With the release of X-Men Apocalypse next week, why not go down memory lane first. Since 20o9, the X-Men franchise has released origins films, but the franchise set up the characters and X-Men story-line nine years earlier.

Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), Cyclops (James Marsden), Storm (Halle Berry), Rogue (Anna Paquin), and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) are all mutants, most good, some bad, but all suspected by humans as dangerous.

The X-Men movie franchise began with these characters, in X-Men (2000, USA).

In X-Men, mutants are misunderstood by society, but want to help humans see they aren’t all dangerous. It comes to a head at a United Nation’s conference to decide what to do with the mutants.

A renegade mutant, Magneto (Ian McKellen), wants to show that humans and mutants can’t peacefully co-exist. He hijacks the conference with nefarious intent. He wants mutants to become the superior species.

(As an aside, Magneto criticizes Senator Kelly for his fear of God, but Magneto seems to know about God’s infinite wisdom—see what he says in the scene where he transforms Senator Kelly. However, even if what Magneto says has a slither of truth, his actions are not of a sound mind. Magneto says God is indeed wise and infinite, but Magneto is going to act without any fear of God before his eyes and do destructive things.)

The mutant’s so-called dangerous abilities are because of ‘mutations’, which is an abrupt change in genetic make-up, giving the bearer the ability to use their various senses fantastically. Like other superheroes, such as Superman and Spider-Man, the mutants have problems in public relations because of their ‘dangerous’ abilities. Fear of difference, indifference to the truth, and blind prejudice are the main themes.

There do happen to be violent mutants like Magneto who believes humans and mutants cannot peacefully co-exist and they believe that mutants should be the superior species. On the other hand, human loving mutant Charles Xavier tells the anti-mutant Senator Kelly (Bruce Davison) that not all mutants are dangerous and they want to exist peacefully with humans.

Warnings–violence

Notes: Directed by Bryan Singer