10 Most Infuriating Movie Cliffhangers

8. Phoenix Rises - X2

X-Men 2 ends on a fantastic climax as Dr. Jean Grey saves the other mutants by building a telekinetic wall to shield them against a torrent of water that she eventually unleashes upon herself, presumably dying as a result. However, what follows had just about every comic book geek clapping their hands with glee; the final shot of the film floats over the Alkali Lake, and what can we make out? Why, the shape of the Phoenix - which in comic book lore, Jean Grey will turn into - flying away.

And why did this make us so mad? Well it didn't at the time, it's the perfect tease...but it's only because it's so perfect and what came after it wasn't, that in retrospect, it does nothing but infuriate us today. After Bryan Singer bailed on X2 to make Superman Returns, his hastily found replacement director Brett Ratner then completely screwed up X-Men: The Last Stand. None of the promise was fulfilled; instead we got a meek comic book film from someone who clearly didn't know a whole lot about comics.

Thus Jean Grey's full potential as the Phoenix wasn't realised, and even casual comic book fans were left mostly scratching their heads.