# X2- the uncanny SPOILER thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2003, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594 "2003-05-02T10:57:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/241 "2003-05-09T15:52:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SolGrundy \* > **3) Nightcrawler pulled the knife out of his own pants leg. He clearly intended to kill the president, but was distracted when shot by a secret serviceman and dropped the knife in the desk.** “Dropped” the knife? Oh, right, he “dropped” the knife point-first so that it stuck in the desk and looked **exactly** like a warning – with a note attached, no less. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/242 "2003-05-09T16:04:15Z")
**tracer** , look on the DVD! (slightly inside joke) Man, I hope it comes out soonish. The first movie DVD is chock full of peanuts. Extras. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/243 "2003-05-09T16:07:16Z")
Erm, actually, yes. As I recall it, he draws the knife from his boot with his tail, passes it up to his hand, leans in and makes toothy-kissy faces at the prez… And gets shot. (Well, winged, anyway.) He teleports out, and the knife, which he drops, falls to the desk. Although, I don’t think he was originally supposed to assassinate the president, considering the revelation about Stryker and Jason’s brain juice. The end result was the same, so it’s all moot, I guess. But it looked to me like he dropped it, when the bullet snapped him out of his “trance.” ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/244 "2003-05-09T16:07:16Z")
So the note would have vanished if the knife would have been stuck in the president’s chest? I vote assassination attempt as well. Stryker would have a lot more to gain with an assassination than he would with just an attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/245 "2003-05-09T16:14:58Z")
Okay, that’s it. Apparently my mutation is the inability to post properly this week. The end of that post, which got lost between preview and submit… By the same token, we never got a look at (or heard from) the VP in the movie. After a mutant kills the prez, how much more likely is it gonna be that the VP will authorize _any_ kind of anti-mutant operation that comes across his desk? ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/246 "2003-05-09T17:14:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*“Dropped” the knife? Oh, right, he “dropped” the knife point-first so that it stuck in the desk and looked **exactly** like a warning – with a note attached, no less. \*\* Yep, it’s all there in the movie, big as day. He holds the knife up ready to plunge in, gets shot, it drops and lands upright in the desk, Nightcrawler bamfs out. A scene or two later, Stryker’s examining the knife mark in the desk blotter and says something like “That was a very close one, Mr. President.” A freaky-looking mutant assassinating the president would be a lot more conducive to anti-mutant revolts than an assassination attempt. Unless he were to plunge the knife all the way through, the note-ribbon would still be visible. ---
**Author:** ![dil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f04885/32.png) [@dil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dil)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/247 "2003-05-11T05:57:45Z")
Did anyone else catch this semi-subtle joke? When the X-men (including Magneto and Mystique) are on the jet planning the infiltration into the Alkali dam thing, Wolverine volunteers to go in. Magneto says, “We need to be able to operate the controls to the tunnel once we get inside. What are you going to do, slash your claws at it?” Later in the movie, Wolvie needs to close the doors, what does he do? Plunge his claws into the control panel of course! And voila, the doors close! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/248 "2003-05-11T06:31:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SolGrundy \* > **Yep, it’s all there in the movie, big as day. He holds the knife up ready to plunge in, gets shot, it drops and lands upright in the desk, Nightcrawler bamfs out. A scene or two later, Stryker’s examining the knife mark in the desk blotter and says something like "That was a very close one, Mr. President."** Okay, I just took a peek at the comic-book adaptation for _X2,_ and in it, Nightcrawler “snaps out of it” just before he’s about to stab the President, and the knife does just happen (by sheer coincidence) to land point-first when he drops it. The comic-book adaptation writers presumably had access to the _X2_ movie script, so it was probably an accurate rendition of what was supposed to be going on in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![teleute12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@teleute12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teleute12)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/249 "2003-05-11T08:17:18Z")
