Written and Directed by John Carney (Sing Street)

Starring

Dylan Minnette (13 Reasons Why) as Scott Summers/Cyclops
John Hawkes (The Sessions) as Professor Charles Xavier
John Malkovich (Dangerous Liaisons) as Max Eisenhardt/Magneto
Lucy Boynton (Sing Street) as Jean Grey/Marvel Girl
Lucas Hedges (Lady Bird) as Hank McCoy/Beast
Jharrel Jerome (Moonlight) as Bobby Drake/Iceman
Glen Powell (Scream Queens) as Alex Summers
Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) as Warren Worthington III/Angel
Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha) as Lorna Dane
Jordan Peele (Key & Peele) as Jason Wyngarde
Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist) as Moira MacTaggert
Devon Bostick (Okja) as Mortimer Toynbee
Marc Maron (Maron) as Warren Worthington II

Cinematography by Robert Yeoman (Moonrise Kingdom)

Music by Alexandre Desplat (Moonrise Kingdom)

Edited by Andrew Marcus and Julian Ulrichs (Sing Street)

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Act One - Mutant and Proud

Scott Summers is a mutant that attends Saunders High School at the top of his class, serving as captain of the debate team, and is a frequent organizer of mutant rights rallies. His best friend, Hank McCoy, has a mutation he keeps at bay using an illegal X-gene suppressant. Bobby Drake, the local bully, often picks on Scott for his mutation. The bullying gets so bad that one day, Hank loses control and attacks Bobby, revealing his mutation to the entire school. Ashamed and embarassed, Hank runs off, and Scott follows. Bobby is almost unscathed by Hank's feral rage. In shock, he checks his abdomen and finds a defensive layer of ice over each area Hank tried to claw and gnaw at. He too runs home, scared for himself.

The publicized incident attracts the attention of Professor Charles Xavier, a renowned proponent of mutant-human coexistence. He and his mentee Jean Grey approach the duo one day, offering up enrollment into the mutant development school Xavier is opening, which boasts promises of a quality education and programs to help students master their own abilities. The two enthusiastically sign on.

Max Eisenhardt, a mutant terrorist living as a fugitive on the lost island of Genosha, approaches Alex Summers, the estranged brother of Scott who ran off after he discovered his powers, and Lorna Dane, Alex's girlfriend and proud mutant. He offers them refuge on the island and a chance to make something more of themselves and their kind. They agree, hoping to actually change the world for mutants.

Xavier and Moira MacTaggert, ex-SHIELD agent and Xavier's bodyguard, begin to mentor the trio, educating them on scholarly topics and partaking in exercises designed to personally suit each's skill set and help them master it. That night, Bobby makes his way to the school, falling unconscious. Scott sees him lying on the floor, though unsure of who he is due to the thick coat of ice surrounding every inch of Bobby's body. He takes him in and helps him thaw off. Bobby thanks them for their help and apologizes profusely to Scott and Hank, who forgive him.

Act Two - Merry Mutants

Xavier and the three are invited on a nationally-syndicated talk show, where Xavier markets his wishes for society's treatment of mutants, recounting the discrimination he faced growing up and the progress left to be made. The segment is bookended with promotion of Xavier's book. After filming, Scott and Hank talk on the side, citing the book pitch as odd and feeling general uncertainty about Xavier's true motivations. Jean overhears the talk. As she leaves to tell Xavier, Warren Worthington II, wealthy CEO of Worthington Industries, approaches her. He asks Jean for Xavier to consider his son, Warren Worthington III, who has been hiding his mutation, for enrollment. Jean agrees, convincing herself to let Scott and Hank's suspicions go unaddressed.

Jean tells Xavier, who in turn tasks her and Scott with going to visit Warren. When they arrive, Warren is sitting on his bed smoking pot, his wings spread wide. The duo summarize the concept of Xavier's school, and after much resistance, get reluctant agreement out of Warren to join, though with the condition Warren can leave if he doesn't warm up to it after a week.

Back on Genosha, Max has been successfully grooming Alex and Lorna into members of his Brotherhood, which also includes Jason Wyngarde and Mortimer Toynbee. Max has adopted a paternal role with the four, building a personal link with each. One day, Max gathers the Brotherhood and explains his plans to pull off a string of terror attacks across the United States in the name of mutant betterment, starting in Union Square. Lorna seems somewhat willing to comply, but Alex is more unsure. Trusting that sacrifices need to be made for the greater good, he eventually gives in.

