X-Men: Mutant Massacre
About a month ago I started writing my idea for the next X-Men sequel and the following is what I came up with. I’ve given it a lot of thought and I hope you like it. This is my first prober article, so feedback will be greatly appreciated :)
Story
Opening:
In London in the late 1880's Doctor Nathaniel Essex, a scientist obsessed with evolution, is trying to save his wife Rebecca from an illness. To that end, he experiments on people (and himself) and steal organs (it's implied that he is Jack the Ripper). After experimenting on himself for weeks he becomes pale, his eyes turn red and he acquires certain abilities. When his wife finds out what he's done she flees the house and ends up dying. Her father accuses Essex of being responsible for her death and the doctor is forced to flee the country wowing to free the world from the weak.
Act 1:
In the early 1990's Xavier's school is up and running. The X-Men now includes Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, Beast and Jubilee. They all help teaching the new young students. Among students is a 16-year-old Bobby Drake.
One day in New York Storm, Jubilee and Nightcrawler run into a couple of young mutants being chased by the police for stealing food. Storm, knowing what it means to starve on the streets, discreetly stops the cops and they follow the mutants into the sewers. Here they meet the Morlocks; a group of deform mutants who can't live free of persecution and therefore stays in the sewers. Among the Morlocks is a young Russian with metallic skin: He recently arrived in the US only to be attacked by Mutant haters and saved by the Morlocks. Jubilee makes a connection to him. The Morlock leader Marrow tells the X-Men that they are being hunted by unknown forces. Storm offers them a place at the Institute but they refuse. Suddenly a group called the Marauders (Harpoon, Blockbuster, Vertigo, Sunfire and Gorgeous George) attacks them. Storm sends Nightcrawler to contact the rest of the X-Men and they arrive in time to fight back the attackers.
The Marauders return to the lair of Mister Sinister beneath the building of the Essex Corporation. When he learns of the fight with the X-Men, he announces that it's time to move up his plan to create the perfect lifeform.
Act 2:
While returning from a date at a Dazzler concert, Scott and Jean are ambushed by the Marauders. They are knocked unconscious by Vertigo and taken away. Before passing out Jean manages to send a distress call to Xavier.
Scott and Jean awake in a lab in power negating glass tubes. Around them are misty tubes with bodies, organs and mutants in stasis. Sinister explains that he has watched them since childhood and that he has been searching for their perfect genetic material for the last hundred years. He intends to use it to create the perfect mutant.
Meanwhile Xavier finds the Scott and Jean using Cerebro and sends the remaining X-Men to save them.
Sinister senses Xavier and taunts him with his failures and his foolish dream of peaceful human and mutant coexistence.
When the X-Men arrive, Sinister escapes with his newly acquired bloodsamples. During his escape, he is hit by a psychic blast from Jean and she glimpses a few of his memories. During the commotion, a glass tube is broken and Angel emerges groggy but alive. Not wanting to leave any loose ends Sinister activates the self-destruct system. The whole lab goes up in smoke and Quicksilver barely manages to save the X-Men and Sunfire who was left behind by his teammates. Both he and Angel are taken back to the professor.
Nightcrawler comes to Angel in the mansion’s sub-basement and tells him that he forgives him for and understands why he joined Apocalypse. He says that it’s not too late to make up for past wrongs.
Using his telepathy on Sunfire, Xavier discovers that Sinister intends to send his army of artificially enhanced mutants to destroy the Morlocks, most of which are revealed to be villain’s previous failed experiments. He also learns more of Sinister’s plan to create the perfect mutant ”Messiah”. Angel, who was moved by Nightcrawler’s compassion takes the name Archangel on his suggestion and joins the X-Men, while Sunfire is confined in the sub-basement.
The X-Men split into two teams. One led by Storm and consisting of Nightcrawler, Quicksilver and Jubilee will go into sewers and protect the Morlocks. Meanwhile the other (Cyclops, Jean, Beast and Archangel) will track Sinister and stop his experiments. Bobby overhears the plans and sneaks on board the Blackbird.
Act 3:
Xavier, through Cerebro, hears the terrible sound of a hundred mutants crying out in pain just as Storm and her team arrive in the sewers where the Morlocks are being slaughtered. Most Morlocks are trying to escape while only Marrow, Colossus and a few others fight back. The X-Men engages in the fight.
Using the information Jean got from Sinister, Moira’s CIA connections and a portable Cerebro the other team tracks Sinister to an old Victorian mansion in New England. On the way they discover Bobby on the plane but let him come along under the condition that he stays near Beast at all times.
