X2

Nightcrawler, a teleporting mutant, attempts to assassinate the President in the White House, but he fails and escapes. Wolverine reappears after discovering nothing at Alkali Lake, while Storm and Jean find Nightcrawler with the help of Professor Xavier and Cerebro. Cyclops and Professor X visit Magneto in his plastic prison to see if he had any part in the attack on the President. Reading Magneto's mind, Professor X discovers that a covert government operative, William Stryker, has been extracting information from Magneto. A trap is sprung and Cyclops and Professor X are captured by Stryker and his assistant Yuriko Oyama. A military invasion of the X-Mansion begins, with the soldiers sedating every student they find, some escape, while Wolverine finds Stryker, but is unable to find anything about his past.

Impersonating Senator Robert Kelly and Yuriko, Mystique gains information about Magneto's prison and provides a means for him to escape. Wolverine, along with Rogue, Iceman and Pyro, heads to Iceman's home in Boston. After a 9-1-1 call by Bobby's brother Ronnie, the police arrive just as the group is about to leave, ensuing into a dispute with Pyro. The X-Jet arrives to pick them all up, and the X-Men team with Magneto and Mystique. Magneto has learned Stryker orchestrated the attack on the President and has been experimenting on mutants, using a drug injected directly into the back of the neck to control them. Jean reads Nightcrawler's mind and determines that Stryker's base is located at Alkali Lake, inside the dam. He has also stolen enough equipment from Xavier's own Cerebro unit to build a second Cerebro, with which he plans to kill all the world's mutants.

Stryker gains control over Professor Xavier through his son, Jason Stryker, who is able to project powerful visions in the mind, blinding a person to reality. Professor X is instructed to use Cerebro to find and kill all existing mutants. Mystique infiltrates Stryker's base using a number of disguises. As the X-Men enter Storm and Nightcrawler pair off, searching for kidnapped students. Jean, Magneto, and Mystique are attacked by a brainwashed Cyclops on their way to rescue Professor X, causing damage to the generators that keep the dam from collapsing. The force of Jean's telekinetic blast awakens Cyclops from his brainwashing. Wolverine finds Stryker in an adamantium smelting room along with Lady Deathstrike. Wolverine and Deathstrike begin fighting, but it ends with Wolverine killing her. Wolverine finds Stryker on a landing pad, while Stryker attempts to bargain Wolverine with stories of his past. Wolverine leaves him for dead, stabbing him and chaining him to the helicopter wheel.

Mystique, disguised as Stryker, uses Jason to convince Professor X to kill all humans. Magneto and Mystique use Stryker's helicopter to escape Alkali Lake, chaining Stryker to a slab of concrete rubble, and are also joined by Pyro. Meanwhile, Nightcrawler teleports Storm inside of Cerebro, where she frees the Professor from his telepathic illusion. A malfunction aboard the X-Jet prevents it from taking off, and the dam finally bursts. The flood gets stronger, drowning Stryker. Jean leaves the jet and creates a telekinetic wall in order to stop the wave, and at the same time raises the jet above the flood waters; all the while surrounded by a corona of fire. Jean activates the X-Jet's primary engines, before releasing the torrent of water down on herself. The X-Men are able to supply the President with files from Stryker's private offices, and Professor X warns him that humans and mutants must work together to build peace, or they will destroy each other through war. The film ends with a voiceover by Jean Grey, on the process of evolution. The camera floats over Alkali Lake, showing a vague shape of a Phoenix in the lake.

Cast

• Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine: A mutant who lost memory of his life before he was grafted with an indestructible adamantium skeleton. Wolverine is a loner, but is in love with Jean Grey and acts as a father figure to Rogue. He wields three blades that come out of his fists, has a keen sense of smell, the ability to heal from any injury and is a ruthless and aggressive fighter. Jackman underwent a strict workout regime, gaining an additional twenty pounds of muscle for the role.

• Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier: A powerful telepathic mutant confined to a wheelchair who founded a School for "Gifted Youngsters", Xavier is a pacifist who believes humans and mutants can live together in harmony. He uses the Cerebro device, designed by Magneto and himself, to track and locate mutants across the world. A natural genius, Xavier is regarded as an authority on genetic mutation.

• Ian McKellen as Eric Magnus Lehnsherr / Magneto: Once Xavier's ally, Magneto now believes mutants are superior to humans. Magneto wields the ability to manipulate metal magnetically and wears a helmet that renders him immune to Xavier's powers. Imprisoned after his scheme in the first film, he is drugged by William Stryker for information over Cerebro, before making his escape and forming an alliance with the X-Men to stop Stryker. He has demonstrated sophisticated knowledge in matters of genetic manipulation and engineering. The character's helmet was slightly redesigned as McKellen found wearing it uncomfortable in X-Men (2000).

• Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey: A teacher at Xavier's school and the X-Mansion's doctor, Jean has begun to experience a growth in her telepathy and telekinetic powers since the X-Men's battle with Magneto. She is in love with Cyclops, even though she is attracted to Wolverine.

