
in this movie they very much decided to
Americanize the character by just
calling him Peter. But of course, the
Deadpool movies would introduce a much
more comic book accurate take on
Colossus as portrayed by actor Stefan
Kapičić. And not long after this, while
the X-Men debate whether or not to close
the school after Xavier's death, in
comes Angel looking for a place to stay,
which prompts Storm to assert that
Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
isn't going anywhere. And it's so weird
hearing Beast refer to Angel as a boy as
he walks into the school for the first
time, considering Warren and Hank were
around the same age when they were
fighting baddies as part of the OG X-Men
in the comics. Soon after this, Logan
starts hearing the voice of the hot bird
lady, so he decides to steal Scotty 4
Eyes' motorcycle yet again to head to
the forest to find her. Meanwhile, Pyro,
being the flaming bag of [ __ ] that he
is, decides to fling a flame or two at
the mutant curing clinic. Magneto then
goes on to the news saying that Pyro's
act was just the beginning and tells the
rest of humanity to gird up those loins,
twin, because wars are coming. And in
response, the president then orders bald
black Bolivar to prepare the troops with
plastic mutant curing guns. And there
was actually a quick deleted scene where
they showed these plastic guns going
into production. Logan eventually
arrives at Magneto's mutant camp, which
was actually filmed in Canada's Golden
Ears Provincial Park in Fern Crescent,
Maple Ridge, British Columbia. And this
is also where they filmed the home of
Caesar's ape colony in 2014's Dawn of
the Planet of the Apes, another movie
that I broke down on this channel a
while back. He immediately runs into
prickly Darian Elliot, aka the mutant
Spike, who shoots incredibly sharp and
deadly spikes out of his body just like
his comic book counterpart. But what's
extra interesting about Spike's origins
is how he was actually originally black
as hell and a completely different dude
when he made his first ever appearance
in season 1 episode 5 of the old X-Men
Evolution cartoon. The Spike from that
show was actually named Evan Daniels,
and he would be revealed as the nephew
of the mutant Storm in that particular
cartoon universe. Then, a year later,
Marvel Comics would take the character
of Spike and give him a completely
different look and backstory in 2001's
X-Force number 121, this time with the
birth name Darian Elliott.
Logan then goes on a light jog through
the forest, slicing up all the mutant
resistance in his way, much like the
character would to a bunch of soldiers
shortly before his death in the 2017
film Logan. Afterwards, Wolverine
arrives just in time to see Malcolm X
Jean give a rousing speech to his army.
And when the rally concludes, Logan
tries to meet up with Jean, but Magneto
immediately hits him with that Yadis
Wolverinus and sends him flying. And
with their camp now compromised, Magneto
decides to assault the Alcatraz facility
early, leaving the mutant Multiple Man
behind to act as a decoy for the
government after Raven Darkholme gives
up Magneto's location. Magneto then
arrives at the Golden Gate Bridge in San
Francisco, California. And on the bridge
is a pre-production 2007 Mercedes-Benz
GL450 with a family inside. Magneto
would then come to shuffle some of those
cars around and lift the entire Golden
Gate Bridge to transport his army to
Alcatraz. This moment seems to be
inspired by New X-Men 147, where Magneto
uses his powers to tear both the
Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges apart.
And because the city of San Francisco
would prohibit the production to film
anywhere near the Golden Gate Bridge,
they were forced to spend $35 million to
recreate a small basketball court-size
section of the Golden Gate Bridge for
this scene. And as little Jimmy watches
Magneto approach from his cell, we can
see him standing on a green covered bed,
likely a slight nod towards Jimmy's
green skin in the comic books. And after
Magneto successfully drops the bridge
onto Alcatraz Island, there was actually
supposed to be a deleted scene where
Jean Grey seems to empathize with one of
the crying girls in the backseat of that
Mercedes, A moment that I really wish
they kept in the movie because it gives
Jean Grey a little bit more agency over
the Phoenix. Meanwhile, over at the
X-Mansion, the X-Men prepare to do
battle with Magneto. Iceman expresses
doubt that the six of them could do much
to stop Magneto's huge army, but
Wolverine gives him a pep talk.
