In 1984,
MYSTIQUE and
LOGAN infiltrate an underground mutant fight club in East Berlin run by
ARCADE to liberate captive mutants—including
KURT WAGNER and
FRED DUKES, locked in combat
inside an electrified cage.
After defeating Arcade and his men, Mystique and Logan escape with Kurt and head to
CALIBAN, who can help secure safe passage and locate more mutants to rescue.
At Caliban’s hideout, they’re ambushed by
Operation: Zero Tolerance (OZT) soldiers led by
AGENT CARL DENTI. The soldiers transform into PRIME SENTINELS—cyborgs powered by nanotech. Logan fights them off until Kurt teleports the trio to safety.
Out of options, Mystique decides they must return to Westchester, New York, to warn Xavier of the growing threat.
At the X-Mansion,
SCOTT SUMMERS,
JEAN GREY, and
ORORO MUNROE / STORM are upperclassmen at the
bustling school filled with other mutants, including
13-year-old JAMIE MADROX.
- Upon arriving in New York, Kurt and Storm quickly bond. Her rebellious, free-spirited nature encourages Kurt to embrace his powers and appearance more as she gives him a tour of the mansion.
- Scott and Jean remain stuck in a “will they, won’t they” phase of their relationship while navigating their own growing pains—Scott learning to lead, Jean grappling with the full extent of her psychic abilities.
Meanwhile,
ERIK LENSHERR / MAGNETO has abandoned his war against humanity and relocated to the remote island of
Avalon—named after Arthurian legend and
The Once and Future King. It’s a secret mutant haven populated by his acolytes, including
FORGE,
CALLISTO, and
TOAD, inspired by his
1973 White House address.
- PETER MAXIMOFF / QUICKSILVER also resides on Avalon, having reconciled with Magneto after learning he’s his father in the time since DOFP.
At the X-Mansion, Raven reunites with
HANK McCOY / BEAST for the first time in over ten years.
Since 1973,
Mystique and Logan have been hunted by
WILLIAM STRYKER’s military task force. In winter 1979, Logan sacrificed himself so Mystique could escape. After he was captured, Logan was subjected to the
Weapon X procedure, stripped of his free will, and transformed into a killing machine for Stryker. Eighteen months later, Mystique rescued him and freed his mind. They’ve since traveled the globe, freeing mutants from similar fates.
She chastises Beast for “hiding” in the X-Mansion with Charles away from what’s happening in the
real world, despite what’s said on the news and in polite company.
Beast, who now lives freely in his blue furry form, has started seeing
TRISH TILBY, a news anchor (and human)—who Mystique criticizes for glossing over real life for mutants beyond fluff pieces or pop culture buzz. Mystique realizes how different she and Beast have become since that beach in Cuba in 1962.
To investigate OZT and the Prime Sentinels, Xavier and Mystique (disguised as Raven) fly to
Langley to meet
MOIRA MACTAGGART, head of Mutant Affairs at the CIA. The nanotech Mystique describes is beyond CIA capabilities so Moira refers them to
BOLIVAR TRASK, the world’s leading robotics expert. But he’s currently
imprisoned in Magneto’s former cell beneath the Pentagon.
- Moira has no memory of Xavier or Raven, due to Xavier erasing her memories in First Class—a decision Raven questions as they walk freely past psychically-frozen agents.
Storm convinces Kurt, Jean, and Scott to skip study hall and
hit the mall. Meanwhile, Beast and Logan share an awkward moment—this Logan doesn’t remember meeting Beast in
DOFP, a nod to the franchise’s tangled timeline.
Back from Langley, Xavier joins Mystique, Beast, and Logan in the subbasement to use
Cerebro and psychically interrogate Trask. Like Moira, he has no answers.
Suddenly, Cerebro’s link to Trask is severed. Xavier, still connected, finds himself face-to-face on the astral-techno plane with
BASTION—the mastermind behind OZT and the Prime Sentinels.
Through technopathy, Bastion reveals his origin:
- Bastion is the human embodiment of NIMROD, the Sentinel leader from DOFP’s dark future. Nimrod detected Shadowcat’s temporal disruptions and mimicked its enemy’s tactic—traveling back in time to imprint itself into a human host before its erasure from existence.
Before Xavier can disconnect, Bastion activates sleeper Prime Sentinels worldwide—
ordinary citizens infected with nanotech at anti-mutant rallies and hate group meetings.
Mutants are suddenly attacked across the globe—including at the X-Mansion and Avalon, now exposed through Cerebro.
- At the mall, Scott, Jean, Storm, and Kurt evade Prime Sentinels amid panicked shoppers.
- At the mansion, Beast, Mystique, and Logan defend Jamie and the students from an assault led by Trish Tilby, revealed as a Prime Sentinel.
- On Avalon, Quicksilver defeats most of the invading Sentinels, led by Denti, but they calculate his trajectory mid-run and critically injure him.
Magneto, enraged by his son’s injuries and the sight of fallen mutants,
flashes back to Auschwitz. He tears the invaders apart, then ascends into the atmosphere and unleashes a massive electromagnetic pulse—shutting down all Prime Sentinels and plunging the world into darkness, triggering global panic.
That night, the X-Men—Xavier, Mystique, Logan, Beast, Scott, Jean, Storm, and Kurt—regroup in the mansion’s subbasement:
- The young X-Men grapple with the last 24 hours— Scott comforts Jean, while Storm simmers with anger, reminded of the traumas of her past.
- Beast studies the nanites inside Trish, now sedated and powerless in the blackout, and discovers a way to reverse their effects and suppress Bastion’s technopathy.
