Lots of speculation over how good X-Men First Class movie was going to be, as still images, casting questions, and odd costumes have appeared on the Intardwebz these last couple of months. The official trailer has been unleashed, and gives us our first look at the 1960s Marvel hero group.
Stephen Schleicher
Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment. You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...
44 Comments
I like it!
Amongst my circle of nerds, I’m pretty sure I’m the only one that hadn’t shit-canned “First Class”, holding out that it’ll deliver, what with the track record of the writers & director. (3 out of 3 in my opinion: Layer Cake, Stardust & Kick Ass)
Totally agree, hectorbustnuts,
I haven’t seen Layer Cake, but Stardust and Kick Ass rank among my favorite films!
My advice to naysayers: get over the costumes – he’s lifting a frigging submarine out of the water!
WOW. Up until a minute and fifty seconds ago I had no desire to see this. But they either just sold me a helluva movie, or a helluva trailer. Either way, Im impressed. Looking forward to more as we get closer.
This is the first time I’ve been even remotely interested in this movie…
wow. color me interested!!!!
Belasco?! That’s come out of left-field!
Well, that looked nice. It’s not the X-men to me, but it did look nice. It feels like they made a movie about people with Superpowers and just added a few things to make you think “X-Men”
When I think first class I think happier times, when Mag and Charles were friends and created a school for mutants to learn how to control their powers, when love first blossomed between Jean and Scott and mutant were this vaguely scary new thing, so this is feel way too dark for my taste…
It looks good, don’t get me wrong, just not “First Class”.
um, you do know Jean and Scott are NOT in this, right?
we were lucky to get Beast (who apparently transforms here??), Moira…and Havok and Mystique (later additions to the team, one by retcon).
and Beak’s babiesmama, Angel.
and Kurt’s demonic (not)father.
I think the black guy is supposed to be Darwin?
“um, you do know Jean and Scott are NOT in this, right?”
I believe that’s the point he was making.
Yup, basically this is nothing like the X-Men: First Class I hoped for.
It’s dark and gritty, I was hoping for something lighter, less The Dark Knight more Mystery Men. You know, before saving the world and them dying and ressurecting on dayly basis became the norm…
I’m very sad that they aren’t getting rid of the other Xman movies and replacing them with this. The 3rd movie was painful, and crap. I like that those is a historical prequel and not a “gritty reboot” but I think they could have used it to bring the Xman franchise of movies somewhere more manageable and less “LOLZ Wolverine”. I’ve skipped the last two franchise movies, and the only thing drawing me to this one is the actors and the potential for good acting, not story.
Guess that confirms the whole thing about the chronology of this and whether it ties to the other movies. Looks pretty, that’s for sure. I’m curious, who was that with the insect wings? I doubt if that was Wasp, and I don’t remember any mutants with those.
Pixie, perhaps?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixie_%28X-Men%29
Yeah, the look on the guys face pretty much guarentees this.
BIG retcon too, she’s like 15/16 in current continuity so she would be around -50 as of First Class.
They’re certainly not playing in the same continuity stream as the comics, what with the completely shuffled line-up of characters…but that’s cool.
X-men have always faffed about with their A & B team line-ups…and sure, if it IS Pixie and they’re introducing her 50-odd years earlier than the comic counterpart…well…so what?
It’s all fantasy anyway, not a documentary.
No, I believe that is Angel Salvatore.
Yeah, checked the movie credits it’s Angel.
Ahh…well there you go. Cheers for the fix-up!
It’s Angel. She was introduced in Morrison’s run and became Beak’s girlfriend/mother to his children.
I must be too old school. I am seriously disappointed now in the X movies and the continuity. How is this supposed to be a beginning with Charles and Erik? I dont get it. Please tell me this is some other world Marvel alternate universe. I did not like that scenario in the last Star Trek movie. Marvel if you are reading this, well you wont get my money for the movie. I would rather sit through the Ben Aflek Daredevil movie again. I will save my money for the Hobbit. I know I wont be disappointed there. Let all the mindless ones think this is Xmen, but dont come to me to ask questions about who is what and when cause I dont know any more, not gonna explain anything, and tell you that it is not my Xmen. Marvel you just do what the hell you want to with your product. You will do that anyway. To us true die hard comic lovers I cant appreciate such a misconstruing of something that I used to love so much. I wont warm a seat for this mess.