The team (now the original five) finds the house full of strangely mutated, decaying and dying mutants. They're all that's left of the mutants from the last decade of Sinister's experiments. When they reach Sinister in an inner lab Archangel makes short proces and slices him in two with his wing, only for Sinister to pull himself together laughing.
In the Morlock sewers the X-Men are losing and soon only Storm, Colossus and Quicksilver are left standing. Storm tells Xavier who's still in contact that she knows what she must do. He pleads with her but she tells Quicksilver to get everybody out of there and then collapses the sewers with her powers, effectively burying the Marauders and herself under the rubble.
While Sinister is regenerating Vertigo appears behind the X-Men and releases her now enhanced powers causing the X-Men to fall to their knees with nausea and disorientation. Sinister gloats over them and says that the world belong to the superior mutants that he will create. Vertigo is defeated when Beast helps Iceman focus hard enough to freeze the humidity in air effectively turning her to ice. Angry Sinister releases his previous greatest experiment. A gigantic fiery skeleton in an armor which Sinister has named Holocaust. Holocaust has, among other powers, the ability to absorb the life-force of others. He imidiately knocks out the exhausted Iceman and another fight ensures.
Sunfire escapes his confinement and sneaks up on Xavier who’s busy monitoring his teams through Cerebro. He prepares to strike him down, but changes his mind when he hears Xavier's genuine concern for his X-Men. He turns and leaves the mansion.
In the sewers Storm is revealed to have been saved by Colossus shielding her with his body.
Holocaust is defeated when Jean, at Beast's suggestion, overloads him with life-force causing him to disintegrate. She briefly displays the power of Dark Phoenix before passing out with exhaustion. Meanwhile Cyclops and Archangel confronts Sinister. It ends with the villain defeating Archangel only to be shattered into a million pieces by the full force of Cyclops’ optic blast.
Back at the mansion Beast informs the professor that he could find no trace of the genetic material stolen by Sinister after searching the lab. Xavier theories that someone else might try to carry on the scientists work in the future. Beast also voices his concern that Jean’s power might be too much for her to control. Xavier confess that he's having doubt about what to do. They are interrupted by Iceman, who is briefly scolded for sneaking on the Blackbird before being made an official X-Man by Xavier.
In the sewers Jubilee persuades Colossus to join the X-Men after he helps the Morlocks build a new home.
The movie ends with Jean lying in the grass outside the mansion, dreaming about a visibly aging baby in a glass tube while Sinister’s laughter echoes in her head. She’s awoken by Cyclops who hugs her and tells her that everything will be alright. Then they share their first kiss.
A post-credit scene shows a man with one blue eye and one green addressing an unseen group of mutants, telling them that he has found the perfect mutant to serve their cause.
Characters
X-Men:
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Charles Xavier/Professor X
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Xavier's school is up and running and he's in a relationship with Moira. It is mentioned that he has been working with her son Kevin until Moira’s ex-husband forbade it.
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Beast
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Hank is in charge of maintenance and developments at the school. He's also always making improvements to the Danger Room, the uniforms and the Blackbird.
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Cyclops
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Is slowly starting a relationship with Jean. Cyclops is the X-Men's teamleader and has gotten a lot better at controlling his powers.
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Jean Grey
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Is still struggling to control her powers and continues to have terrible dreams of a future in fire and ruins. She is training with Xavier and has begun using Cerebro.
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Storm
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The X-Men's second in command. While she’s embracing her inner godddess, she remains a kind and gentle soul.
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Nightcrawler
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Has become an experienced swordsman and has begun wearing a holographic watch created by Beast when out among humans.
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Quicksilver
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Pretty much the same as always.
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Jubilee
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A perky girl with an always sunny disposition who always sees the good in people.
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Bobby Drake/Iceman
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A young new recruit at the Institute. Uses a lot of jokes and sarcasm. He can't control his powers and carries a personal secret, known only to Jean through her telepathy.
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Angel/Archangel
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Found by Sinister and put in healing stasis after Egypt. Joins the X-Men after Nightcrawler convinces him to change his ways.
Marauders:
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Nathaniel Essex/Mister Sinister
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A scientist from the 1800's who is obsessed with evolution and creating the perfect lifeform. Through his experiments he has developed a long lifespan along with different powers. Since his transformation in the late 1880's he has been harvesting genetic material from mutants. He has been infatuated with Scott Summers and Jean Grey since they were children.
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Harpoon
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An inuit capable of creating poweful kinetic spears. Teamleader of the Marauders.
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Vertigo
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A greenhaired beauty that can induce powerful disorientation, nausea and balance problems.
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Sunfire
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A Japanese mutant with plasma powers. He works for Sinister but retains a conscience unlike the rest of the Marauders.
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Blockbuster
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A big and strong hulking.