>> If we don't fight now, everything they
stood for will die with them.
I'm not going to let that happen.
Are you?
Then we stand together.
X-Men.
All of us.
>> This moment could have actually played
out a lot differently if one of the
scenes did not get deleted. Instead of
Logan convincing the less experienced
X-Men to join the battle, another take
of this scene has Logan attempting to
convince Iceman, Kitty, and Colossus to
stay behind.
>> They're not coming.
>> Hey, we've trained for this.
This isn't the danger room, Bobby.
>> Logan, we're ready to fight.
>> Fight for what? Hm?
You better know the answer cuz you go to
war, you might not come home.
She might not come home. You ready for
that?
>> We're not kids anymore. We're X-Men.
>> What does that mean? Apart from the X on
your chest.
>> It means we fight to protect those who
hate
>> Hate and fear us? Yeah, I heard that
one, but it's just words.
>> No, that's not what it means.
Means we're a family, all of us. And we
fight as one or not at all. That's what
it means.
>> You have no idea what's waiting out
there. Magneto's got an army this time.
>> And Jean.
>> His powers have limits. Hers do not.
If we don't stop them now, then nobody
can.
>> Well then,
seems to me you need all the help you
can get.
>> Okay, let's go.
>> The X-Men soon arrive to Magneto's [ __ ]
show in the X-Jet. And at the sight of
all this violence, Beast says this.
>> Oh my stars and garters.
>> Oh my stars and garters is of course an
iconic catchphrase of Hank's ever since
he first used it in the pages of
Avengers 137. And fun fact, this line
would not be in the movie at all if it
wasn't for the movie's executive
producer and future head of Marvel
Studios, Kevin Feige, who strongly felt
like it should be said at least once by
the character. The X-Men then hop off
the X-Jet to join the battle. Storm
flies into the air about to use her
powers on a bunch of enemies, but she is
quickly tackled by Callisto. And it's
kind of a bummer that that happened
because in a deleted scene, Storm was
originally supposed to summon a gigantic
wave against Magneto's forces before
shocking them with lightning.
The production actually did delete a few
badass moments from this big battle. At
one point, Beast was supposed to snap
somebody's neck, and Iceman and Colossus
were supposed to work together to
brutally shatter the massive mutant fat.
>> [screaming]
[groaning]
>> AND MEANWHILE, AS JUGGERNAUT ATTEMPTS TO
ram through the walls of the facility in
search of Jimmy, Kitty Pryde uses her
wall-phasing powers to chase after him,
and eventually phases him into the
floor. This of course leads to the
Juggernaut saying his iconic line,
>> Don't you know I am?
I'M THE JUGGERNAUT, [ __ ]
>> BRETT Ratner actually included this line
in the movie as a reference to the
popular internet video created by Xavier
Nazario and Randy Hayes in 2005.
>> [music]
>> YEAH, IT'S THE JUGGERNAUT, [ __ ]
>> YEAH, CHARLES, I'LL BEAT the [ __ ] out of
you.
>> Get off me, [ __ ] Who the [ __ ] are you?
>> What the [ __ ] is wrong with you? I'M THE
JUGGERNAUT [ __ ]
>> AND another deleted moment happened
shortly after Kitty meets up with Jimmy
in his room and the two prep for the
Juggernaut's arrival. Because in that
deleted scene, when Juggernaut busts
through the wall, he says the words,
"Here's Juggy." as a nod to Jack
Nicholson's famous line from The
Shining.
>> Stay close, all right? Okay.
>> Here's Juggy.
>> Here's Johnny.
>> But since the Juggernaut forgot that
Jimmy's powers make his powers useless,
the giant penis head ends up knocking
himself out. Outside, Iceman and Pyro
have themselves a Dragon Ball Z-inspired
clash of powers before Wolverine orders
another fastball special from Colossus
to be aimed at Magneto. But Magneto
quickly seizes Wolverine before
realizing too late that Logan was just
Hank McCoy's decoy and getting stabbed
with several mini vials of the mutant
cure.
