James McAvoy, Matthew Vaughn Talk "X-Men: First Class"

James McAvoy, Matthew Vaughn Talk "X-Men: First Class"

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

"X-Men: First Class" has sort of flown below the radar when it comes to this summer's superhero adaptations. With "Thor," "Green Lantern" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" taking most of the headlines, Matthew Vaughn's new adaptation of the classic franchise may take people by surprise.

For a while there weren't many details on the film or about the story, but the director Vaughn recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the plot and about his vision for the film, and with every bit that comes out it seems cooler and cooler.

Said Vaughn: "The best way of describing it is X-Men meets Bond, with a little bit of 'Thirteen Days' thrown in for good measure. It's set in the '60s, and I basically molded a young Magneto on a young Sean Connery. He's the ultimate spy - imagine Bond, but with superpowers...You're seeing Xavier become a professor. For me, Magneto is the good guy in the film, but he's a sort of a good bad guy. He literally kicks off the movie, and Xavier goes along on the ride trying to figure out what the hell is going on, and trying to persuade Erik that you don't have to kill everyone."

He also described the basic idea of what the movie is actually about, saying: "In the beginning of the film, no one knows that mutants exist, and all the mutants don't know that each other exist. They're all in hiding. Kevin Bacon plays a very megalomaniac mutant [Sebastian Shaw] who decides that he can take over the world and that mutants are the future. Erik and Charles then meet each other and hook up with the CIA to try and prevent World War III. You find out everything about what went on between Erik and Charles."

Based on those quotes it's easy to get excited if you are a fan of the "X-Men" comics or film series. Along with that, actor James McAvoy, who plays a young Charles Xavier, spoke about the new film while doing presswork for "Gnomeo and Juliet."

McAvoy spoke with Cinema Blend about how he approached the character, which Patrick Stewart played in the first set of films.

Said McAvoy: "You look at the kind of main, defining characteristics of Professor X, of Charlie Boy, and you go, 'Alright, he’s selfless. He’s a saint. He’s sexless, it seems. He’s egoless. He’s all about other people. He’s all about bettering the world and mutantkind and humankind.' And so you kind of try and flip that on its head. You don’t make him an evil person, or anything like that, but you make him ego-driven, women-chasing, he likes a good drink. He’s not the reluctant leader that you kind of want all heroes to be. He actually kind of wants to be in charge, you know what I mean? And all of those things, just to kind of show a journey. So, by the end of the movie, he’s some way towards becoming Patrick Stewart‘s version of the character, rather than just having the same guy at the beginning."

The more I hear about this film, the more promising it sounds. The cast is excellent and it now includes an Oscar nominee--actress Jessica Lawrence just received a nomination for Best Actress for her work in "Winters Bone." With "Kick-Ass," Vaughn showed that he has a keen eye for the comic book genre and with the 1960's setting this could be the best superhero film released all summer.

Look for "X-Men: First Class" to appear June 3, 2011.