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Gorgeous George
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An Australian with a tar-like body.
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Holocaust
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One of Sinister’s former experiments. He's extremely powerful and becomes more so through absorbing the life-force of others.
Others:
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Moira MacTaggert
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CIA-agent, Charles Xavier’s girlfriend and mother to Kevin. Moira's ex-husband is mentioned to be a Scottish scientist working on Muir Island.
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Piotr Rasputin/Colossus
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A big mutant who was forced to leave his homeland to protect his family. After arriving in America he is attacked but is saved and cared for by the Morlocks. He develops a brother/sister relationship with Jubilee because she reminds him of his little sister Illyana.
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Marrow
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Passionate leader of the Morlocks. Can control her bone growth and use them as weapons and armor.
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Various Morlocks
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Berzerker, Healer, Annalee, Sunder etc.
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Rebecca Essex and John Grey
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Sinister's deceased wife and father-in-law.
Cameos:
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Kevin MacTaggert - Picture and flashback
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Dazzler - Singer at concert
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Illyana Rasputin - Mentioned by Colossus
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Jason Stryker/Mastermind - Post-credit scene
Uniforms
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The end-of-Apocalypse looks would be used again only with slight alterations.
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Storm’s uniform would be more white and her hair long.
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Nightcrawler would now be carrying a sword.
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Jubilee would have short hair and wear her trademark yellow coat over her uniform along with pink sunglasses.
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Iceman would wear a training uniform akin to the one worn by Negasonic Teenage Warhead in ”Deadpool” only his would be light blue.
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Archangel would be donning something similar to his full body uniform found in the ”Ultimate” comics maybe with a more white color scheme.
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I realize that Sinister’s look might be a little difficult to pull off in live-action, but I still think they should try. He's very iconic with the diamond shapes, the big collar and the cape-string-things. Maybe they could make it more like a thin armor.
Reasons for story/characters
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Every X-Man gets just about an equal amount of screentime. Only Cyclops, Jean and Storm has a little more than the others. Everyone has at least one scene where they get to show off their abilities.
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Xavier and Moira's roles are smaller than before but still significant.
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The only X-Man I had a hard time giving some story is Quicksilver but I’m sure it could be done.
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I chose to use Iceman because I really want the Iceman I know and love from the comics, a funny guy with a good heart. There's so much more to him than previously shown. I would like them to allude to him being gay like he is in the ”All New X-Men” comics. It makes him more interesting and even more of an outsider than the others.
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Also the original five X-Men together on the big screen would be huge.
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Angel was chosen partly for the same reason and because I love his character and wanted him to redeem himself.
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Like in the ”X-Men Legends” game Marrow is the leader of the Morlocks. I chose her both for her powers and because a version of Callisto already appeared in ”The Last Stand”. (I know that Marrow sort of made a cameo in ”Deadpool” but I don't think she'll be explored there later anyway.)
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Sinister himself would be responsible for his own transformation like in the animated series, and he would have no ties to Apocalypse.
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For the Marauders there shouldn’t be more than five. They were picked for different reasons:
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Harpoon has ranged attacks and serves as the teamleader (Arclight was already in ”The Last Stand” so I chose Harpoon instead).
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Vertigo has knockout powers capable of incapacitating characters even as powerful as Jean. Furthermore she adds a woman’s touch to the group.
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Sunfire has a moral compass the others doesn’t. He could very well join the X-Men or another good-guys team in the future.
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Blockbuster is the brawn and powerhouse of the group.
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Gorgeous George has great powers and represents the Nasty Boys from the comics and TV-series.
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Holocaust was chosen for the final battle big-bad because I always liked his design and think that he would look awesome on film. Also he’s powerful enough to take on the X-Men single-handedly, unlike Sinister.
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I don't know how or if they will explain Cable’s backstory in the Deadpool sequel, but this could serve as an half origin for him as a child made from Scott and Jean’s DNA (like Nate Grey in the comics). I doubt they'll do the whole Madelyn Pryor-thing. Cable’s techno-illness would have to be explained elsewhere. Sinister could infect him when he becomes too powerful and wanted to turn against his creator.
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I doubt that Mystique and Magneto would return so I left them out. They could just mention that Raven left the X-Men sometime after the last film. This movie could end with Quicksilver leaving in search of Magneto finally ready to tell him the truth about who he is.
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Gambit was left out despite his role in the ”Mutant Massacre” story because it's still unknown when his own movie is supposed to take place in the timeline.
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In the films Moira's ex-husband would be the Scottish scientist on Muir Island instead of her.
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This movie would set up a more faithful adaption of the ”Dark Phoenix Saga” for the next film.
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading my article, I really hope you liked it!