X-Men: The Last Stand

X-Men: The Last Stand (also known as X-Men 3 or X3)[5] is a 2006 American superhero film, based on the X-Men superhero team introduced inMarvel Comics. The film, distributed by 20th Century Fox, is the sequel to 2003's X2 and the third installment in the X-Men film series. It was directed by Brett Ratner, written by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn, and features anensemble cast, including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page and Famke Janssen. 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 writerJoss 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.

Bryan Singer, who had directed the two previous films, X-Men (2000) andX2, decided to leave to work on Superman Returns, as he had not even defined the storyline for a third film. Matthew Vaughn, who was initially hired as the new director, left due to personal and professional issues, and was replaced with Ratner. Filming began in August 2005 with a budget of $210 million, and was consequently the most expensive film at the time of its release. It had extensive visual effects created by 11 different companies.

X-Men: The Last Stand was released on May 26, 2006, to commercial success. It grossed approximately $459 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest grossing film of 2006 and the highest grossing film in the series, until it was surpassed by X-Men: Days of Future Past in 2014. Critical reception was mixed, with the acting and the action scenes receiving positive notice, and criticism directed at the screenplay, overuse of characters and style.

Plot
Twenty years ago, Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr meet youngJean Grey at her parents' house to invite her to join their school. Ten years later, the industrialist father of Warren Worthington III discovers his son is amutant 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. In response to the news, Lehnsherr, now known as the X-Men's adversary Magneto, reestablishes his Brotherhood of Mutants with mutants who oppose the cure, warning his followers that the cure will be forcefully used to exterminate the mutant race.

With help from Mystique and Pyro, Magneto recruits Callisto, Juggernaut, and Multiple Man, along with a few others. Mystique takes a shot of the mutant cure, which was aimed at Magneto, leading him to abandon her. Meanwhile, Cyclops, still distraught over the loss of his fiancée Jean Grey, drives to her resting location at Alkali Lake. Jean appears to Cyclops but, as the two kiss, Jean starts disintegrating her lover. Sensing trouble, Xavier sends Wolverine and Storm to investigate. When they arrive, they find telekinetically floating rocks, Cyclops' glasses, and an unconscious Jean. Cyclops himself is nowhere to be found.

When they return to the X-Mansion, Xavier explains to Wolverine that when Jean sacrificed herself, she unleashed a powerful alternate personality called the "Phoenix", which Xavier had telepathically repressed, fearing the Phoenix's destructive potential. Wolverine is disgusted to learn of this psychic tampering with Jean's mind but, once she awakens, Wolverine realizes she killed Cyclops and is not the Jean Grey he once knew. The Phoenix awakens, knocks out Wolverine, 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 vie for Jean's loyalty until the Phoenix resurfaces. She destroys the house and disintegrates Xavier before leaving the property with Magneto. The Brotherhood decides to strike Worthington Labs, and Magneto uses his powers to move the Golden Gate Bridge so he can connect Alcatraz to the San Francisco mainland and facilitate the attack. The X-Men confront the Brotherhood, despite being significantly outnumbered, and arrive just as the military troops, who thus far had been neutralizing the attacking mutants, are overwhelmed by the Brotherhood.

During the fight, Kitty Pryde saves Jimmy from the Juggernaut, and Beast injects Magneto with the cure, nullifying his powers. Army reinforcements arrive and attack Jean, awakening the Phoenix, who uses her powers to disintegrate the troops. As the Phoenix begins to destroy the facilities and mutants at Alcatraz, Wolverine realizes that, due to his healing factor, only he can approach the Phoenix. Wolverine approaches her, and Jean momentarily gains control, begging him to save her. Wolverine fatally stabs Jean, stopping the devastating force, but mourns her death.

Sometime later, Xavier's school is still operating with Storm as headmistress, and the President of the United States appoints Beast as ambassador to the United Nations. Rogue reveals to Bobby Drake that she has taken the cure, while Magneto sits alone at a chessboard in a San Francisco park. As he gestures toward a metal chess piece, it wobbles slightly.