Yes it’s complete common sense to write off a movie based on 1 minute of footage. Just as X-men is a single definable thing that never changes and is the same in all mediums. Actual comic fans understand different versions of their characters existing in different comics. I’d rather have them set the X-men film in the same movie universe rather than invent yet another universe just for ‘The adventures of the x-kids’.
How do you know you won’t be disappointed by The Hobbit? I doubt you’ve seen any footage. And it’s tolkien, how good can it be?
By the way, Marvel has nothing to do with this film its 20th Century Fox who has the rights.
“Actual comic fans understand different versions of their characters existing in different comics” Yes they do, and hate it to no end. Retcons are not a plus of the industry, it’s a “we walked ourselves into a corner” situation so let’s just change the character to fit what “I” want to write.
This is not X-Men: First class and one minute of film IS enough in this case to come to that conclusion. Why? the original team was: Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, Jean Grey and Professor X. Of that team only Iceman, Beast (who wasn’t furry back then either) and Charles remain, that is enough to realise they are not doing what they claim to be doing, they are not doing First Class.
MaximusRift said it best “It feels like they made a movie about people with Superpowers and just added a few things to make you think “X-Men””
I’d argue that they don’t hate it, that’s why it’s proliferated so much with dystopias, alternate realities, ret-cons etc. I thinks comic fans hate it when it’s lame eg Heroes Reborn, House of M, Dark Knight Strikes Back.
Sebastian Shaw is skinny and doesn’t have mutton chops. This is bullshit.
He kinda does http://betacache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/8/2011/02/xtop.jpg
Sure they aren’t over the top chops like…say…Thierry Guetta’s, but still.
Ummm… OK… before I wasn’t but now I’m curious…
1. Sticking to absolute comics continuity is not sustainable in other mediums. Nor can you make a movie franchise accessible to average moviegoers by kowtowing to nerd rage. Those of us who didn’t have many good comic book movies and merchandise as kids in the 70’s and 80’s ought to be happy to enjoy these characters outside of comic books now that the genre has gone mainstream. If you love superheroes and are happy that another generation is gets to grow up with them, then grow a pair of big boy testicles and tolerate the necessary character deviations from your childhood. Remember all that complaining when they cast Heath Ledger as the Joker?
2. Of course Magneto is going to steal the show. This is the replacement project for X-Men Origins: Magneto. Methinks Michael Fassbender is going to rise to stardom a la Hugh Jackman.
3. That’s not Pixie, that’s Angel Salvatore portrayed by Lenny Kravitz’s daughter Zoe. Obviously Fox is sensitive to the blowback of not including some diversity in a civil-rights era setting (at least as window dressing). Storm couldn’t be used, and let’s face it, there aren’t many black X-Men, much less any who could be effectively shoe horned into this project. So they chose two newer characters, Angel Salvatore and Darwin (“the black guy”, as one poster so astutely noted). Ironically, both characters are actually Afro-Latin. It seems that in the trailer Erik and Charles are in a “Champagne Room” when Angel displays her insect wings. Yipee, the hoodrat-whore sterotype lives to see another day. I have no hopes that Darwin will actually be important in some way.
4. Azeazel looks badass. Less fey than Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler.
5. I’m REALLY surprised Kevin Bacon’s muttonchops are so subdued. Then again, I don’t think “January Jones” when I think of a curvaceous sex bomb like Emma Frost. But I’ll have to get over it (see point #1).
6. I know Mystique can look however she wants, but I’m surprised her “default” human appearance in this movie is blond as if they were thinking “young Rebecca Romijn” rather than “young Raven Darkholme”, who is brunette. I’m not complaining (see point #1), but it’s interesting that they got the hair color right in X3 when Mystique lost her powers.
7. Speaking of Mystique, in the trailer she crushes on Hank, but Azazel is eventually going to impregnate her.
I’m going to see this. It’s obviously not the comic version of X-Men: First Class, but rather the movie version of X-Men: First Class, based on the continuity of the previous 3 movies. I’m fine with this. The original X-Men movie wasn’t based on the current lineup of the comics either, so obviously we’ve established that this is its own continuity. If they tried to use the continuity of the comics, they’d be retconning things from the movie left and right (Scott, Jean, Bobby, Rogue, and Warren would all be the wrong age just for starters) and nerds would whine and moan then.
I, personally, like the fact that this is not a reboot. It shows they’re trying to get a fresh start without getting into the reboot mania that Hulk, Fantasic Four and Spiderman are all attempting. Retcons and reboots are tools of the storytelling trade, and frankly they can be used for better or for worse.
