X-Men: First Class

[Murr]

this was on IGN and thought it may be handy

 

Charles Xavier

 

Played by: James McAvoy (Atonement)

 

First Appearance: X-Men Vol. 1 #1 (1963)

Always Knows: Exactly what the kids in the back of the class are doing. So knock it off.

 

Charles Xavier is a man with a dream of a world where humans and mutants co-exist peacefully. He's also just enough of a pragmatist to know that dream is a long ways off.

 

In the meantime, he's partnered with his friend Magneto to build a school where young mutants can learn about their powers and train to protect their fellow mutants in the years to come. Nothing in this plan can go wrong, right?

 

 

 

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Magneto

 

Played by: Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds)

First Appearance: X-Men Vol. 1 #1 (1963)

Most Likely To: Stab his friend in the back (possibly literally) and become an international super-terrorist.

 

One day, Eric Magnus Lensherr will become the X-Men's greatest enemy and a threat to peaceful human/mutant relations. For now, he's simply an ambitious man who shares Xavier's dream of building a school. These two friends are destined to grow apart as their philosophies clash and mutants begin to flock to Magneto's banner.

 

 

 

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Cyclops

 

Played by: Unknown

 

First Appearance: X-Men Vol. 1 #1 (1963)

Voted: Most uptight guy ever to wear sunglasses indoors.

 

Scott Summers is a textbook example of the kind of young mutant Xavier's school can help. After a childhood spent in constant fear of his uncontrollable optic blasts, Scott finally has the chance to seize his destiny and become something better. But to do that, he'll have to come out of his shell first.

 

Luckily, beautiful women always seem to flock to him, much to the chagrin of Scott's fellow students. Wherever Cyclops is, Jean Grey is not too far behind...well, when she's alive that is. So maybe, fanboys, we can expect to see Jean join our First Class.

 

Cyclops has yet to be cast - and no, Kick-Ass himself, Aaron Johnson, will not be optic-blasting for us anytime soon. Whomever takes over Scott's spandex, we'll make sure to update this guide. Promise.

 

 

 

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Emma Frost

 

Played by: Alice Eve (She's Out of My League)

 

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #129 (1980)

Favorite Hobby: Going to the jeweler to get herself appraised.

 

Emma Frost is as beautiful as a diamond, and as hard-edged and cold. In fact, she literally transforms into organic diamond. This secondary mutation is a complement to her considerable telepathic skills. Between her abilities and personality, Emma is a manipulative woman who is used to getting what she wants. In this case, that might just include Scott Summers. But though she hides it well, Emma has a heroic streak in her.

 

Where she'll fall when Xavier and Magneto split is anyone's guess.

 

 

 

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Beast

 

Played by: Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy)

 

First Appearance: X-Men Vol. 1 #1 (1963)

Most Likely To: Win an Olympic gold medal and the Nobel prize (and still be hated and feared).

 

On the surface, Beast might seem like the happiest and most carefree of the X-Men. However, this eloquent, intelligent, witty, and athletic young Hank McCoy has suffered persecution like everyone else. The X-Men represents the only family he has.

 

As we saw in X-Men: The Last Stand, Beast makes a successful political career out of fighting for mutant equality. In First Class, expect the young genius to hit plenty of growing pains.

 

 

 

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Darwin

 

Played by: Edi Gathegi (Twilight)

 

First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2 (2006)

Favorite Subject: Evolutionary Biology

 

The human race is evolving into something new. Some are just doing it with a little more gusto than others. Armando Munoz's body is constantly growing and adapting to handle the current situation. This makes him effectively impossible to kill, but it hasn't won him many friends over the years.

 

Xavier's school is the first place where Armando's limitless potential can be admired rather than feared.

 

 

 

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Mystique

 

Played by: Jennifer Lawrence (The Burning Plain)

 

First Appearance: Ms. Marvel Vol. 1 #16 (1978)

Most Likely To: Shack up with Professor Magneto.

 

Anyone who has watched an X-Men movie knows where Mystique's true loyalties lie. This shape-shifter and martial arts master is one of the first converts to Magneto's cause. The fun in X-Men: First Class will be in seeing Mystique interact with the rest of Xavier's pupils in the days before they were mortal enemies.

 

Raven Darkholme is one of the world's first mutants in the comics, so fans haven't had much of a chance to get acquainted with a younger, more vulnerable Mystique.

 

 

 

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Banshee

 

Played by: Caleb Landry Jones (No Country for Old Men)

 

First Appearance: X-Men Vol. 1 #28 (1967)

Most Likely To: Form the world's first Irish Punk/Screamo hybrid band.

 

In the comics, Banshee was already much older than the first class of X-Men when he debuted. As such, he's always been something of an outsider. But in this movie, it looks as if Banshee will be the same age as Cyclops, Jean, and the rest.

 

It's doubtful his normally sour demeanor will be any more pleasant as a teenager. But no matter how large the cast, Banshee's sonic scream will ensure his voice is never lost in the crowd.

