Issue 1

**"Issue #1"** is the first episode of the first season of the Netflix series *X-Men*. The episode premiered on August 21, 2015.

## Recap

In 1973, New York Senator Robert Kelly delivers a speech, demanding "mutants" to be registered and identified, so that they can be separated from humans. Telepathic Charles Xavier is present, as well as Erik Lensherr, a former friend of his, who can bend magnetic fields. Both are upset at the notion of the act, though Xavier is worried Lensherr will react violently. Lensherr tells Xavier that the world is changing, and they must too.

In Mississippi, sixteen-year-old Marie is studying with her boyfriend, which leads to a kiss. However, when she kisses him, she begins to suck the life force out of his body. She pulls away but he has already been left unconscious. Marie packs her bags and then runs away from home.

In France, shapeshifting mutant Raven Darkholme enters a party and seduces Jean-Luc Bernard, a French politician. Ororo "Storm" Munroe, a mutant who can control the weather, shocks Bernard, temporarily paralyzing him. Darkholme breaks his leg and then warns him to back off from the Mutant Registration Act, or they'll be back. Transforming into her true blue form, she escapes with Storm.

At Worthington Industries in New York, billionaire inventor Warren Worthington Jr. has finally prepared a potential cure for the mutants. His son Warren Worthington III, who has wings, volunteers to take it first. However, after reconsidering it, he instead flies away, angering his father.

At the Xavier Mansion, Xavier has been preparing to officially start a school for mutant children to escape the outside world, though he has accepted several young students for a test run, including sixteen-year-olds cryokinetic Bobby Drake, and intangible Kitty Pryde. He also has recruited longtime friend, Hank McCoy, who can transform into a blue "Beast" form, and college students Scott Summers, who can shoot laser beams out of his eyes, and Jean Grey, telepathic and telekinetic, to be a part of the "X-Men", a team of mutants to show the world that not all of them are bad.

In Alberta, Marie has managed to make her way there. Stumbling into a bar, she witnesses a cage fight between Logan, a mutant with metal claws dubbed "The Wolverine", and a human. Logan beats up the other man, and collects a sum of money. On his way out, Marie asks Logan for a place to sleep that night, telling him her name is "Rogue". Logan agrees to let her stay at his house for the night and the two leave.

Raven and Storm return to their apartment, where they see on the news that Bernard has taken his name off the Mutant Registration Act. Raven marks the name off of their list, and locates Kelly as their next target. Storm contacts an ally, who agrees to privately fly them to New York.

At the Mansion, Jean and Scott decide to go into town and get a drink. Leaving the mansion, Hank sees them but keeps their secret, as Xavier begins to wonder where they are. At the bar, Scott and Jean get into a fight, which causes Jean to accidentally blow the glass off of the windows, exposing herself.

At Logan's house, Rogue sleeps on the couch, though she awakens when an intruder enters the house. Rogue attempts to find Logan and awaken him, though the intruder spots her before she can, and she is forced to fight him off, unable to see him in the shadows. Eventually, Logan does awaken and realizes the man is a worker at the bar who is demanding Logan's money from a fight he lost weeks before. Logan stabs his leg and runs away with Rogue.

Raven and Storm meet the former's contact, Amahl Farouk, who acts suspicious before sending them on the plane. While on the plane, Raven appears to attack Storm, who nearly takes the plane down. However, this is revealed to be all in Storm's head, while Raven watches on in horror.

At the bar in New York, Scott accidentally uses his abilities too, leading to a fight. Eventually, Hank arrives and helps Scott and Jean, though the cops are called. Xavier learns of the fight through his telepathy and has Kitty and Bobby drive him to the bar, just as the police show up. Xavier freezes the cops and gets Jean, Scott, and Hank to safety. Driving back to the mansion, Warren flies down and stops the car, asking for their help.

Logan and Rogue are driving when the latter asks Logan who he could have lost to in the cage fight. Logan tells her it is a long story, though before he has time to get into it, their truck is stopped by Erik, who asks for their assistance.

## Cast

### Starring

* James McAvoy as Charles Xavier
* Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr
* Enver Gjokaj as Logan/Wolverine
* Max Ehrich as Scott Summers/Cyclops
* Camryn Grimes as Jean Grey
* Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast
* Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme
* Nafessa Williams as Ororo Munroe/Storm
* Liza Soberano as Marie/Rogue
* Tom Holland as Bobby Drake/Iceman
* K.J. Apa as Warren Worthington III
* Grace Victoria Cox as Kitty Pryde
* Robert Redford as Robert Kelly

## Trivia

* The episode received very positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the episode has a 90% based on 30 reviews, with an average approval rating of 6.93/10. *Entertainment Weekly*gave it a B+ and *The AV Club* gave it an A-. Conversely, IGN awarded the episode a 5.3/10 "Mediocre" score.