I’m most excited to watch the story of Erik Lensherr and Charles Xavier becoming who they are today.
If you’re really not going to see this movie because it doesn’t devote itself slavishly to the comic book, fine. That’s your choice. I don’t see a lot of comic based movies coming out that you’re going to like very much. I’m more interested in if it’s a well-done film than if it’s slavishly devoted to comic continuity.
“If you’re really not going to see this movie because it doesn’t devote itself slavishly to the comic book, fine. That’s your choice. I don’t see a lot of comic based movies coming out that you’re going to like very much. I’m more interested in if it’s a well-done film than if it’s slavishly devoted to comic continuity.”
It doesn’t have to be perfectly true to the source material, but pretty close would be nice. Sin City, Scott Pilgrim, Batman: The Dark Knight, X-Men I-II are all comic book movies I enjoyed, which are close and sometimes not that close to the source material but still feel true to the original.
What bugs me about First Class is the fact that that particular storyline is about a specific team, it would be like having the Fantastic Four movie have She-Hulk, Storm, Reed and Toro. It should have been called what it actually is: “X-Men: origins”, or “Rise of Magneto” since he’ll probably steal the show.
I think this is an attempt to do a soft reboot of the X-Men franchise, instead of erasing what has happened in the first 3 movies they are exploring the past. I say it’s a soft reboot because if the movie becomes popular you wont see a sequel called “X-Men IV” but “X-Men: First Class II”, they are replacing the franchise without deleting the old.
Sin City and Scott Pilgrim also didn’t have years of continuity snarls to sort out with. Batman is a single character title, so they don’t have to worry about “picking the right characters” to please the fans while simultaneously making it interesting.
“Feel true to the original” is a subjective judgement, so I can’t comment on that. To me, this feels true to the source material in that it’s about the struggle between mutants and humans, which is made relatable on a personal level by the clashes between the individual characters and their ideals. To you, it means having the original team that appeared in X-Men #1, or not calling it X-Men: First Class.
You can call it a soft reboot, and it may be that, but that won’t stop me from seeing it, or seeing that as a good thing. I’m fine with 30+ years of snarled X-Men continuity that doesn’t always fit, and has been retconned to hell, so I’m fine with it being done in a movie too.
I’m just saying why I don’t like it, not why you shouldn’t. I’m not God or anything, I can’t tell people what to do and even less what to like. Just giving my opinion, I see your point, it just doesn’t apply to me.
I think the thing many people are contentious about is more dealing with the title. If it had just been announced as X-men: Origins, and the people making it had just been on Front Street about everything and just said, “There have been many takes on the X-men, here is another iteration of the X-men early in their history.” I think more people would be cool with it, in concept at least. I too dislike calling the movie X-men: The First Class since that’s become a specific title that has been given to a very specific set of characters. Much like having a movie called Secret Six and only having Ragdoll and then 5 other random people. I’ll wait to see the movie and hope that it’s really good, but I do kind of foresee another X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But, ultimately, I’m going to the theater to see it and find out if it’s any good. If I don’t see it and it tanks and Hollywood finally decides it’s not worth backing big budget movies that won’t make them any money, then I’m stuck watching “Big Momma’s House 7: Just Like Fat Heaven” or something. I’ll take a bastardized version of The First Class over another Borat or Epic Movie/Date Movie/Meet The Spartans/insert other crap here.
Sin City, Scott Pilgrim, Batman: The Dark Knight, X-Men I-II may have all been close to the source material but movies like Kick-Ass, Wanted, The Spirit, and the Blade Trilogy are all (for the most part) pretty good movies but they are nothing like their source material. I agree that most fans would like to see a fairly accurate representation of the comic but I also see nothing wrong with them going in the complete opposite direction. The entire second half of Kick-Ass was ridiculous and nothing like the comics but it was still fun and entertaining.
I hated the Kick-Ass movie with the power of a thousand exploding suns, it went completely against what made the comic great, the fact it wasn’t like any other super hero book (the hero didn’t get the girl, he was weak, Big Daddy wasn’t a Punisher clone…).
The movie turned it into a standard hero flick, I truely hated it.
Wanted, was okay, but not even close to the comic book which I enjoyed a Hell of a lot more then the movie. Wanted, like First Class don’t have enough in common with the source material to share the same name.
So then your issue is that if the movie isn’t close enough to the comic it shouldn’t have the name? If that’s the case then Men in Black, Mystery Men, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Weird Science, and a slew of other movies don’t deserve their names despite the fact that the fans love them and they are great movies in their own rights.