 

 

 

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Havok

 

Played by: Lucas Till (House)

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men #54 (1969)

Biggest Pet Peeve: Living in the shadow of his big brother.

 

Being a leader with vast, barely tapped potential seems to run in the Summers family. In First Class, Scott Summers will be joined by his brother Alex. Alex Summers doesn't need to fire his concussive energy blasts out of his eyes, but he shares his brother's lack of confidence and control. Expect plenty of sibling rivalry as Havok fights to escape his older brother's shadow and carve his own destiny in an increasingly dangerous world.

 

 

 

Source - IGN.com

[Paj!]

They've cast so many stunners already. Alive Eve is probably the perfect Emma Frost, aesthetically.

[Dan_Dare]

Fassbender looks ace, too. He looks kind of imposing, just like Magneto should.

[chairdriver]

Nick Hoult adds as the Beast. He's really ugly and I hate him -- brilliant casting.

[Paj!]

It'd be interesting if they go the route of Xavier and Magneto's differences dividing their "team". I.e Mystique was once an X-Man, but followed Magneto in the end.

[ReZourceman]

If Nick Hoult is ugly then I dread to think what I'm considered to be. :p

[flameboy]

If Nick Hoult is ugly then I dread to think what I'm considered to be. :p

 

a MAN GOD :p

[Frank]

Seems like a solid cast for the new x-men. One question though, isn't the guy who plays beast the same fellow in skins?

 

The last guy who plays Havok though kinda scares me! I think it's something to do with the fact that his head is the exact same width as his neck so he looks like a giant thumb or penis or something.

[Paj!]

Strangely it fits exactly with the picture of Havok they found as well. And yeah. Nicholas Hoult is the guy from Skins, and About a Boy.

[Retro_Link]

Qs 1. Did Xavier used to have hair? or will McAvoy be shaving it off?

 

Qs 2. How did Cyclops control his optic blasts before (I assume) he was given the glasses at the academy? Just walk around with his eyes closed the entire time?

[Paj!]

IIRC, his powers activate, he knocks down a crane by mistake, runs away from a lynch mob, and is saved by Xavier then and there.

 

I know in the Children of The Atom miniseries detailing their origins in more detail, he was given the glasses, but initially refused to join the school, instead staying on at high school with a criminal/abusive foster father. IIRC. I'm not sure. Then he obviously joins when he realises he has a shit life.

 

It was recently revealed that his lack of control was a mental block rather than a physical one, and it was all related to his traumatic childhood. Emma Frost helps him confront his demons and he can control his optic blasts. However, it's only temporary/very hard to do so.

[Dan_Dare]

That doesn't make sense. It's supposed to be from a physical head trauma...

[Paj!]

I thought you've read Astonishing X-Men? It's in that. A stunning part of it too. I simplified the descripton partially becuase I don't have the books on hand atm and can't quite remember how it was dealt with. It was done well though. Deep character analysis etc.

[Happenstance]

That doesn't make sense. It's supposed to be from a physical head trauma...

 

I always prefered that reason for his lack of control

[Dan_Dare]

It's kind of like the bone claw fiasco.

[Paj!]

What do you mean by that?

[Dan_Dare]

When Claremont gave Wolverine bone claws after he had Magneto rip his Adamantium out. They changed a perfectly good origin and took all the significance out of it.

[Paj!]

What significance? It just seems to make more sense that he has bone claws as his "power". It's been worked into his origins successfully since then very well IMO.

 

Though I've not read the apparently very good Weapon X by Barry Windsor-Smith. Maybe that's gospel.

 

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Not really relevant, but in the absence of the Funny Video thread;

It might only be funny to me loving X-Men so much, but some of these had me in tears.

Xavier: "Scott tells me you've acquitted yourself well as a field commander."

Storm: "THE ENTIRE TEAM NEARLY PERISHED."

 

Cyclops' attempt to punch Sinister.

 

And when that green skinned woman falls onto the bus, and everyone just watches.

 

When Rogue is pleading to that bug thing really passionately, and it just screams at her.

[Murr]

ComingSoon.net's Ben Mortimer is reporting that Jason Flemyng is set to take on the role of Azazel in X-Men: First Class. Flemyng told the BFU movie Con crowd in London that his character would have a lot of make up and a post production tail much like Calibos whom he portrayed in Clash of the Titans.

 

For those unfamiliar with Azazel, he is from a race of ancient teleporting mutants. These mutants look like demons and can open portals into other dimensions. He also happens to be the father of Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner).

 

Flemying joins a cast that includes James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender,Nicholas Hoult, Rosamund Pike, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, Lucas Till, Edi Gathegi, Caleb Laundry Jones, Morgan Lily and Alice Eve. X-Men: First Class Will be directed by Matthew Vaughn and should hit theaters June 20011.