In a post-credits scene, Dr. Moira MacTaggert checks on a comatose patient[6] who greets her with Xavier's voice, leaving her startled.

Cast

 * Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine
 * A Canadian mutant born with hyper-acute senses, claws on his hands, and an accelerated healing factor that made possible to implant a coating of the indestructible metal alloy adamantium on his skeleton. Jackman was pleased to see that the script allowed Wolverine to expand his character choices, as instead of questioning whether he would remain a loner or join the X-Men, Logan now is asked if he will play a leadership role in the X-Men.[7]


 * Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm
 * One of Xavier's earlier students and the leader of the X-Men in Cyclops' absence, Storm is a woman with the ability to manipulate the weather. Berry had stated during interviews for X2 that she would not return unless the character had a significant presence comparable to the comic book version, leading to a larger role in The Last Stand‍ '​s script.[8] Berry declared that her ethnicity made the actress identify with the cure plot: "When I was a child, I felt that if only I could change myself, my life would be better. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to terms with what utter nonsense that is."[7] The character was given a more modern haircut, and costume designer Judianna Makovsky opted to give Storm more black clothes, a color she only wore in the leather costume for previous films, to make her "tougher and sexier".[9]


 * Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X
 * The founder of the Xavier's Institute for Gifted Mutants and a mutant with uncharted telepathic powers, Xavier is an authority on genetic mutation and an advocate of peaceful relations between human and mutant kind. Stewart signed to the film without knowing Xavier would die, and not meeting original director Matthew Vaughn - both would meet inManchester, where Stewart was filming Eleventh Hour, but eventually Brett Ratner called to introduce himself as the new director.[10]


 * Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
 * Leader and founder of the Brotherhood, Magneto is a Holocaust survivor who wages war against humanity in the name of mutant superiority. He has the ability to control and manipulate metal, making him one of the most powerful mutants. Well-known for his homosexuality, McKellen found a parallel of the cure with many prejudices: "It's abhorrent to me, as it would be if a person said I need curing of my sexuality, or if someone said that black people could take a pill that would ‘cure’ them of being black."[7] McKellen's shooting schedule had to accommodate his work in both The Da Vinci Code and the London theatre, going as far as filming the actor in England to later superimpose into the Vancouver plates.[11]


 * Famke Janssen as Jean Grey / Dark Phoenix
 * A former member of the X-Men, upon being resurrected, Grey gives in to her alternate personality, the Phoenix, an aggressive Class 5 mutant who possesses potentially limitless telepathic and telekinetic powers. Her mutant powers rival those of Xavier. The writers described the multiple personalities was "an Oedipal drama played out", where the Phoenix was "someone embodying [a] Greek goddess", while Jean Grey kept the character as "a human, grounded in Freudian terms, a victim, a schizophrenic.[12] To mark the change from Jean Grey to Phoenix, her wardrobe focused on red colors, and everyday fabric in contrast to the leather costumes of the X-Men.[9] Digital make-up also made Jean's face darken her skin, show some veins and have her eyes go black.[13]
 * Haley Ramm as young Jean Grey


 * Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue
 * A young mutant woman from the Deep South whose power causes her to temporarily take on the powers of anyone she touches, leaving her victims (mutant or human) unconscious, Rogue's lack of control over her power causes a great deal of strain on her relationship with Iceman. Paquin declared that while Rogue did not have "a large physical component in this movie", the "adult decisions" the character was forced to do made for more intensity on the emotional side.[14]


 * Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy / Beast
 * A former student of Xavier's Institute for Gifted Mutants who is now a member of the U.S. Cabinet as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs, Beast is a brilliant scientist and statesman. He is covered in blue fur and has heightened strength, reflexes and agility, as well as pointed fangs and a lion-like roar. Grammer's make-up took three hours to apply, it involved applying latex prosthetics before painting his eye area and lips blue, applying various hair pieces and wigs, and a muscle suit covered with a hand·punched fur suit.[15]


