And Fantastic Four was panned publically and critically... First Class, in contrast, was praised... mainly due to MF.
Praised, sure, but far from a hit. This is a very different situation from Jackman/
X-men. More people saw Evans in
Fantastic Four than Fassbender in
X-Men: First Class, and the Human Torch was the most popular character to come out of that series as well. And it's not like Fassbender's ONLY identified by that role. Unlike Jackman, he was being talked about well before XM:FC came about, thanks to
Hunger and
Inglourious Basterds. Right at this moment, he seems best known for being an Oscar snub for
Shame, and for his...other assets, thanks to George Clooney and the press surrounding that movie. They often don't even mention that he's Magneto. Compare that to media coverage about Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, where "Batman" and "Wolverine" often don't make it far past the headlines before being mentioned. And let's not forget, regardless of being portrayed in a sympathetic light, Magneto's a
villain, and if there's a sequel, will no doubt be seen as such. I think playing a villain in one franchise and a hero in another is more than enough of a leap to separate the characters in people's minds. Besides, I seriously doubt we'll see him as Magneto for any more than one more film, if even that.
The
X-Men franchise, despite getting a jolt of quality from FC, is a sinking financial ship. I think if the FC sequel actually happens (which I won't be completely confident is happening until filming starts), it will make more money than FC because FC was so darn good, but not
much more. They aren't gaining a whole new audience with these movies like the 1st two did. Now they're just trying to keep their established audience coming back for more.