The same thing happened in the novelization: Nightcrawler is shot, snaps out of it, looks around, and takes off. He drops the knife, and it lands point-first. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/250 "2003-05-11T09:53:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by d\_redguy \* > \*\*Nope, Kitty Pride, aka Shadowcat. \*\* \ AKA Sprite at this stage in her career, if you don’t mind. If you need me, I’ll be over here geeking with the homies… ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/251 "2003-05-11T10:04:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Grimace \* > \*\*As for Jean’s Leaving the blackbird, I was bugged about it at first, then came to this reason of thinking: > > I think that she exited the blackbird to in her mind “Be able to affect it better”, i.e. moving the blackbird out of danger and keeping the oncoming deluge from destroying the blackbird. All of the little things, like controlling the plane, preventing Nightcrawler from leaving etc, I think she was doing “subconciously”. As hey, a telekenetic wouldn’t NEED to operate the controls etc, OR be able to prevent Nightcrawler from porting out (which IMHO I feel was telepathic in origin, and along the strength of something Xavier could do.). > > Now I know this doesn’t completely line up with Canon, \*\* It doesn’t line up with the movie either. She was perfectly capable of ripping the fins off the missile without leaving the cockpit, or even having to see the missile. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/252 "2003-05-11T10:12:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Narrad \* > **Really? Why?** I could buy Stryker using drugs to force Magneto to spill the beans in prison. I could accept the story that he could similarly drug another mutant, Deathstrike, into becoming his bodyguard. This situations have real-life parallels. I could it more difficult to believe that he could capture a teleporting mutant and somehow convince him to hatch a plan to infiltrate the White House and attempt to kill the President (and then forget the whole thing). With regard to Cyclops, it also seemed unlikely to me that within the space of a few days, Stryker had influenced Scott so much that he felt comfortable leaving him to roam the premises, where he would attack his girlfriend. It just seemed so weak and contrived. \*\* [/QUOTE] Cyclops had been drugged perhaps minutes before; when you see the burn on his neck, it’s fresh and raw. Even without the drug, Stryker has his son directly on hand to provide uber-brainwashing - you know, the thing he used on Xavier and which the entire damn plot of the film was centred around? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/253 "2003-05-11T10:24:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Saltire \* > \*\*Magneto’s helmet blocks psionics (he made it that way because he knew Xavier could turn him off like a switch at any time without that protection, even though Mags is naturally resistant to mind control without the helmet), so he wasn’t affected by what Jason was making the Prof do. \*\* Actually, Magneto designed his helmet to sever his connection to Cerebro. That way, Xavier couldn’t find him using the machine. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/254 "2003-05-11T10:43:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SolGrundy \* > \*\*I just got back from seeing it again (I really think it’s my favorite movie ever, now). All these questions may have been answered already, but here’re the things I was looking out for: > > 1. The bullet that pops out of Wolverine’s head was _definitely_ compacted.\*\* I have three quibbles with this. The first is that it disappears into his head at a point where the skull is perhaps 1/4" below the surface, and the bullet isn’t compacted that much. The second is that at the angle he was shot, the bullet should have caromed upwards off his skull. The third is that _you hear this happen_. \*\* > [@](#): > > 1. Lady Deathstrike has exactly one line in the movie: “what are you > doing here?” to Mystique-as-cleaning-man\*\* Did she actually speak in The Scorpion King? I can’t recall, but certainly I think they’re playing to her strengths as an actress - long legs and nice tits. \*\* > [@](#): > > 1. Nightcrawler pulled the knife out of his own pants leg. He clearly intended to kill the president, but was distracted when shot by a secret serviceman and dropped the knife in the desk.