 

 

Source - Comicbookmovie.net

 

It seems that actress Rose Byrne ("Troy") is in negotiations with 20th Century Fox to join the cast of the upcoming prequel "X-Men: First Class". The Hollywood Reporter website is reporting that Byrne will be playing famed scientist Dr. Moira MacTaggert, who was previously played by Olivia Williams in "X-Men: The Last Stand". They are also stating she will be a love interest for Professor X (James McAvoy).

 

 

Now if only we knew who would be playing the younger versions of Cyclops and Jean Grey in the film...

 

Source - Comicbookmovie.com

[Murr]

With filming set to begin in London next month, Matthew Vaughn's prequel/spinoff X-Men: First Class is still in it's late casting stage. And now according Deadline, Oliver Platt is set to star in the First Class, playing a role called The Man in Black, who is not a mutant.

 

Obviously there isn't any known background info on the role, but Oliver Platt is best known for his roles in The Three Musketeers, A Time to Kill, Huff, Frost/Nixon and in Roland Emmerich's world-ending thriller 2012.

And Platt currently stars with Laura Linney in the new Showtime series The Big C, and next stars opposite Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway in the Ed Zwick-directed Love and Other Drugs.

 

 

Platt joins a growing ensemble including James McAvoy (Xavier), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Alice Eve (Emma Frost), Nicholas Hoult (Beast),Caleb Landry Jones (Banshee), Lucas Till (Havok), and Kevin Bacon (Surprise villain), Edi Gathegi(Darwin), Jason Flemyng (Azazel), and recently added Rose Byrne (Dr. Moira MacTaggert).

 

And First Class hits theaters June 3, next year!

 

Source - Comicbookmovie.com

[Paj!]

I don't know what the hell is going on with this movie...Azazel is from a fairly obscure story by much-hated X-Men writer Chuck Austen. It's just bizarre...there's no big superhero names attached to this so far.

 

I wish it was just a reboot, or an actual adaptation of X-Men: First Class.

[Happenstance]

6 things Bryan Singer just revealed about X-Men: First Class

 

So Harry Knowles over at Ain't It Cool News got a call from Bryan Singer with all kinds of juicy news about X-Men: First Class, the upcoming prequel/reboot (take your pick) that explores the early friendship of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr before they became better known as Professor X and Magneto and found themselves on opposite sides of the mutant debate.

 

Of course, Harry is all excited now about the movie (which is how he usually gets when a filmmaker calls him personally), but Singer did drop some tantalizing info about the film, which begins shooting on Aug. 31 in London and will come out next June. By the way, he's just producing this time, while Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn is actually the man behind the camera.

 

Here's some of the things we learned:

 

 

It's the '60s, baby!

 

The movie is set in the 1960s. John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. are still alive and on the national stage. We'll see Xavier (James McAvoy) and Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) when they first meet and make plans for a happy, healthy relationship between humans and mutants. Xavier will have a full head of hair and be standing on his own two feet, although we will apparently see how he lands in his wheelchair.

 

 

This not the REAL First Class

 

We won't see the first class of X-Men from the comics—Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Jean Grey and Beast—at least not all of them. A young Beast is in the movie (played by Nicholas Hoult), as is Cyclops' brother Alex Summers, aka Havoc (Jacob Till). But Cyclops himself and Jean are nowhere to be found.

 

 

The Hellfire Club will be open for business

 

As hinted by the inclusion of characters Emma Frost (January Jones) and Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), the Hellfire Club—longtime antagonists of the X-Men—will play a major role in the story.

 

 

So who else will be in the movie?

 

Singer confirmed that most of the cast and characters listed so far are accurate, which means we've got Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), Darwin (Edi Gathegi), Banshee (Caleb Landry Jones), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Azazel (Jason Flemyng) in addition to the ones already mentioned. But Singer says to expect a few more characters they haven't announced yet.

 

 

The look is Bond, James Bond

 

In conjunction with the '60s setting, Singer says that Vaughn has been inspired by the James Bond movies for the technology of the film. The costumes will also have a far more "comic-book" style than we've seen before, probably in line with the groovy fashions of the time.

 

 

The mutants will go global

 

The story kicks off at Oxford, where Xavier is attending school, and most of it takes place in the U.K. and the United States. But the movie will visit the Soviet Union along with several other locations...

 

 

Put it all together and Knowles concludes that we'll be getting a Silver Age Marvel story on the screen for the first time. One thing's for sure: First Class is abandoning the continuity of the first three movies (hell, that already went out the window with X-Men Origins: Wolverine), but we'll either get something either very cool or even more muddled in return.

 

What do you think? Will X-Men: First Class return the mutants to glory when it arrives on June 3, 2011?

 

http://blastr.com/2010/08/6-things-bryan-singer-jus.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Paj!]

Ok, that made me much more interested.

 

Azazel's inclusion makes me nervous though.

[ReZourceman]

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick.

[Paj!]

The fact Singer is on board is what has got me all wet.

 

I have a suspicion they might use Kirkman's/Ultimate Prof X's relationship with Mystique and Emma...maybe not.

 

I'm so excited (but ready for disappointment).