 * James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops
 * The X-Men's field leader, Cyclops emits powerful energy blasts from his eyes, and must wear specially made glasses to prevent the destruction of anything he looks at. Although he is in a committed relationship with Jean Grey, her Phoenix persona kills him early in the film. Marsden saw no problem in having a smaller role, as the films opted to feature Wolverine as the standpoint character, and feeling that "it's difficult when you have however many new characters that you're trying to introduce to an audience in 90 to 120 minutes, to give everyone their due."[16]


 * Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique
 * Magneto's blue-skinned right-hand woman possesses the ability to shape-shift to mimic anyone's appearance, as well as fight with incredible agility, reflexes and strength. She jumps in front of cure darts intended for Magneto and, after she loses her mutant abilities as a result, Magneto abandons her. Romijn described this story as "a traumatic experience" for Mystique, given that the previous movies implied that she and Magneto had "a deep-seated bond", and becoming "a frail mortal would be her worst nightmare".[17]


 * Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman
 * A young mutant, Iceman can create constructs of ice or blasts of cold. Ashmore's commitments to X-Men made him decline Bryan Singer's invitation to play Jimmy Olsen in Superman Returns. The actor was content with his bigger role after Bobby joined the X-Men main team in X2, as during the predecessor's production he wondered "'When do I get to freeze something or get into a fight?'"[18]


 * Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce / Pyro
 * A former student of Xavier's School for Gifted Mutants with a grudge against his former friend Bobby Drake, Pyro has the ability to manipulate fire, generated through wrist-mounted lighters. Stanford stated that with the Brotherhood, Pyro "is allowed to fully explore his power" for lacking moral restraints. The actor was comfortable with returning to the role, particularly for following The Hills Have Eyes, which had an exhausting shoot in the Moroccan desert, while Pyro was nowhere as physically demanding - "My character's pretty much stand-and-deliver, stand there and throw fire at people. There's no acrobatics."[19]


 * Vinnie Jones as Cain Marko / Juggernaut
 * A criminal recruited by the Brotherhood in a prison truck, Juggernaut is incredibly strong, fast and, once he gains momentum, he is nearly unstoppable. The film's version of Juggernaut is depicted as a mutant and his relation to Charles Xavier was never mentioned. Matthew Vaughn cast Jones, who he met producing the Guy Ritchie gangster movies where Jones begun his acting career.[11] The actor had to go through a four-hour make-up process to portray Juggernaut, which included a muscle suit and a prostethic chin.[20] The costume tried to retain the bullet-shaped helmet of the comics without going excessively over the top.[9]


 * Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde / Shadowcat
 * A mutant with the ability to phase through matter and walk through solid objects, her clear affection for Iceman further adds to the tension already present between Iceman and Rogue. Maggie Grace was considered for the role,[21] before Ratner invited Page, who impressed the director with her performance in Hard Candy. The actress initially declined, not wanting to yet jump to Hollywood filmmaking, but accepted after reading the script.[22] Page said part of her motivation was having a new experience: "I thought, well, when else am I going to have a chance to wear a leather suit and run through exploding things? Why not be a superhero for a change?"[23]


 * Ben Foster as Warren Worthington III / Angel
 * The mutant son of an industrialist, who has feathered wings which allow him to fly. The static wings were models with a 15 feet (4.6 m) wingspan and 5 feet (1.5 m) height glued to Foster's back, replaced with computer-generated ones when movement was required.[15]
 * Cayden Boyd as young Warren Worthington III


 * Dania Ramirez as Callisto
 * The leader of The Omegas, Callisto is a mutant with enhanced superhumanly acute senses, who senses mutants and their powers, and possesses superhuman speed and reflexes. The character combined the powers of the comics' Callisto with another of the Morlocks, Caliban, and was written as someone who could be "beautiful, but with a tough persona".[24] Ramirez had originally auditioned to play the mutant prostitute Stacy X, and impressed Brett Ratner so much the director decided to bring her to play Callisto.[25]