\*\* Agreed. A heavy knife dropped straight down will penetrate wood and leather, Tracer. \*\* > [@](#): > > 1. Rogue uses Pyro’s power both to debilitate him and to extinguish the flames. She doesn’t touch Bobby in that scene.\*\* Correct. Pyro can manipulate flame, and as we see in his scene with Magneto in the X-Jet that includes the capacity to extinguish fires. \*\* > [@](#): > > 1. When Jean is holding back the flood, the last scene before the flood takes over has her with full-on Phoenix flames all around her (I hadn’t noticed that before). Knowing what was going to happen, I noticed a _lot_ more foreshadowing of the Phoenix power all throughout the last half of the movie: > When she explodes the first missile, she says “Oh God!” I’d thought that this was just a throwaway line, but it seems like she was really saying it because exploding the missile begins to unlock the Phoenix power and it frightens her. Which is why she does nothing to deflect the second one.\*\* I think you’re fanwanking here, Sol. IMHO, there was no reason for her to say that other than because she had been unable to stop the second missile. \*\* > [@](#): > > All throughout the dam scenes, she says stuff like “Something terrible is going to happen.” They cut to something terrible happening elsewhere, and I’d thought it was foreshadowing of either Logan’s fight or Prof. X & the Cerebro. But now I think she was saying the Phoenix power was terrible. > When she deflect’s Cyclops’ eye beam, there’s a shot of her holding it back, and then looking absolutely EVIL and knocking it into the turbines.\*\* That could be reflections; the whole scene was pretty red. If we’re digging into comic lore, though, there was a point in the original Phoenix arc where Jean-Phoenix completely restrained Cyclops’ eye beams so she could look into his eyes and see what colour they were. (_Blue, IIRC - Encyclopaedic Evil Death._) \*\* > [@](#): > > As to “why didn’t Jason know it was Mystique talking to him?”: I was under the impression that his power was write-only; he could plant illusions in your head but couldn’t read your mind.\*\* Sounds about right. \*\* > [@](#): > > And for the ending with the president: Professor X could manipulate the minds of everyone necessary to get the entire crew into the Oval Office (to make a more effective presentation). Storm’s lightning storm was partly for dramatic effect, but mostly to cover up the missing time. The implication is that once they leave, the President’s going completely off-script right after a freak electrical storm is going to be more disconcerting to people than a few missing minutes. \*\* What pissed me off about the ending was that Xavier made no attempt to reach out the hand of friendship to humans or offer his services if required. That left the ending as follows: X-Men turn up in a threatening display of power. XAVIER: “We’re not going anywhere, Mr President. And I’d just like to add that this huge threatening display of power isn’t meant to be threatening.” WOLVERINE threatens the President. X-Men leave without another word. Way to go, you brainless bald bastard - I can’t think of _anything_ you could have done that would do more to inspire an anti-mutant pogrom. \ ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/255 "2003-05-11T13:40:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stonebow \* > \*\*speaking of nazis…well, actually not nazis, cold-war russians… > > i wonder if Omega Red will be making an appearance in the near future. > > now THAT was a badass. \*\* Yep, that would be pretty sweet. They can keep making these movies as long as the budget holds out and they gross 100 million in a week, after all, assuming they don’t do something stupid like _Batman and Robin_. ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/256 "2003-05-11T14:45:07Z")
