En Sabah Nur, otherwise known as Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), was worshipped as a god since the dawn of civilization. He was the first and most powerful Mutant and absorbed the powers of many other mutants to become immortal and invincible. With his Horsemen—Pestilence, Famine, Death and War--he ruled supreme, but the ancient Egyptians revolted in 3600 BCE, crushed his servants, and buried him alive, until archeologist Moira McTagget (Rose Byrne) discovers his tomb in 1983. His followers release him with a chant, raising an earthquake in Africa and Europe.
In Poland, Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbinder) works in a factory, has a wife and daughter, whom he tells about his parents’ death in a concentration camp. The earthquake causes an accident in the factory and Erik saves the life of a fellow worker, revealing his power as a mutant. Thus exposed, he is arrested, but his daughter takes control of a flock of birds to attack his captors. They respond by killing his wife and daughter, and Erik kills them all.
Meanwhile, student Scott Summers (Tye Sheriden) complains to his teacher of pain in his eyes and leaves the classroom to hide in a bathroom stall. A bully comes in to beat him up for an imagined slight, but Scott opens his eyes and the bully is blasted through the wall. Scott’s brother Alex, called Havok (Lucas Till) takes him to the School for Gifted Youngsters to meet Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult) and Jean Grey (Sophie Turner).
In West Berlin, Angel (Ben Hardy) is fighting in a ring. The promoters bring in Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) to fight him, rigging the ring so that Nightcrawler cannot teleport away. Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) helps him to escape. She brings him to the school as well, where Jean sees visions of chaos and destruction.
In Egypt, Ororo Munro/Storm (Alexandra Shipp) creates a storm in order to rob two men. They attack her, but Apocalypse saves her and increases her powers. He also upgrades Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Angel, giving the latter deadly metal wings. In Poland, Erik returns to the factory to settle the score with those who turned him in, whereupon Apocalypse appears, kills Magneto’s enemies with a wave of his hand, and upgrade’s Eric’s powers as well. Charles and Hank use Cerebro to find Moira, who tells them the story of Apocalypse. Through Erik’s mental connection to Professor Xavier, Apocalypse seizes control of Cerebro and overpowers the Professor. Quicksilver appears and tries to evacuate everyone before the entire school is destroyed and Nightcrawler teleports several students, but Colonel Stryker (Josh Helman) appears as well and arrests Raven, Moira, and Hank. Stryker’s secret weapon, under powerful restraints, is Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Jean frees him and they free the other mutants.
Apocalypse uses Charles to speak to every mind on the planet and intends to use him to control everyone on Earth, while Magneto manipulates the magnetic poles to bring about the Apocalypse, cleansing the Earth of mankind and creating a new world order. The showdown between the two mutant forces takes place in Egypt.
This movie, directed by Bryan Singer, serves nicely as a climax to the entire X-Men Saga. What is more climactic than the Apocalypse? Thus, the next movie, Logan, directed by James Mangold, who directed The Wolverine, serves as a denouement to the whole series.