In 1999, Ed Solomon and Christopher McQuarrie wrote a script for 20th Century Fox's adaptation of the X-Men, which was to be directed by Bryan Singer. Dated Feburary 24th, 1999, the screenplay focuses on the conflict between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. Shortly before it went into production, Singer and writer David Hayter did some revisions to the script, which are evident in the finished product.
Sololmon's script begins with a flashback to the young Magneto's arrival at Auschwitz and the emergence of his powers. Although this plays out identically to the film's opening sequence, there are two origin scenes which set up the characters of Storm and Cyclops. In 1978 Kenya, a girl named Ororo Monroe is being bullied and teased by the children of an African village, due to her unusually white hair. After their child's play degenerates into beating her with sticks, she brings a snowstorm and hail stones down on the community. During a high school prom set in 1986 California, we are introduced to 17-year old Scott Summers, whose eyes are starting to bother him. While in the men's room, he begins to feel heat emanting from his eyesockets. To their horror, he blasts holes through the bathroom wall, leaving him traumatized.
In the present day, we are introduced to Jean Grey, who is giving a speech at the Senate hearings on the mutant phenomenon. What is different from the finished film is her explanation of how this is happening; the constant changes to life on Earth have resulted in a specific gene in humans to be activated. Senator Kelly engages in a tense debate with Jean over the topic, and he insists the Mutant Registration Act is a precaution for safety. As she leaves the hearings, Jean ends up using her powers of telekinesis in front of the media after a heckler throwing a can of Coca-Cola at her head.
The scene switches to northern Canada, in which we find Logan/Wolverine living in an isolated log cabin. Sabretooth tracks him down and engages him in an extended brawl, which is significantly larger than the movie's fight on the backwoods road. Piloted by Cyclops and Storm, the X-Jet flies in to the rescue and takes Logan to the school.
Shortly afterwards, Sabretooth returns to the lair of the Brotherhood. This incarnation of the team consists of Magneto, Mortimer "Toad" Toynbee, Fred "The Blob Dukes", and John "Pyro" Allerdyce. As Sabretooth explains what happened in Canada, Magneto is keenly interested in Logan upon seeing his "Wolverine" military dog tags and decides to move forward with his plans.
Upon waking, Logan discovers he is in the care of the X-Men. Dr. Hank "Beast" McCoy and Jean Grey are examining his physiology. A number of Beast's lines and his medical expertise are recognizeable, because the majority of them were given to Jean after the former was removed from the script. It is unfortunate that Beast's inclusion was scrapped, since he provides a rational, scientific voice of reason among his teammates. Logan is questioned about his abilities, age and memory, but he has no answers as to who or what he is. In the second draft of this script, Logan is awoken by Jean and tries to flee the building; this plays out largely the same in the film version. In one humorous moment, he accidentally walks in on a surprised Beast teaching a history class to students. Professor Charles Xavier offers a hand to Logan, who refuses and prepares to leave. On his way out of the Mansion, he is stunned to see a young Angel spreading his wings and soaring across the school grounds. He thinks about staying but exits the school grounds. Unknown to him, Toad is shown spying on his movements.
At the White House, Senator Kelly, Gyrich and the President discuss Xavier's televised interview. Not seeing any real threat, the President is very reluctant to sign a registration act against mutants, but Kelly insists the act is crucial to containing the problem. After flying out in a helicopter, Kelly is stunned when the pilot (who is revealed to be Pyro) lands on the Brotherhood's island lair. He is even more horrifed when Gyrich transforms back into Mystique. Magneto's dialogue with Kelly is similar to the film's version, but it has more desperate attempts by the senator to reason and a realization that he cannot sway Magneto. Kelly's exposure to the machine and transformation largely play out the same.
