It looks like they may be setting up to tell the Phoenix storyline in future movies; at the end, Jean is seemingly drowned in the dam burst at Alkali Lake, and I made out a very vague gold bird-like patch of light skimming over the water at the end of the movie, just a hint of one. As you may know from the pages of "Uncanny X-Men" in the 70s and 80s, Marvel Girl was badly wounded by radiation piloting a space shuttle back to earth -- she was the only one who could hold it off for long enough to do the job. She was impersonated by the cosmic Phoenix force, and later came back healed and vastly more powerful as a result of her brush with this cosmic entity. She was renamed "Phoenix". Note that she hasn't been given a "nom de plume" in the movies as yet.
This could help James Marsden (Cyclops) in his role, because as Phoenix, Jean was powerful enough to hold Cyclops' eye beams in. With his eyes uncovered, he would have more opportunity to act. He is criticized for being wooden, but even with the new, more slendor visor designed for this movie, it still hides the eyes and makes it more difficult to emote - compare Levar Burton (Jordi Laforge) in "Star Trek: The Next Generation". I can picture Jean telling Scott (Cyclops' name) to put on his visor if danger nears, when she'll need all her attention for battle.

In a zinger from Mad Magazine, Magneto soliloquizes (with a few random nuts and pieces of metallic hardware stuck to his helmet) "In the first movie, my evil plot was a ray to wipe out the humans. In this movie, I used a ray to try to wipe out the humans. I can't tell you what I'm going to try in the third movie; it's a secret!"

Revision History: Last updated June 1, May 25, 2003