First Sequel:
X-Men: Rise of the Brotherhood of Mutants or X-Men: Brotherhood
Overall Synopsis:
After the events of First Class, Magneto has begun recruiting members of his own group of mutants he deems the Brotherhood (Mystique, Emma Frost, Azazel, Riptide, and Angel). In response, Professor X begins looking for new mutants (Scott Summers a.k.a Cyclops and Ororo Monroe a.k.a Storm) to join him as a team he calls the X-Men (the name Moira MacTaggert suggested at the end of the first film). Meanwhile, Magneto seeks to gain land from Russia to form his own utopia for mutants that he may rule over to fight back against the human race; he places Mystique with the Duke of Russia so she may manipulate him into signing off on the deal. Magneto’s plans gain the attention of Professor X and his X-Men (Havok, Beast, Banshee, Cyclops, and Storm), who decide to launch an attack on Magneto’s Brotherhood to stop his plans. As the classic rivalry between the Brotherhood of Mutants and the X-Men begins, a battle will be fought that will decide the future of mutant and man-kind a-like.
Story Notes:
The backdrop of the film will be the late 1960’s, early 1970’s.
Moira MacTaggert slowly begins remembering certain things from the events on the beach in Cuba (besides her gunshot that crippled Charles) and goes looking for Professor X, eventually finding his school and confronting him. In the end, she helps expose Magneto's plans to the world, even after much protest from Professor X.
Prof. X uses Hank’s version of Cerebro to locate Ororo, and breaks it when he pushes the technology beyond it’s limits with his mind.
Alex Summers a.k.a Havok introduces his brother, Scott Summers, to Prof. X when they begin recruiting new members for their X-Men.
In Russia, Prof. X locates a young mutant, Piotr Rasputin, who he takes back to the mansion to await training for future endeavors. (Piotr Rasputin will become Colossus in the second sequel)
Riptide will actually have lines in the film.
Professor X will be the main character that drives the story as opposed to Magneto who drove the story in First Class.
Magneto decides to put Mystique with the Duke of Russia rather than Emma Frost because he needs Emma to protect the team from Prof. X’s abilities and keep watch over Prof. X, the X-Men, and their actions. Of course, Mystique assumes that means Magneto would rather be with Emma, which results in Mystique becoming jealous.
As Magneto starts to take more of an interest in Emma Frost, Mystique becomes jealous. Azazel sees that Mystique is vulnerable and take’s advantage of her. In the end, Mystique is devastated to discover that she is pregnant with Azazel’s baby after taking a pregnancy test.
During the confrontation in Russia, Emma Frost and Prof. X have an epic mind battle in which crazy fantasy-like things happen, including fake, animated versions of the X-Men and the Brotherhood (the former and the latter resembling their comic-book counterparts) going head-to-head. The mind battle causes Prof. X to push his abilities to their limit, making him lose all of his hair, and putting Emma Frost in a comatose state.
The exposure of Magneto’s plans put a bad spotlight on mutant-kind and make mutant’s the targets of much criticism, hatred, and fear from the general human public.
Havok leave’s to go his own way by the end of the film, realizing that his own powers are so similar to his brother’s that there’s only room for one of them on the team and that his brother, who is a loner at the start of the film, could use the experience to break out of his lonely shell and become a leader. Prof. X accepts this reasoning after a bit of review and bids Havok farewell and good luck on his travels, telling Havok that he’ll “always have a place with the X-Men.”
Hank becomes more acceptant of his mutation and embraces it by the end of the film thanks to the efforts of Prof. X and Mystique, who both help Hank cope.
Magneto discovers the nation of Genosha located off the east cost of Africa and realizes he’s found the perfect position to take control of.