• Anna Paquin as Marie / Rogue: A girl who can absorb any person's memories and abilities by touching them. As she cannot control this power, Rogue can easily kill anybody and thus is unable to be close to anyone.

• Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake / Iceman: Rogue's boyfriend, he can freeze objects and create ice. His family is unaware that he is a mutant and simply believe he is at a boarding school. After returning home, Bobby reveals to them what he actually is, much to his brother's derision.

• Aaron Stanford as John Allerdyce / Pyro: A friend of Bobby and Rogue, Pyro has anti-social tendencies and has the ability to control (although not create) fire. Magneto tells him that "You are a God amongst insects; never let anyone tell you different." The filmmakers cast Stanford in the role after they were impressed with his performance in Tadpole (2002).

• Rebecca Romijn as Mystique: Magneto's henchwoman, she is a shapeshifter. Mystique is blue, naked and covered in scales, and she acts as a spy. She injects a prison guard with metal, with which Magneto makes his escape, and also sexually tempts Wolverine. Romijn's makeup previously took nine hours to apply, however, the make-up department was able to bring it down to six hours for X2.

• James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops: Jean's fiance, field leader of the X-Men, and a teacher at Xavier's Institute, he shoots uncontrollable beams of concussive force from his eyes and wears a visor to control them. Cyclops is taken prisoner by Stryker.

• Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe / Storm: An African mutant and teacher at Xavier's School who can manipulate the weather. Storm befriends Nightcrawler. Berry dropped out of Jennifer Lopez's role in Gigli (2003) in favor of this film.

The following are new characters in the series;

• Brian Cox as Colonel William Stryker: A human military scientist who plans a worldwide genocide of mutants using Xavier and Cerebro. Stryker has experimented on mutants in the past, including Wolverine, and uses a serum to control them. Singer opted to cast Cox in the role as he was a fan of his performance as Hannibal Lector in Manhunter (1986).

Nightcrawler's tail was mainly
computer-generated, although
Alan Cumming sometimes used
one made of rubber.

• Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler: A kindly German mutant with a strong Catholic faith, yet ironically he has the appearance of a blue demon. Nightcrawler was used by Stryker in an assassination attempt on the President of the United States and gives help to the X-Men. He is capable of teleporting himself (and others) instantly from one location to another. On his body are many tattoos, one for every sin. Cumming had always been Singer's choice for the role, but Cumming could not accept the part due to scheduling conflicts. Ethan Embry had been reported to be in contention for the role, but the film labored in development long enough for Cumming to accept the part. Singer also felt comfortable in casting Cumming since he is fluent in the German language. The drawings of Adam Kubert were used as inspiration for Nightcrawler's makeup design, which took four hours to apply. For the scene where Nightcrawler has his shirt off, Cumming went through nine hours. To best pose as Nightcrawler, Cumming studied comic books and illustrations of the character.

• Kelly Hu as Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike: A woman, who like Wolverine, has a healing ability, and is controlled by Stryker. She wields long adamantium fingernails.

• Michael Reid McKay as Jason Stryker / Mutant 143: William Stryker's son. He was sent to Xavier's school in an attempt to "cure" his ability to create illusions. Returning home, Jason tortured his parents until his mother committed suicide. His father lobotomized him and uses a fluid from his brain to control mutants. Xavier's mind is too strong for the fluid, however, and Jason is instead used in order to manipulate him in Stryker's genocidal scheme.

Although the character of Senator Robert Kelly was killed in the first film, Bruce Davison reprised the role for scenes where Mystique uses his persona to infiltrate the government. In other cameos, Katie Stuart appeared as Kitty Pryde, a girl who can walk through walls, Bryce Hodgson as Artie, Kea Wong as Jubilee and Shauna Kain as Siryn, who is able to emit loud screams that alert the students to Stryker's attack. Also in the final scene with Xavier, a girl is seen dressed in a Native American style jacket, as well as a blond haired boy dressed in blue, played by Layke Anderson. These were confirmed to be Dani Moonstar and Douglas Ramsey. Daniel Cudmore appeared as Peter Rasputin / Colossus. Cudmore was set to use a Russian accent, but Singer dropped the idea for unknown reasons, and onset rewrites minimized the character's importance to a cameo.

Jubilee, Psylocke and Multiple Man were to have cameos for the scene when Stryker and his troops storm the X-Mansion. Beast, Gambit and Marrow were to have appearances during the Dark Cerebro sequence. Gambit's cameo was actually shot, but the footage was not used in the final cut. Beast's scene was to show Dr. Hank McCoy transforming into his notable blue fur while Marrow was to be seen lying on a ground in New York City. Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, the film's writers, cameo in scenes of Wolverine's Weapon X flashbacks as surgeons. Shaquille O'Neal wanted a role in the film but was ignored by the filmmakers.