I’m not a big X-men geek. In fact, I’ve only seen the movies, and I thought they were ok as far as popcorn action things go, but that’s it. Anyway, my big relevation for this thread was discovering where the Kitty Pride that Rivers Cuomo sings about comes from. As for the movie, I thought that Voldemort was the coolest character. The way he broke out of that prison was well good. Dumbledore was kind of boring as compared to the first movie, and I keep expecting a spin-off series based around the lives of the students at Hogwarts school of X-Men and Mutanty (Dawson’s Creek style, y’know?) And I liked the scene at Iceguys house with his muggle parents. ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/257 "2003-05-11T18:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Deptford \* > \*\*Oh and there was one thing that rankled. > > Wolverine says “Mutations are carried on the Y Chronosome”. > > Uh-huh. So Rogue , Storm, Jean Grey etc. How exactly do they have powers since being women they don’t have Y chromosomes. \*\* Actually, you can have extra chromosomes. It’s more common for men to carry an extra X chromosome, (so they have XXY) this is called Klinefelter Syndrome. However you can also inherit an extra Y chromosome, so a woman could also have XXY, which I belive it’s called Mosaic or Mosaicism?. (Or a man could have XYY.) It’s also possible to end up with XXXXY or some other such madness. 😉 Ewa Klubukowska, a 1964 sprint bronze medalist for Poland, was disqualified when she failed testing as she failed the sex test due to the prescence of a Y chormosome. Theres been a few other two, but this was the first one that came up in a search. -Apparently there has been some study done that the presence of an extra Y chromosome in males or females leads to violence, although google is not my friend at the moment. It’s also possible for a woman to have XY chromosomes and remain female because af a mutation on the sex determining gene, which is supposed to switch over to “male” but doesnt. [couple](http://47xxy.org/) of [sites](http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/S/SexChromosomes.html) for you. Hijack Over… OOOOOOOOH BABY! I loved that film! ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/258 "2003-05-12T00:00:37Z")
There’s a good [thread](http://www.comicboards.com/xmb/view.php?trd=030505043704) on the Comicboards that addresses some of the common _X2_ questions. Among other things it includes a link to a screen capture of Stryker’s files listing the names of known mutants. \*Evil Death wrote: \* > [@](#): > > Actually, Magneto designed his helmet to sever his connection to Cerebro. That way, Xavier couldn’t find him using the machine. Recheck the first movie. In the big standoff scene at the train station, Prof.X can’t affect Magneto because he’s wearing the helmet. He can control Toad and Sabretooth, but has no influence on Mags. So the helmet is designed to block telepathy. .:Nichol:. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/259 "2003-05-12T02:06:10Z")
After seeing it again, a few things I noticed. Magneto’s prison break While in the form of Senator Kelly, Mystique was surprised to hear Stryker say he had Magneto in prison. She asks, “_YOU_ have Eric? Can you arrange a meeting for me?” Magneto wasn’t expecting the blood iron doping, but he sensed it immediately and correctly assumed it was Mystique’s doing. Who else? In addition to the morphing, Mystique is extremely intelligent and adaptive. Jean Grey / Phoenix The missle attack on the airplane. She _did_ deflect the second missle. Just not enough. That’s why she said, “Oh God.” and the missle landed a glancing blow on the fuselog and not an engine strike. In the dam fight with Scotty, she deflects his highbeams and throws it back and in so doing, _all_ the turbines are shifted. _That_ wasn’t just redirecting Scotty. Had to be Phoenix coming out. Or however you want that phrased. Jason Stryker In the vision he projects to Picard, the little girl has one blue eye one green/hazel eye, just like him. Confronting Storm in Cerebro II, he (as the projected smarmy little girl) says, “I’ve got my eye on you!” So, the eyes (or one eye) have something to do with his power? What mutant would that be? Professor X and Magneto They use first names with each other. (Tho Mag later asks Pyro, “No, what’s your _real_ name?”) When Pro X says, “Old friend,” I got goosebumps and deja vu. Khan in _STII:TWOK_ says this, as does Picard in some ep or movie of TNG (I dont know which one). Magneto helped build Cerebro in what issue? * * * I’ve got this thread subscribed, but I may have missed one of these points if previously discussed. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594/260 "2003-05-12T03:28:54Z")
> [@](#): > > **Magneto helped build Cerebro in what issue?** Unless I’ve missed a lot (and revisionism in the comics being what it is, it’s entirely possible, _but_…) this is purely a movie invention, I think. Cerebro, in the comics, was also a hell of a lot less useful, in terms of what could be done with it (it was strictly a locator, though once or twice was used to allow Xavier to communicate at extreme long range with someone, in an emergency) as well as being a lot less of a plot device. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x2-the-uncanny-spoiler-thread/172594.md?page=14)