Second Sequel:
The Uncanny X-Men or X-Men: Inferno
Overall Synopsis:
When both Prof. X and his X-Men (Cyclops, Storm, Banshee, Beast, and Colossus) and Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants (Mystique, Emma Frost, Riptide, and Azazel) are attacked by a group known only as the Marauders (Gambit, Sabretooth, Sunfire, and Mastermind), both groups must team up, despite their opposing views, to track down the source of the attack. Professor X and Magneto collaborate to re-design Cerebro to locate the Marauders and their leader; they discover an evil mutant, Mister Sinister, who is bent on extracting and manipulating mutant genes to manufacture an army of mutants to take over the world. As Professor X and Magneto work together to fight back against their latest “common enemy,” they also discover a mutant more powerful than any they’ve seen before, Jean Grey. While both Magneto and Prof. X seek to win the loyalties of Jean Grey for different reasons, Mister Sinister discovers Jean as well, and plans to use her DNA to create his race of super-mutants that will ultimately help him take over the world. As time hangs in the balance, a war for the protection of all mutants rages across the world; loyalties will be questioned, lives will be lost, and only one side can emerge victorious. In this dazzling conclusion to the astonishing “First Class Trilogy,” the X-Men will face their greatest challenge yet!
Story Notes:
The backdrop of the film will be the 1980’s.
Mister Sinister reveals to Prof. X that he and Cyclops have a connection: Mister Sinister has been manipulating Cyclops since his childhood in an orphanage in Nebraska, up until now. Prof. X decides not to tell Cyclops, knowing his anger would cause him to do something he’d regret but later, during the final battle in Germany, Mister Sinister reveals what he told to Prof. X.
Emma Frost, still in a comatose state, is kept under medical watch by Beast. By the end of the film, Emma is still in this state, so Magneto leaves her with the X-Men. Prof. X then revives her, and she decides to join the X-Men.
During the scene where Prof. X uses Cerebro to locate Mister Sinister and the Marauders, pre-teen versions of the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Iceman make small cameos.
Jean Grey ultimately decides to join the X-Men after Prof. X reveals that he has powers similar to her own and can teach her how to control and utilize them. She develops a strong friendship with Scott because they both have mutations that made their childhood years very difficult; they can easily relate. Eventually their friendship becomes something more by the end of the film after Cyclops becomes leader of the X-Men.
Riptide betrays the Brotherhood and critically injures Banshee during another one of the Marauders attacks. Riptide is eventually killed by Magneto during the film’s climax.
Prof. X reaches inside Mister Sinister’s mind (Mister Sinister lets him in) during the second act of the film to understand his goals; Prof. X sees Mister Sinister’s original form as the geneticist Nathaniel Essex, how he got his powers from an ancient mutant named Apocalypse, and what he plans to do with Jean Grey’s DNA.
Sabretooth and Mastermind both leave the Marauders after Cyclops “kills” Mister Sinister at the end of the film. Prof. X convinces Gambit to join the X-Men since Banshee becomes indisposed; he also gains the loyalty of Sunfire who becomes a student at the X-Mansion.
Mister Sinister does not truly die at the end of the film, rather he reconstructs himself from what is left of his own genetic material, and it is revealed he was working for a higher being (which is hinted at in the end).
*the being is Apocalypse
It becomes easier to see that Mystique is pregnant throughout the film, eventually being forced to give birth to the child by Azazel, causing a confrontation between her, Magneto, and Azazel in the end which results in Azazel’s apparent “death.” (left open to insinuate his return one day) Mystique abandons the child in Winzeldorf, Germany, but Azazel (with his tail and face hidden by a large, green cloak) saves the child from near-death.
Magneto takes his Brotherhood of Mutants to Genosha in eastern Africa, to begin planning their next move.
**all of this will set-up another trilogy that will deal with Magneto's rise to power in Genosha (which will attract mutants such as Juggernaut, Toad, Pyro, and the Blob), the rise of Apocalypse and his Horsemen, and the recruiting/introduction of Wolverine, Angel (Warren Worthington), Rogue, and Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat. Of course it'll keep in line with certain concepts from Singer's two films, but it will feel drastically different, and ignore many arcs or concepts established or completed in the third film altogether. I also propose that Fox work on creating a sort of "shared universe" for their X-Men characters, much like the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) that Marvel Studios has right now. That way they could flesh out their characters and story arcs much better, create crossovers between characters like Deadpool and Cable, all the while competing valiantly with the competition at Marvel Studios. Respecting the source material should be #1 priority though (I'm not saying follow it exactly or anything like that, just make sure characters get their due amount of time on-screen, with lines). Nuff' said!