A short, hairy mutant named Wolverine recruits teenage Kitty Pryde to Professor Xavier's school for "gifted" youngsters, where she joins a team of outcasts learning to control their powers. When a charismatic demagogue named Thomas Prince manipulates public fear to launch a genocidal crusade against mutants, the X-Men are framed for terrorism, captured, and sentenced to death. With the help of their guilt-ridden former ally Jason—who betrayed them to Prince—the team escapes, exposes Prince as a mutant, and defeats him in a climactic battle, proving that heroism isn't about being normal, but about choosing to fight for those who hate you.
