Plot summary

In Chicago, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) works at a dead-end desk job with an overbearing boss, takes medication for panic attacks, and has a live-in girlfriend who cheats on him with his co-worker, Barry (Chris Pratt). One evening, Wesley is told by a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie) that his recently murdered father was an assassin, and the killer, named Cross (Thomas Kretschmann), is now hunting him. When Cross and Fox engage in a shootout, Wesley panics and is pursued by Cross. Fox flips Wesley into her car and then executes an escape. Wesley awakens in a factory surrounded by Fox and other assassins. The group's leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman), forces Wesley at gunpoint through the Gunsmith to shoot the wings off of several flies, which he does, much to Wesley's shock. Sloan explains that Wesley's panic attacks are actually a rare ability that allows him to distribute massive amounts of adrenaline to his brain, slowing his perception of his surroundings and granting him superhuman strength and speed. He reveals that Wesley's father, as well as Cross, were members of the Fraternity, a society of assassins that maintains balance in the world. Sloan wants to train him so that he may help kill Cross.A panicked Wesley leaves the building and awakens the next morning in his apartment. He discovers that his bank account now contains $3.6 million. Filled with new confidence, he insults his boss in front of the whole office and hits Barry in the face with a keyboard. Fox, waiting for Wesley, chauffeurs him to the Fraternity headquarters, a re-purposed cotton mill. Wesley trains under Fox's cruel tutelage, learning endurance, knife fighting, and hand-to-hand combat. He also learns to control and use his abilities for firearm marksmanship, such as curving bullets around targets. Frustrated by his lack of progress and the brutality of the training, Wesley insists he is ready, but Sloan disagrees. Wesley refocuses on his training and starts to excel. Sloan then shows him the Loom of Fate, which has served for 1,000 years in giving coded names of Fraternity targets through errors in the fabric. The Loom identifies those who will create evil and chaos in the future, with Sloan responsible for interpreting the code.After several successful missions, and dumping his girlfriend with the help of Fox, Wesley has an unexpected shootout with Cross, wherein he accidentally kills the Exterminator, a Fraternity member he had befriended. Cross shoots Wesley in the shoulder. Sloan grants Wesley's wish to avenge his father and sends him after Cross-but then secretly gives Fox a mission to kill Wesley, saying that his name has come up in the Loom. Analyzing the bullet from his shoulder, Wesley realizes that Cross had used a traceable bullet for the first time (as his previous kills were all untraceable). Wesley traces it to a man named Pekwarsky (Terence Stamp). He and Fox capture Pekwarsky, who arranges a meeting with Cross. When Wesley faces Cross alone on a moving train, Fox crashes a car into the train, causing a derailment. While Cross saves Wesley from falling, Wesley fatally shoots him. Before dying, Cross reveals that he is Wesley's real father. Fox confirms this, and explains that Wesley was recruited because he was the only person Cross would not kill. As Fox prepares to shoot Wesley, he shoots the train window below him and Cross, causing the men to free fall into the river.Wesley is retrieved by Pekwarsky, who takes him to Cross' apartment (which is located just opposite Wesley's) and explains that Sloan started manufacturing targets for profit after discovering that he was targeted by the Loom. Cross discovered the truth, went rogue, and started killing Fraternity members to keep them away from his son. Pekwarsky departs, stating that Cross wished Wesley a life free of violence. Wesley, however, decides to kill Sloan after discovering his father's secret room, containing schematics to the Fraternity base. Wesley attacks the base using explosive rats (a tactic he learned from the Exterminator (Konstantin Khabensky) (one of Wesley's only friends in the Fraternity)), killing surviving Fraternity assassins in a massive shootout. Entering Sloan's office, he is surrounded by Fox, Gunsmith and the remaining assassins. Wesley discloses Sloan's deception, to which Sloan reveals that the names of those present had legitimately come up in the Loom, and that he had acted to protect them. He gives the members a choice: kill themselves, per the code, or kill Wesley and use their skills to control the world. As the others choose to kill him, Fox curves a bullet around the room, choosing to follow the code and kill everyone, including herself, but not before throwing her gun to Wesley. Sloan escapes in the mayhem.Wesley, penniless again due to his bank account being wiped out by Sloan, returns to his desk job. Sloan arrives to kill Wesley, but is shocked when the person turns around and is revealed to be a decoy. Wesley shoots Sloan with a sniper rifle from Cross' apartment miles away. Wesley states that he is taking back control of his life before turning to the audience and asking, "What have you done lately?"