That same night, Xavier gifts the five with a night in the city, with their destination being Union Square. The team, Xavier and Moira included, all begin to develop better friendships and bond, with Scott and Jean in particular spending time together. This is interrupted, however, when the Brotherhood arrive and begin their attack. The two factions begin fighting, though Alex stops once he and Scott notice each other on opposing sides. Scott, personally and politcally-hurt by his brother, instigates a fight that eventually stops once Max orders the Brotherhood to pull back. Jason briefly takes control of Jean, unleashing a powerful blast of psychic energy that rips through the entirety of the Square. Xavier notices this and kicks Jason out of her head. Both teams flee the scene.

Discouraged, the team returns to the school and head to sleep. Scott and Jean meet up in the courtyard. After Jean vents about her fear of her own abilities, for which Scott helps to comfort her, they further converse and generally bond, the romantic tension much more obvious. But when Jean leaves to get drinks, Scott notices a strange-looking door on one of the walls of the school. He sneaks in and finds the Blackbird and five combat suits, each tailer-made for the five students. This sets off an alarm, and the students and Xavier answer it. Scott demands to know the truth behind everything. Xavier reveals he and Jean had plans to assemble a combat unit to better relations with the public. They had known of Max's plans due to a machine called Cerebro, which Xavier shows them. He also discloses Max's past terror attacks that a SHIELD unit led by Moira MacTaggert helped to cover up in order to keep public fear of mutants from arising. Disgusted, Scott begins to leave the school, encouraging the others to follow suit. They stay behind, however, and Scott quits on his own.

Act Three - The Uncanny

Scott returns to Saunders, highly-regarded by his more liberal peers as a hero, and to his less accepting ones, more of a freak than before. Even still, he lacks the enthusiasm to return to his former roles in school, and his grades begin to plummet. He rejects Jean's apology when she shows up at his house to offer one up. In the face of Scott's absence and Xavier's exposed mendacity, the team struggles to work together when training in the Danger Room. As the school day ends, Jean confides in Moira her regret for deceiving Scott, who she grew to care for. Moira, though sympathetic, is genuinely unsure of how to help.

Back on Genosha, the Brotherhood begin to scope out their next target. Max decides to hit the opening day of the Iowa State Fair. After the meeting, Alex divulges to Lorna his doubts about Max's trustworthiness after manipulating them into pulling off what essentially amounts to a terror attack, and his questioning of whether or not he wishes to remain a part of the Brotherhood. Without his knowing, Lorna talks to Max about the Union Square attack and Alex's relationship to Scott. Max sternly tells her that during war, sacrifices must be made. She returns to Alex with a recount of Max's words, and the two agree to bail on the Brotherhood when they get to Iowa.

While in school one day, Scott sees students and staff gathered around the TV's in the cafeteria. On the screen is CNN, reporting the attack on the Iowa State Fair. Inspired to take action, Scott leaves the school and calls Moira, who takes him back to Xavier's school and rushes him into the team briefing. He makes amends with Hank, Bobby, and Warren, but is more hesitant to forgive Jean and Xavier.

They take the Blackbird to Iowa, and push forward in combating the Brotherhood. As the fight rages on, Alex and Lorna pull Scott aside and out of view, where Alex rushedly apologizes for leaving and choosing the wrong side. He tells Scott about the plan he and Lorna had to flee, and invites Scott. Seeing Jason set his sights on Jean, he refuses, and covers Alex and Lorna, letting them escape. After a tough fight and a hard effort to stop collateral, the team saves the day. The Brotherhood escape back to Genosha, utterly humiliated.

A few days after the Iowa Incident, with Xavier's objective met, Moira returns to her post at SHIELD. Warren decides to disenroll, not wishing to take part in superheroics. However, he promises to convince his father to invest in Xavier's school, so that one day it can expand and reach more mutants in need. Scott forgives Xavier, after agreeing that no future recruits will be tricked into joining the combat unit, and begins pursuing a romantic relationship with Jean. During a press conference, Warren Worthington II & III, the latter now public about his mutation, introduce the world formally to its next generation of heroes: the X-Men.

After-Credits Scenes

In a mid-credits scene, a man is hitting on a woman in a Canadian bar. She repeatedly rejects his advances. He gets frustrated, becoming increasingly aggressive and physical. Before he can pull her into the men's bathroom with him, a man (Luke Bracey, Hacksaw Ridge) knocks him out with a single punch. The woman thanks him, and unsure of how to address him, asks for his name. The man simply responds: "I don't know."

In a post-credits scene, Wanda Maximoff is watching a news report of the Iowa Incident. When a picture of Max flashes across the screen, she recognizes him, though unsure of where from specifically. The camera pans to her nightstand, where a picture of a much younger Max holding the then-newborn Wanda and Pietro in his arms sits.

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So, what'd we think? Whether a good or bad pitch, do you feel it fits into the mold of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Is there any alternative way you'd wish to see this done? As always, be sure to upvote, share, and leave your comments down below.

Anyways, it's been fun, but I've got movie sign! Cheers!