10. Young Beast
More successful than Grammer at capturing the intellectual, erudite complexities of the Beast is Nicholas Hoult. His performance is nothing like Grammer, oddly enough, but he still creates a characterization that’s both vulnerable and intellectually curious. By the time he completes his furry blue transformation in ‘First Class’ you feel bad not for his further mutation, but that he just couldn’t fathom how that would go wrong. While there is some dubious wirework at play, the movies at least do well by capturing Beast’s wild agility and ferocious fighting ability. Grammer’s physicality limited him in the earlier movie, but Hoult lets loose and presents his genius as someone who has found his gift to be a curse, shaping him unrecognizably with his hormones at peak levels. He can invent almost anything in the world, but he can’t find a taker for his heart.
9. Jean Grey
Famke Janssen was given a difficult task right off the bat with the “X-Men” movies. While Fox was merely crossing their fingers hoping for sequels, Janssen was working to place a hint of the emergent Phoenix Force with every major use of her powers, starting with the Statue of Liberty scene in the first movie. It’s difficult to give a performance as someone holding back an evil force, so in some ways, Janssen’s turn is not unlike Mia Farrow’s in “Rosemary’s Baby.” She’s a wonderfully skilled actress, having grown leaps and bounds since her breakout role in “Goldeneye,” but in the “X-Men” movies she had to register the sort of inner strength that allowed her to convincingly seem as if she’s holding something more powerful at bay. It’s disappointing that the third film turns her into a mindless killing machine, but her moments of serenity in dream sequences in “The Wolverine” are hallucinatory highlights.
8. Pyro
One of the more satisfying arcs of the earlier films, Aaron Stanford’s Pyro begins life as a disillusioned member of the “good” mutants, lightly sparring with pal Iceman as his sociopathic tendencies grow. Slowly, you find out that he’s the type that will never accept that there’s anything bigger than himself, and that he’s got to get his: the moment when Magneto brings him close and tells him he is a “God amongst insects” is the ultimate trigger. But before that, watch his discomfort in the sequence at the Drakes’ house. Iceman’s parents are understandably troubled by their son’s mutation, but they’re still a loving and supportive family. And yet Pyro looks on, and without dialogue we know he resents this domesticity, this relatively settled calmness, the support system one can guess he’s never had, and ultimately sees in Magneto. Stanford’s a lot of fun in the role, definitely a mutant with a nasty streak, but still a budding villain as opposed to the malicious agent of death he becomes in the third film.
7. Young Professor Xavier
You’re bound to have a lot of love for messy, swinging James McAvoy, who brings a sexy rogue appeal to his characterization of the Professor. Particularly in the recent film, as he shows that Xavier has become a broken husk of a man, a man who traded all of his principles just to keep himself above water, losing a pivotal friendship in his life due to his beliefs. Knowing McAvoy grows up to become the responsible, mature Patrick Stewart interpretation of the character you root for him to succeed. In fairness, he is obliterated off the screen by Michael Fassbender, and like Fassy his accent slips from time to time. But it’s McAvoy’s charm that leads you to believe he could inspire a cutting wit and leading man chutzpah that makes you want to hitch your wagon to Xavier’s School with ease.
6. Young Mystique
As played by Jennifer Lawrence in the new films, she initially seemed a bit too lightweight and hormonal in comparison to the driven young Professor Xavier. But as the new film shows, she’s now a principled, lethal weapon, able to change the course of mutant history and loathe to obey the orders and demands of bloodthirsty humans. Lawrence’s performance in the last two films captures the birth of a radical, first as a loner seeking somewhere to belong, and then a mobilized freedom fighter with no doubts about what is right. She gets more to do in ‘First Class,’ learning how to find comfort in herself and her skills, but she gets to play more in ‘Days Of Future Past,’ revealing someone who preemptively takes the fight to those that would persecute her. They’ve probably overdosed on the martial arts, and it’s unclear how much oppression Mystique has really experienced in her earlier days, but Lawrence gives this character a sharp edge she often lacked in the comics.