X-Men: The Last Stand (also marketed as X3) is a 2006 superhero film based on the X-Men superhero team introduced in Marvel Comics. It is the sequel to 2003's X2, as well as the third installment in the X-Men film series, and was directed by Brett Ratner and written by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn. It features an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, and Patrick Stewart. The film's script is loosely based on two X-Men comic book story arcs: "The Dark Phoenix Saga" by writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, and "Gifted" by writer Joss Whedon and artist John Cassaday, with a plot that revolves around a "mutant cure" that causes serious repercussions among mutants and humans, and on the resurrection of Jean Grey who becomes the Dark Phoenix.
Plot[]
Twenty years in the past, Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr meet young Jean Grey at her parents' house to invite her to join their school, the X-Mansion. Ten years later, the industrialist father of Warren Worthington III discovers his son is a mutant as Warren tries to cut off his wings.
In the present, Worthington Labs announces it has developed an inoculation to suppress the X-gene that gives mutants their abilities, and offer the "cure" to any mutant who wants it. The cure is created from the genome of a young mutant named Jimmy, who lives at the Worthington facility on Alcatraz Island. While some mutants are interested in the cure, including the X-Men's Rogue, many others are horrified by the announcement. Magneto re-establishes his Brotherhood of Mutants with those who oppose the cure, warning his followers that the cure will be forcefully used to exterminate the mutant race.
With help from Pyro, Magneto recruits Callisto and several other mutants. They attack the mobile prison holding Mystique to free her, also freeing Juggernaut and Multiple Man. Mystique shields Magneto from a cure dart and is subsequently hit by it, removing her mutant abilities and turning her human. Magneto abandons her after seeing no use in taking her with him. The now human Mystique is forced to crawl away.
Meanwhile, Scott Summers, still distraught over the loss of his fiancée, Jean Grey, drives to her resting location at Alkali Lake. Jean appears to Summers but, as the two kiss, Jean kills him. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends Logan and Storm to investigate. When they arrive, they find only telekinetically floating rocks, Summers' glasses, and an unconscious Jean.
Mystique is taken care of by a homeless man who gives her a cloak and rags. Raven sees a federal government van and is soon apprehended after a struggle. When Logan and Storm return to the X-Mansion, Xavier explains to Logan that when Jean sacrificed herself to save them, she also freed the "Phoenix", a dark and extremely powerful alternate personality which Xavier had telepathically repressed, aware of the Phoenix's godlike destructive potential. Logan is disgusted to learn of this psychic tampering with Jean's mind but. Later on, He checks up on her and suddenly she awakens. Jean becomes flirty with Logan. She sits up sensually on the table wearing a top cut top and short shorts that shows her cleavage and bare legs. He becomes aroused by this, so he gives in to the woman he loves. Jean and Logan start kissing passionately. She wraps her bare legs around him, removes his jacket, and pulls him onto the table. Logan lies on top of Jean as she kisses him ferociously while wrapping her bare legs around him once more. She scratches his shoulder aggressively which increases his arousal. He kisses her neck and rubs her bare leg as she pants heavily. Logan breaks the kiss, realizing Jean is not herself. He discovers that she killed Summers and is not the Jean Grey he once knew. The Phoenix emerges, knocks out Logan, and escapes to her childhood home.
Magneto learns of Jean's resurrection through Callisto, and the X-Men arrive at the Grey home at the same time as the Brotherhood. Magneto and Xavier go in alone, and both vie for Jean's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces. She destroys the house and disintegrates Xavier before Magneto and Logan can stop her. Jean leaves with Magneto. After interrogating Raven with the supposed promise of gaining her abilities back, the FBI discover Magneto's base in the woods However, the life forms in the camp are all copies of Multiple Man, and Magneto uses his powers to move the Golden Gate Bridge so he and his army can get to Alcatraz and facilitate the attack on Worthington Labs. Meanwhile, Raven escapes captivity of the Government and leaves a trail of bodies in her wake. The remaining X-Men confront the Brotherhood, despite being significantly outnumbered, and arrive just as the military troops who thus far have been neutralizing the attacking mutants are overwhelmed by the Brotherhood.
During the fight, Kitty Pryde saves Jimmy from Juggernaut, who had been sent to kill him. Logan has Colossus throw him at Magneto and distract him long enough for Hank McCoy to inject Magneto with the "cure" and thus nullify his powers. Army reinforcements arrive and shoot at Jean just as Logan had calmed her down. The Phoenix is awakened by the attack and disintegrates the troops in retaliation. The Phoenix then begins to destroy Alcatraz and anyone within range of her powers. Logan realizes that only he can stop the Phoenix due to his healing factor and adamantium skeleton. When Logan approaches her, Jean momentarily gains control and begs him to save her. Logan fatally stabs Jean, stopping the Phoenix, but mourns for her death.
Sometime later, mutant rights are finally obtained and Xavier's school is still operating with Storm as headmistress. The President of the United States appoints Hank McCoy as ambassador to the United Nations. Rogue reveals to Bobby Drake that she has taken the cure, much to his disappointment. Meanwhile, Magneto sits opposite Raven at a chessboard in San Francisco, both human and weak. As Erik gestures toward a metal chess piece, it moves slightly, and as he looks to Raven, her blue eye turns yellow, suggesting that the cure is not permanent after all, and they will indeed retrieve their powers in the future.
In a post-credits scene, Moira MacTaggert checks on a comatose patient[7] who greets her with Xavier's voice, leaving her startled.
Cast[]
- Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
- Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
- Famke Janssen as Jean Grey/Phoenix
- Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm
- Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X
- James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops
- Anna Paquin as Marie D'Ancanto/Rogue
- Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkholme/Mystique
- Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake/Iceman
- Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce/Pyro
- Vinnie Jones as Cain Marko/Juggernaut
- Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat
- Daniel Cudmore as Peter Rasputin/Colossus
- Ben Foster as Warren Worthington III/Angel
- Michael Murphy as Warren Worthington II
- Dania Ramirez as Callisto
- Shohreh Aghdashloo as Kavita Rao
- Josef Sommer as The President
- Bill Duke as Trask
- Eric Dane as James Madrox/Multiple Man
- Desiree Zurowski as Elaine Grey
- Adrian Hough as John Grey
- Haley Ramm as young Jean Grey
- Chris Claremont as Lawnmower Man
- Stan Lee as Waterhose Man
- Cayden Boyd as young Warren Worthington III/Angel
- Cameron Bright as Jimmy/Leech
- Connor Widdows as Jones
- Kea Wong as Jubilation Lee/Jubilee
- Shauna Kain as Theresa Cassidy/Siryn
- Luke Pohl as Flea
- Lloyd Adams as Anole
- Richard Yee as William Reilly/Little Phat
- Via Saleaumua as William Reilly/Phat
- Mei Melançon as Betsy Braddock/Psylocke
- Omahyra Mota as Philippa Sontag/Arclight
- Clayton Watmough as Robert Herman/Glob Herman
- Ken Leung as Maxwell Jordan/Quill
- Lance Gibson as Darian Elliot/Spike
- Olivia Williams as Moira MacTaggert
- Bryce Hodgson as Artie Maddicks
- Mark Helfrich as Ash
Sequels[]
X-Men: The Last Stand was followed by four sequels: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and upcoming film X-Men: Dark Phoenix is scheduled for 2019.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
| X-Men |
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| X-Men (2000), X2 (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants (2019), Deadpool 3 (2024) |