X-Men: House of M

***X-Men: House of M*** is a 2016 superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the X-Men. The film is the twenty-fourth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first film in Volume Four. *X-Men: House of M* is a sequel to *X-Men*, *X-Men: Hellfire*, and *X-Men: Phoenix Saga* and was directed by Lee Toland Krieger and written by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz. The film stars Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Angela Bassett as Ororo Munroe/Storm, Dermot Mulroney as Hank McCoy/Beast, James Franco as Scott Summers, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Paul Bettany as Vision, Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver, Emma Caulfield as Emma Frost, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Bobby Drake/Iceman, Mae Whitman as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat, Shailene Woodley as Rogue, Iwan Rheon as Toad, Sadie Sink as Layla Miller, Ian McKellan as Erik Lensherr/Magneto, and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X.

The film was released on May 6, 2016.

## Plot

Logan awakens in a world where mutants are the dominant species, and humans are an oppressed minority. Logan is an Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is in a relationship with Raven Darkholme, his co-worker. Together they run a squad of mutants including Bobby Drake, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, and Toad. Logan sees the news and learns that the House of Magnus rules over the mutants from the capital of Genosha. Erik Lensherr is the ruling Lord, while Wanda and Pietro Maximoff are Princess and Prince. Vision has also somehow been resurrected, along with Wanda's children Billy and Tommy, and all three are a part of the royal family. Logan suspects Magneto has coerced Wanda into creating this world, though Logan is hesitant to defend her after her actions in *Avengers: Disassembled*. Nevertheless, Logan leaves his team to find his allies.

As Logan is pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D., he is cut off from them when a mysterious fog appears. Logan realizes it is Storm protecting him and together they escape. However, to Logan's shock, Storm does not have any of her memories, but brings him to a secret hideout, where Hank McCoy is a human, rather than a mutant, and the two run a mutant-human alliance underground. Logan tries to tell them about the real world that he came from, and Storm and Hank believe him, because of a young girl, Layla Miller, giving them the exact same story, and returning some of Hank's memories, though he is still battling for control in his mind.

Logan and Hank remember that they were with the Avengers and going to decide what to do with Wanda, who was hiding with her father on Genosha. Xavier was losing his control over her, but when they arrived, they all disappeared into a white light. Layla gives Storm back her memories by accident, and Logan realizes they need to get someone to help Layla's psychic powers. In this world, Scott Summers and Emma Frost are a happily married couple. While Scott is at work, Logan, Storm, Hank, and Layla break into their house. Emma fights them off, but Layla is able to get through to her and returns her memories. Emma helps Layla gain control over her abilities, but determines that she is one of the most powerful mutants she has ever seen, on the level of Jean Grey, Wanda, or Charles Xavier. Emma asks about Xavier, but Logan reveals that there is no record of an Xavier in this world.

Scott returns home, but Emma calms him down long enough for Layla to give him back his memories. As the team ponders why they were all put into their roles of this world by Magneto, Logan realizes that Wanda gave them all what they wished for most; he got every memory back that he has ever lost, Emma got Scott as her husband, and Hank got to be human. Before they can leave, Mystique and her S.H.I.E.L.D. team attack them, but Rogue's memories are returned upon touching Layla and absorbing her powers. Mystique and the others escape.

The team makes a plan to go to Genosha and force Wanda to reverse the spell. On Genosha, Mystique and her team report to the Royal Family and inform them that they will likely see infiltrators soon. As the X-Men arrive, Mystique, Bobby, Kitty, and Toad ambush them. As the team defends themselves, Mystique is killed in the fight, and they realize that killing someone in this world may be permanent. Bobby and Kitty join them upon regaining their memories, while Toad escapes with his memories. Storm, Hank, Scott, Bobby, Kitty, and Rogue take on Magneto as the attack becomes public.

Logan, Layla, and Emma look for Wanda, but are forced to attack Vision, who they are able to decapacitate. They find Wanda, but Pietro is protecting her. Layla returns Pietro's memories, and he nearly suffers a breakdown remembering his death. Wanda defends her world, and they quickly realize that she created this world on her own, which is confirmed by Magneto. Emma realizes that Xavier was the only one powerful enough to stop Wanda, and now he is gone, but Wanda promises she didn't mean to. Layla is almost able to get through to her, until Billy attacks them, revealing he has his own mystical abilities. He preoccupies Logan, while Emma and Wanda have a psychic battle and Wanda begins to blame Magneto for manipulating her all her life. Emma uses this to try to help her, but Wanda realizes that mutants are the core problem for everything in her life, and she reverts reality, before whispering "no more mutants".

Everyone awakens in the Xavier Mansion. Logan and Emma feel normal, but Hank has permanently reverted to his human form. They believe this to be a consequence of his life in Wanda's world, until they learn that Scott and Storm have lost their abilities as well. Rogue, Bobby, and Kitty arrive and reveal that Kitty is the only one with her abilities. Emma races to Cerebro, where she discovers that the mutant population has dwindled from hundreds of thousands, to a mere few hundred. Logan asks about Xavier, and Emma discovers she cannot feel his psyche anywhere on the world, which means he is either dead or someone is blocking him from her view.

Logan, Emma, and Scott regroup with Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Stephen Strange. The world has deemed it "M-Day", and the six return to Genosha, where they find a depowered and depressed Magneto, realizing that he allowed Wanda to become this way. They ask where she has gone, but he has no idea. Several scientists claim that the energy that was created by all these mutants is now gone, along with their powers. But due to the Laws of Physics, the energy has to have manifested itself somewhere else. As they say this, a Phoenix-like glowing energy appears in space.

In a mid-credits scene, in a cabin, somewhere in Europe, Wanda sits peacefully on a porch, retaining one item from the other world, a picture of herself, Vision, their twins, Pietro, and Magneto. She smiles as she looks at it. In a post-credits scene, Nathaniel Essex arrives at the Essex Corporation, where he goes to the underground level of the building and overlooks several mutants he has in his possession, including Xavier.

## Cast

* Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
* Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch
* Angela Bassett as Ororo Munroe/Storm
* Dermot Mulroney as Hank McCoy/Beast
* James Franco as Scott Summers/Cyclops
* Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
* Paul Bettany as Vision
* Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
* Emma Caulfield as Emma Frost
* Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Bobby Drake/Iceman
* Mae Whitman as Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat
* Shailene Woodley as Rogue
* Iwan Rheon as Toad
* Sadie Sink as Layla Miller
* Ian McKellan as Erik Lensherr/Magneto
* Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X

Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Benedict Cumberbatch reprise their roles from previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Steve Rogers/Captain America, and Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange in cameo roles.

## Reception

### **Box office**

*X-Men: House of M* grossed $607.2 million domestically and $697.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.305 billion. The film had a domestic opening weekend of $215.4 million, debuting at number one at the box office and becoming the biggest opening weekend of the Marvel Cinematic Universe at that point. *Deadline Hollywood* calculated the net profit of the film to be $413.2 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.

### **Critical reception**

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 90% approval rating based on 313 reviews, with an average rating of 7.90/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "With intelligence and emotional resonance to match its stunning special effects, *X-Men: House of M* matches its predecessors with an exciting and ambitious burst of superhero achievement." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100 based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.