Upon heading out of New York, Logan takes a train and notices a young woman named Rogue being harassed by a group of college football players. (in the second draft of this script, she is already a student at the school, and revealed to be a former follower of Magneto) After one of them places a hand on Rogue, he falls down unconscious, which triggers a panic among the passengers. Logan steps in to defend the girl, but he is interrupted by the arrival of Magneto and the Brotherhood. Before a transit cop can start firing, Xavier, Cyclops, Jean and Storm make it to the scene and prevent any bloodshed. In one jarring moment, Xavier has Mystique, Pyro Sabretooth and Toad under his control like puppets on a string. Charles and Erik have a conversation over the latter's methods, which ends with the Brotherhood leaving in humiliation and defeat. Logan is persuaded to come with the X-Men for a 48-hour period, and they bring Rogue to the school as well.
After Jean shows Logan his room and reads his mind, she has a conversation with Scott, who is fearful about the safety of their students. In contrast to the film's "Stay away from my girl", he has legitimate reason to be concerned about Logan's presence at the school. Rogue does get stabbed by Logan in this version, but she is shown to briefly take on his "berserker rage" mode before the X-Men's eyes. Later, Cyclops confronts Logan in the Danger Room (presented as a large training room with weights rather than a hologram chamber) and insists he keep his "killer instinct" on lockdown. The stand-off nearly results in a brawl which is averted by Xavier, who reveals Magneto wants Logan for his adamantium skeleton.
Xavier learns Rogue has run away from the school, prompting Cyclops and Storm to go retrieve her at the Westchester Mall. Whereas the film has Wolverine talk to Rogue, it is Storm who serves the role of mentor, assuring the younger woman that she doesn't have to be afraid. At that moment, the Brotherhood attacks the mall; Sabretooth chokes Storm, and Toad steals Cyclops' visor, leaving him incapacitated. However, Scott is able to resuscitate an unconscious Storm after she is nearly strangled by Sabretooth, leading her and Rogue to safety. Upon returning to the Mansion, it is not long before Magneto and the Brotherhood move against the school. Posing as Rogue, Mystique sabotages Cerebro and tries to get Logan to come with her, but he quickly determines her real identity. Magneto launches a strike on the Mansion by manipulating all of its metal components, which injures Beast in the process. Desperate to stop the the attack, Logan agrees to go with Magneto if he does not harm the students.
When Xavier tries to locate Magneto and Logan, he is left briefly incapacitated by Mystique's damage to the Cerebro system, in which she removed the machine's neuro-filter that prevents information overloads. Senator Kelly arrives the school and informs the X-Men of what was done to him. Meanwhile, Magneto brings Logan to Ellis Island and places him in the machine he used on Kelly. Back at the school, Cyclops, Jean, Storm and Beast realize Magneto's plan is to use Logan's adamantium to store the energy from the machine. Unlike the film's explanation of infected humans like Kelly rejecting mutation, the script reveals the process causes cells to replicate and burning the body out. After the senator literally melts away, it is decided to rescue Logan and stop Magneto from using his machine on the world leaders at the U.N Summit.
Solomon and McQuarrie do an excellent job in juggling the characters and action set pieces. Logan/Wolverine is a central protagonist in this script, but the other X-Men are given several moments to shine. Xavier is shown to be increasingly frustrated by his ability to track Magneto, and he appears to waver between Unlike the film trilogy, Cyclops is a more rounded leader who is concerned about the students' safety, giving him a legitimate reason to distrust Wolverine. The flashback scene of his powers manifesting for the first time is an excellent allegory for adolescence, in which he is stunned and terrified by what he is capable of doing. Jean is shown to be more active as a team member, and Storm gets to display confidence in being a mutant. Nor are there any "toad struck by lighting" jokes here. Rogue is not the halpless victim that, because she has an important role in stopping Magneto's plan. Sabretooth's long-standing rivalry with Wolverine is alluded to several times, which establishes they have a history together. Toad is more or less the same as he was portrayed by Ray Park in the film, but Pyro gets plenty of moments to establish himself as a dangerous opponent. Blob is briefly featured as a member of the Brotherhood, but it feels more like an attempt at comic relief.
Overall, the Solomon-McQuarrie script was a solid adaptation of the X-Men, especially with clarifying key plot points and characters. While the finished film largely resembles this screenplay, it is interesting to see the differences and how things change in the development process.