So Bryan Singer just called regarding Matthew Vaughn's X-MEN: FIRST CLASS... I'm quite excited now.
Hey folks, Harry here with a great update on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS that just came from Producer: Bryan Singer - who tells me he's been working on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS for over a year now and with the looming August 31st, filming date approaching - he wanted to clarify some of what it is they're doing.
First off - the film takes place in the 1960's. John F Kennedy is the President of the United States. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are on TV doing marches. There is a spirit of a hopeful future that was prevalent in that time. We will see how Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr met - and how they dreamt of a future with Mutant & Human kind. They're going to be in their late twenties. Xavier - as played by James McAvoy will not be in his wheelchair to begin the film - but we will see how he wound up in a wheelchair. I asked if McAvoy would have a nice shiny chrome dome - and folks. We're going to see Professor X when he still had hair. We'll see McAvoy and Fassbender's Magneto formulate what it is they are attempting by creating the X-MEN.
Now Bryan wanted us to know this is not the conventional FIRST CLASS comic - but rather a new beginning for X-MEN. Set in the 60s - Vaughn is technologically inspired by JAMES BOND's tech of the time. The costumes will be far more comic bookish than we've seen before - and while Scott and Jean aren't here - Cyclops' brother Alex Summers aka Havoc will be, as played by Lucas Till.
With January Jones and Kevin Bacon playing Emma Frost and Sebastian Shaw - we will be getting the HELLFIRE CLUB. I commented that the HELLFIRE CLUB has always felt like something that it would be wrong to modernize, as it felt as though it were something specific to the swinging Hefner era of the 60s... and Bryan said that's exactly why they're making use of the HELLFIRE CLUB... the dress and the costumes associated with that glorious period of the X-MEN... belong in the 60s. I asked if Kevin Bacon would be sporting that little ponytail with the ribbon - Bryan laughed and said, "We'll see".
In regards to the cast, Bryan was especially excited to land Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast. Nicholas was set for FURY ROAD, but their start date shifted which opened up his availability for FIRST CLASS. Also - Rose Byrne is playing Moira MacTaggert, I liked her in KNOWING. And I think she's fairly perfect for Moira. The cast list over on IMDB is correct (with the exception of the Rosamund Pike rumor).
Looks like filming will begin with Xavier at Oxford University in the 60s. And Bryan is excited that the film is going to have a much more international feel than the prior X-MEN movies. They'll be shooting in England & the United States - and they'll be representing other locales around the globe as well, but would only tell me that Russia (aka The Soviet Union... CCCP) will be amongst them. He doesn't want to show all the cards just yet. But the International flavor will give the film a more James Bond vibe... I get the idea that this is going to be something quite special.
How can I say that based on a quick conversation with Bryan? Well... folks, this is the first time that we're going to get a silver age MARVEL story. That's incredibly exciting to me. Hearing Bryan actually saying that the costumes will be far more reflective of what we saw in the comics - well that is exciting. But more than that... I just can't wait to see young vital versions of Xavier and Magneto played by excellent actors in their prime.
But more so... This is the time for Matthew Vaughn to shine. I loved KICK ASS, but it didn't have the namebrand of X-MEN or the scope that those stories have. Here, everything that Vaughn has can be put on display. Having Vaughn work in a James Bond-esque period - that was the period that the X-MEN first came to life. There's potential for something amazing.
There are characters that we're not being told about though. Bryan said so. And we can all speculate as to who they are. We know we're going to have Darwin, Young Raven Darkholme, Banshee, Havok, lil Mystique, Azazel, Emma Frost, Beast, Xavier, Magneto and a female Angel. So... who's missing? Well - I'm kinda hoping for Donald Pierce and Harry Leland - myself. How about you?