And with Magneto down, the Phoenix then
starts a massive wave of destruction,
forcing all the mutants and soldiers on
the island to evacuate except for Logan,
who believes that he is the only one who
can stop the Phoenix, which is straight
up not true considering that there's a
bald white boy only a few feet away from
him that could have done it no problem.
They literally could have just had
Colossus do a cueball special and tossed
his Caillou looking ass at the Phoenix
to deactivate her powers before hitting
her with the mutant cure. Just saying.
But that of course would not be as
dramatic as Wolverine having his skin
peeled off while making his way to Jean,
exposing his adamantium skeleton in the
process. Wolverine then tells Jean that
he loves her before piercing her with
his adamantium claws, killing her. Not
exactly the kind of penetration the
Phoenix wanted when they almost got it
on in the infirmary, but hey, beggars
can't be choosers. And then the movie
ends with Scott and Jean being buried
next to the Professor, and Rogue
returning to the school completely cured
of her mutant powers, which is super
whack in my opinion, but I'm glad that
she's happy. They also filmed another
take of this scene where she tells Bobby
that she was not able to go through with
the process because she's happy the way
that she is. A moment that I felt would
have been much fitting for the overall
tone of the third act.
>> You're back.
I couldn't.
I couldn't do it.
I'm sorry, Bobby.
This is me.
>> Welcome home, Rogue.
>> And after this, we see Storm welcoming
all the students back for a new year of
school before we see Wolverine watching
Hank McCoy accept his new position as US
Ambassador to the United Nations. A
deleted scene was shot where Hank does
not become an ambassador at all, but
stays at the Xavier School to be a
teacher alongside Storm and Wolverine.
>> Classroom size could be a problem.
>> [laughter]
>> Hey.
>> And in a similar vein, while this movie
ends with Logan staying at the school as
well, a deleted scene was also shot of
Logan returning back to Alberta, Canada,
and revisiting the very same bar that we
first saw him in the first movie.
>> Heard a noise.
Thought it might be an animal.
I remember you.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> And even though there isn't any footage,
apparently the production also filmed a
scene where the mutant Pyro makes his
way back to the Xavier School. But I'm
glad that they removed it because after
everything Pyro did, I don't think he
would fit well with the X-Men because
dude was straight up a murderer, man.
Then right before the credits, we see
Eric sitting alone in a park in San
Francisco playing a game of chess all by
himself now that his favorite chess
partner, Charles Xavier, got himself
sploded. And why he isn't locked up for
his crimes, the world may never know.
But we soon find out that the mutant
cure may not have been as effective as
Worthington Labs hoped. Because right
before the credits hit, Magneto is able
to move a black queen chess piece with
his powers, alluding to more mutant
shenanigans to come. And then of course,
after the credits, we see the
consciousness of Charles Xavier awaken
inside of the body of his brain-dead
twin brother as he says hello to a
surprised Moira MacTaggart on Muir
Island. Introduced in 1977's Uncanny
X-Men issue 104, Muir Island is located
not far from Scotland and is home to the
mutant research center, which Dr. Moira
MacTaggart founded herself. The island
was actually referenced in X2: X-Men
United on one of William Stryker's
computers. And also mentioned on
Stryker's computers is Moira
MacTaggart's Omega-level mutant son,
Kevin MacTaggart, who has the ability to
warp reality as he sees fit. Moira would
actually decide to create the mutant
research center so she could understand
and help her son better. And it's kind
of a shame that we never got to see
Kevin in action at any point during the
trilogy, but I'm sure the MCU will get
to him eventually. But anyways, that is
it for this breakdown of X-Men: The Last
Stand. Let us know what you guys think
of the movie in the comment section down
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always, I've been MT, you guys have been
amazing, and I'll catch you mutants
later. Bye.