The first role has been cast for the next X-Men movie – James McAvoy will play a young version of Professor Charles Xavier. I really have no opinion on the casting either way, but it did cause me to seriously think about X-Men again, which I haven’t done in a long time.

http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/705047/X-Men-First-Class-James-McAvoy-Is-Professor-X-.html

The current plan is for this movie to cover the time before Xavier started up the X-Men, and also show the break between he and Erik Lehnsherr, the man who would become Magneto. As young men, they’re each trying to explore the nature of their own mutant abilities. As the G4 article points out, it’s entirely unclear yet whether or not this will be a complete reboot of the franchise, but I agree with the author that it would be for the best if filmmakers go in that direction.

X-Men, along with some of the related titles was the first comic title I started reading as a teenager, and as well as the initial movie was made, one of my biggest disappointments was seeing them muddle the character timelines. Team books are hard enough to write well, and subsequently transfer to the big screen, that action alone inevitably had to screw with the handling of the later films when attempting to rely on the source material. If they’re committed to exploring the origins of the team, and tracking those early adventures, then so much the better as far as I’m concerned.

It’s worth noting that the movie will be handled by both the director and screenwriter, Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman respectively, of Kick-Ass (and, sidenote, already signed to write and direct Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall) and Stardust. Successfully managing the adaptation of one comic has given them license to handle one of the bigger titles.

So, is anyone a huge fan of James McAvoy, or alternately concerned about this casting? Does the chance that this turns into a full-fledged reboot of the X-Men franchise hold more or less appeal? For those who saw both the pluses and minuses of Kick-Ass, what do you think it says about the approach of the director and what you expect to see in X-Men: First Class?

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