Ok, we’ve all read the official synopsis for Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class,” but to remind you, it goes like this.
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.
We’ve been handed some new details. However, they’re from a draft from a few months ago and we already know the script has been retooled several times, including a recent one by frequent Vaughn collaborator Jane Goldman (writer on “Kick-Ass,” “Stardust”). It could be Jamie Moss’ draft, the version that Fox head Tom Rothman fast-tracked. It’s unclear at the moment, but here are some things in the early draft as told to us by someone behind the scenes. Some of it could have changed, but a lot of this sounds like core info that’s hard to just drop.
– Magneto (then known as Eric Lensherr, played by Michael Fassbender) and Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) travel around trying to save mutants. As more news about their existence leaks out, more goverment led operations are endangering mutants’ lives.
– There is a love triangle between Eric, Charles and Emma Frost (played by Alice Eve). Our source didn’t want to say too much, but we presume this is one of the factors that tears Charles and Eric apart.
– The script features Cyclops (there’s been some speculation out there that some key mutants may be missing in certain drafts).
– We see the transformation of Hank McCoy, how he goes from the regular Beast (Nicholas Hoult) to the blue furry one played by Kelsey Grammer in “X-Men: The Last Stand.”
– Apparently some shooting has already taken place, but it might just be test footage.
The film also stars Kevin Bacon as the film’s main villain, Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”) as Mystique, Lucas Till as Havoc and Caleb Landry Jones (NBC’s “Friday Night Lights”) as Banshee. There have been reports that some of the casting details may have been purposeful disinformation, we’ll see, but it is interesting that names like Cyclops, Angel, Ice-Man and Jean Grey haven’t been announced yet.
That’s it for now, more may come soon. “X-Men: First Class” is set for release June 3 2011. It shoots in early fall in the U.K.