After a vigil for the fallen,
Magneto raises Avalon from the ocean, revealing a beehive-like fortress built with Forge’s engineering. He declares his intent to leave humanity behind. Avalon ascends into the upper atmosphere.
Later,
Magneto descends upon the X-Mansion to offer the X-Men sanctuary:
“How many more of your bones will pave the way to Xavier’s future, where we simper like beggars for tolerance? Your professor’s dream is dead. So I offer a new one. A home to replace what they stole from us. A new Avalon. We are left with but two choices: cling to this dying world, or rise to your future and look down upon this fallen pigsty planet.”
Storm, disillusioned by humanity’s hatred toward mutants, decides to join him. She had looked up to Mystique as a hero ever since watching her
stand up to President Nixon. Now, it’s
her turn to take a stand for mutants.
In Washington D.C.,
PRESIDENT KIRBY meets with senior intelligence officials and advisors, including Moira and Stryker, when Magneto hijacks every screen across the globe with a broadcast inviting mutants to join him on Avalon. Stryker urges a swift response, but Moira warns against actions that could trigger a long-feared evolutionary war.
Inside the War Room, the X-Men split into two teams and board separate X-Jets (Beast has been busy in the subbasement since
DOFP):
- Xavier, Mystique, and Nightcrawler will infiltrate Avalon to persuade Magneto to reverse his electromagnetic pulse—or Xavier will be forced to hijack his mind.
- Beast, Logan, Cyclops, and Jean will confront Bastion and his stockpile of advanced Sentinels, which he controls via technopathy from his citadel (its location discovered when Xavier and Bastion linked minds through Cerebro).
Before departing, Mystique and Beast wish each other luck. Once again, life pulls them apart—just as it did in Cuba and D.C.
Aboard Avalon, Kurt and Mystique battle Toad and Callisto. After defeating them, Kurt faces Storm, while Xavier and Mystique confront Magneto, who refuses to reverse the EMP. Mystique realizes Magneto and Xavier are alike—both choosing isolation over action by removing themselves from the world.
Kurt removes Magneto’s helmet, allowing Xavier to briefly enter his mind. But Mystique interrupts the process by striking Xavier, buying Beast’s team time to stop Bastion—knowing he’ll be unstoppable once power is restored.
But when Magneto pins Nightcrawler and Mystique with metal debris and begins
crushing his helmet onto Xavier, Storm realizes
this is now her moment to stand up for mutants like her hero Mystique and hits Magneto with a controlled lightning bolt.
To stop Bastion’s overwhelming Sentinels, Jean finally
embraces her true power—manifesting as a psionic phoenix—and destroys the army. The team then flies to Avalon, where they find Magneto and Xavier still comatose and locked in a mental duel, debating ideologies over a
game of chess.
With global power restored, Stryker convinces the President to authorize a
missile strike on Avalon.
Bastion, having survived Jean’s assault, fuses his mangled body with Sentinel wreckage, transforming into an
Ultra Prime Sentinel. He flies toward Avalon for a final assault—intending to destroy its gravitational core (built by Forge), causing it to crash into Earth. The machines will rebuild the world from its ashes.
After a relentless battle between Bastion and the X-Men, Scott steps up as a leader and orders the team to stand down; echoing Xavier’s teachings, they will
not fight the future. Bastion mocks his idealism, claiming the future won’t remember the X-Men. Still, Scott offers peace but Bastion dies
inside the gravitational core in his final failed attempt to stop the X-Men.
On the Astral Plane, Xavier and Magneto reach an emotional reconciliation. Magneto finally releases his anger against humanity over the loss of his family and embraces his new chosen family after Xavier’s words breakthrough to him:
“I know you think you've lost everything, but you haven't. You have your son, you have Raven... me, old friend. You have more family than you know…You didn’t have the chance to save your family before, but you do now. That's what I've come here to tell you.”
They awaken just in time for Magneto to halt the incoming missiles,
mirroring the X-Men: First Class finale. As the world watches, Magneto releases the missiles into space—letting go of his anger and resentment. The world is saved.
On the ground,
Magneto agrees to surrender and stand trial before five major military powers for his crimes against humanity. His decision stuns the X-Men, and Xavier pledges to help defend his old friend.
MONTAGE SEQUENCE:
- News coverage shows the world beginning to rebuild. Trish Tilby recovers in a hospital room, now free of all Sentinel nanites.
- In Washington D.C., Xavier meets with Moira and restores her memories—hinting at a possible romantic reconciliation in future sequels. Magneto is returned to his plastic prison, awaiting the trial of the century.
- Elsewhere, Stryker oversees a team of military scientists examining the wreckage of an advanced Sentinel from Bastion’s citadel. Bolivar Trask, in handcuffs, is revealed to be among the scientists.
- Jean and the X-Men begin to rebuild the X-Mansion while Beast oversees construction. Logan leaves for parts unknown, still having to make amends for his time spent as Stryker’s Wepaon X.
The montage ends with Mystique bidding farewell to Beast with a gentle kiss on the cheek. She leaves once again—this place is Xavier’s dream, not hers.
Inside the Danger Room, Beast initiates a training sequence for the X-Men: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Nightcrawler. Xavier watches as the simulation begins and the circular doors close...
THE END.
Post-Credit Scene I: Mystique meets with her new Brotherhood: Quicksilver, Blob, Callisto, and Toad.
Post-Credit Scene II: Galaxies away, the
Phoenix Force surges toward Earth after feeling Jean’s psychic call.