 * Daniel Cudmore as Piotr Rasputin / Colossus
 * A mutant with the ability to transform his skin into an organic steel, Colossus' powers grant him superhuman strength and a resistance to physical damage and extreme temperatures. Cudmore wore a foam latex muscle suit covered with a chrome·plated plastic plus a hard plastic head to have the metal skin on the set, with some digital augmentation being used to enhance the facial expressions. A digital double was used only for stunts that could not be achieved practically, such as the Fastball Special where Colossus throws Wolverine.[15]


 * Michael Murphy as Warren Worthington II
 * The head of Worthington Labs, the corporation developing the "cure", Worthington expects to rid his son of his mutant abilities. The addition of the character allowed to integrate Angel into the cure plot,[26] which also added a parallel between Warren's discovery of his son's mutation with a father finding out about his son's homosexuality.[12]


 * Shohreh Aghdashloo as Dr. Kavita Rao
 * A scientist who works at Worthington Labs on the mutant cure, she is killed by Kid Omega. Aghdashloo signed without a completed script, and erroneously said her character would be mutant doctor Cecilia Reyes.[27]


 * Josef Sommer as the President of the United States
 * The President of the United States is tolerant of mutants, but fearful of the Brotherhood's threats. While creating the role, the producers felt that a "different" president, like an African American or a woman, had become a cliché in itself and went for a traditional route with an elder caucasian man.[11] Sommer was invited by Ratner following their collaboration in The Family Man.[24]


 * Eric Dane as James Madrox / Multiple Man
 * A mutant and thief recruited by the Brotherhood in a prison truck, Madrox has the ability to create a very large number of copies of himself. The writers considered Dane's performance memorable despite being featured in only two scenes.[24] Madrox's wardrobe invoked the symbols worn in his comics costume.[11]


 * Bill Duke as Secretary Trask
 * The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Secretary Trask aids the president of the United States during the war against the mutants. The name alludes to Bolivar Trask, head of Trask Industries and creator of the mutant-hunting Sentinels in the comics - a character later played by Peter Dinklage in X-Men: Days of Future Past.[28]

Other actors who portrayed mutants were Meiling Melançon as Psylocke, a mutant with the ability to teleport herself through areas of shadow, Omahyra Mota as Arclight, who has the ability to generate shock waves of concussive force,Ken Leung as Kid Omega, a mutant with the ability to eject spikes from his body, most notably his face (though the character resembles the comic books' character Quill; however, the official cast credits read "Kid Omega"), and Cameron Bright as Jimmy / Leech, who has the ability to neutralize the powers of nearby mutants. Various characters were included at the suggestion of editor Mark Helfrich, who brought Marvel's X-Men Encyclopedia to director Brett Ratner, searching for mutants who could make appearances. These include Phat, a very large man who slims down to fit in a smaller space (played by two actors, Via Saleaumua - "large mode" - and Richard Yee - "small mode");[24] Spike (Lance Gibson), a mutant who battles Wolverine in the forest by extruding bony spikes from his flesh - the character was added because the editing team felt that the original cut of the scene portrayed Logan as a cold-blooded killer, which could be changed if another mutant attacked Wolverine before he struck the Brotherhood[29] - and Glob Herman (Clayton Dean Watmough), a mutant with transparent skin.[15] Various other mutants make cameos at the X-Mansion; Shauna Kain and Kea Wong reprised their cameo roles as Siryn and Jubilee respectively, and three identical girls in the background in one scene are a reference to the Stepford Cuckoos. X-Men co-creator Stan Lee and writer Chris Claremont have cameos in the film's opening scene as the neighbors of young Jean Grey.[24][30] The sergeant directing defensive preparations before the Brotherhood assaults Alcatraz Island is played by R. Lee Ermey.[31]