Return of the mutants (original) (raw)

Cinema

Nature volume 423, page 119 (2003) Cite this article

Director Bryan Singer's latest film, X-Men 2 (Twentieth Century Fox), is no different, ending with a flowery but accurate description of evolution by punctuated equilibrium. This second adaptation of the popular comic X-Men opened worldwide at the beginning of May.

The X-Men are a band of superheroes (Homo sapiens superior) who possess a mutated X gene, which has an extraordinarily variable phenotype, allowing some mutants to walk through walls, some to shoot ice from their fingers, and some to perform Moses-like acts of water telekinesis. (The X gene's normal function is not revealed.) The team is led by a powerful telepath, Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart), a benevolent leader who promotes the integration of the mutants into an otherwise hateful society.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Subscribe to this journal

Receive 51 print issues and online access

$199.00 per year

only $3.90 per issue

Buy this article

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Additional access options:

Author information

Author notes

  1. Adam Rutherford is the web editor of Nature.

    • Adam Rutherford

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rutherford, A. Return of the mutants.Nature 423, 119 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/423119b

Download citation