X-Men: The Last Stand

X-Men: The Last Stand is the 2006 20th Century Studios film based on Marvel Comics' X-Men Franchise. It is the third film in the X-Men Film Series and the last one to focus solely on the original cast of the franchise.

The movie is a loose adaptation of the the Phoenix saga, with Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) turning up alive after the events of X2: X-Men United. However, the Phoenix force has taken hold and she kills Cyclops (James Marsden). As the world develops a cure for mutants, tensions escalate between the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood who oppose the cure. Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore and Aaron Stanford reprise their roles from previous films. The movie also adds Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut, Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde and Ben Foster as Angel.

The movie is directed by Brett Ratner from a script by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn. The film did well at the box office and held the top spot in the film series for several years. It got middling reviews from critics and suffered most with fans who did not care for the treatment of a highly-regarded storyline. Kinberg would take another crack at the story with 2019's Dark Phoenix, which he wrote and directed with even less-impressive results.

The film prompted a reset from the studio who recast the franchise in the prequel X-Men: First Class.