Movies haven’t followed the comics for years and years. This is nothing new or outrageous. I can understand if the fan boy inside you is crying out in pain (Believe me, I still cry out in pain ever time Ghost Rider comes on) but get real dude.
Kick-Ass and Wanted are so far removed from the original source material that I feel they shouldn’t use the same name. It’s not a question of me “getting real” it’s just how I feel, can’t change that no matter how much you may disagree.
I just hate how movies based of comic books (live action manga suffers from this too by the way) are maded with the idea of a built in audience and then changed to the point that that same audience doesn’t recognize it anymore, it’s like movie makers think their lack of originality can be solved by creating an “original” story with this borowed material. It’s lamost false advertisement, heck when my friends invited me to see Wanted I couldn’t wait to see how they made all the DC equivalents in a life action movie, you can guess how my reaction to the changes made…
I think I can scrounge up enough pocket change to see this on opening night.
Thank you Ricco for having my back in some of this conversation. I would be fine with the movie if it did not have any reference to X in it. It is not Xmen. It is not appreciative of the history of the Xmen. If Marvel had the balls are the finances they would buy their rights back and do it all over again in a better way, but at the same time they are rebooting Spider Man movies after those steedily went down hill. Again I have told my movie going buddies I will not see this movie. I will not contribute to this movie. I will not explain any aspects of this movie to them. From what I have read above hell I dont even know who is in this movie. I am truly disgusted in this fodder that is just there to showcase something and get money from people. Wont get my 12.00 to sit in this mess. Everyone else enjoy and you can come back and tell me how much of a jerk I am for not liking the movie. Sorry guys I prefer to have a little bit more depth instead of showing Magneto lifting a submarine out of the water. Oh wow. That is just amazing. Hell Magneto could do that in his dreams, but I am supposed to be impressed. Marvel you are sell outs and desperate for money. Guys I hope you have a huge Podcast on this and get lots of reactions to it. What is your opinion on these few minutes of film?
Everone has their own opinion which is good. But I think you need to stop taking it all so seriously. It’s just a film. The X-men are just fictional characters. Is it such a big deal they’re aren’t exactly how YOU want them? And once again, this isn’t Marvel it’s 20th Century Fox. Marvel doesn’t have X-men movie rights. Therefore this can’t be an example of them selling out. Cast your net wider and you’ll find plently of examples of them selling out, eg. Deadpool in everything.
Dude, we are fans, by deffinition we don’t do “rational” and can’t NOT take seriously the object of our fandom ;-)
We should be able to though. There have been a lot of truly great comic book moments that have happened when someone created a story that changed the way we looked at the material. Batman Beyond, what if everyone hated that because that’s not the Batman they want to see fighting crime, their Batman isn’t an old broken man, or Days of Future Past and a multitude of others. I’m not saying this movie will be great or that it’ll be terrible. I do feel it shouldn’t have necessarily been called “First Class”, but whatever. Consider the thing a What If or and Elseworlds and then see the movie and judge it based on it’s actual merits. I completely understand getting upset about changes being made or liberties taken with something you love. We should be able to talk about the movie in a calm manner and explain ourselves. I guess I can understand being angry that the movie doesn’t have the characters or appearance of how some people want it to look, but I don’t think Marvel’s going to troll through these sites and change their minds because someone threatened not to pay to see it. I’ll see it cause I like superhero flicks, if it’s good, I’ll buy it on Blu-Ray, if it’s not I might watch it a few years later on tv for a few minutes as I’m switching between DVR’d shows. By the way, hate all you want, I kinda liked X-Men 3. I liked seeing Beast fighting and lots of mutants in fisticuffs. Granted it wasn’t great, and there shouldn’t have been any reason that Wolverine didn’t just walk up to Jean Grey and pump her full of the “Antidote” instead of killing her. Okay, the more I think about it (and Cyclops death) the more I’m remembering my dislike for the movie, but still it was good enough for me to buy it on discount.
More Rose Byrne please. Just wanted to say that. You can’t have enough of her in any film.
Pedantic plot alert- If you’re lifting and entire submarine out of the water from a hovering(?) airplane, wouldn’t you also pull the plane DOWN into the water- see Newtons laws of physics.
He can do the same while flyng under his own power, I don’t think the plane serves as an anchor in this case, but the real answer is probably “it just looks cool, who cares?”.