Beast with feathered hair? Emma Frost rocking neon tights? Magneto with a Flock of Seagulls haircut? Charles Xavier with some serious mutton chop sideburns? Thanks to “Mad Men,” the ’50s and ’60s are en vogue, which couldn’t be better for “X-Men: First Class” with a setting that studio types are likely hoping will help get more than just comic fans into the seats for the period-set origin story that traces the beginnings of the mutant crew. But, as this is a franchise, sequel talks are already bubbling forth but no decisions yet on what decade any potential followups will find our mutant heroes — though it has been talked about.
“That’s an idea that’s been discussed,” said producer Bryan Singer to Total Film about the ’70s and ’80s as possible settings. “How the characters go through time. But only to a point – they can’t age too fast!”
But for director Matthew Vaughn, he’s been keen to stick in the ’60s — ‘First Class’ is set in 1962 — and explore some of the cultural and societal changes that happen in that decade. “1962 is far more grounded in the world of the ’50s,” he said. “I think it takes about five years for a decade to really start getting its identity, so the fun thing about this for me would be doing [a sequel] in the latter part of the decade, where you’ve got The [Rolling] Stones, The Beatles, Flower Power…”
And overall, he describes ‘First Class’ as merely a stage to set the world that will be explored in future films, not unlike Christopher Nolan‘s Batman films. “’First Class’ is similar to ‘Batman Begins,’ where you have the fun of introducing the characters and getting to know them, but that takes time,” said Vaughn. “But with the second one you can just get on with it and have a rollicking good time. That’s the main difference between ‘Begins’ and ‘The Dark Knight.’”
Whether or not there will even be a sequel will likely depend on ticket sales, but barring some kind of disaster, it should be a box office hit with Vaughn revealing the end of ‘First Class’ leaves the door wide open for an “even more fun” sequel. “X-Men: First Class,” in far out ’60s gear, lands on June 3rd.