Calling them "X-Men" because they possess special powers due to their possession of the "X-Gene", a gene normal humans lack but which gives Mutants their abilities. Early on, however, the "X" in X-Men stood for "extra" power which normal humans lacked. It was alluded that the mutations were incurred as a result of radiation exposure. All six original X-Men (including Professor Xavier) were stated to be the children of parents who worked on atomic weapons for the United States military.
The name is also linked to the "X Gene", an unknown gene that causes the mutant evolution. Creator Stan Lee devised the series title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name, "The Merry Mutants", stating that readers wouldn't know what a "mutant" was. Within the Marvel Universe, the X-Men are widely regarded to have been named after Professor Xavier himself. Xavier however claims that the name "X-Men" was never chosen to be a self-tribute.
Early X-Men issues introduced the team's arch enemy Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants featuring Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and the Toad. The comic focused on a common human theme of good versus evil and later included storylines and themes about prejudice and racism. The evil side in the fight was shown in human form and under some sympathetic beginnings via Magneto, a character who was later revealed to have survived Nazi concentration camps only to pursue a hatred for all 'normal' mankind. His key followers, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, were Roma (gypsies). Only one new member of the X-Men was added, Mimic/Calvin Rankin, but soon left due to his temporary loss of power.
In 1969, writer Roy Thomas and illustrator Neal Adams rejuvenated the comic book and gave regular roles to two recently introduced characters: Havok/Alex Summers (who had been introduced by Roy Thomas before Adams began work on the strip) and Lorna Dane, later called Polaris (created by Arnold Drake and Jim Steranko). However, these later X-Men issues failed to attract sales and Marvel stopped producing new stories with issue #66, later reprinting a number of the older comics as issues #67-93.
Many thanks to Wikipedia, link below.
The First Class movie should be the original five, or should we say six, in a way a sort of reboot or even stand alone, you decide...
Now to the X-Men First Class casting, the movie poster =
The Cast =
Paul Bettany as Professor X (Charles Xavier):
Charles Francis Xavier was born in New York City to the wealthy Brian Xavier, a well-respected nuclear scientist, and Sharon Xavier. After Brian dies in an accident, his science partner Kurt Marko comforts and marries the grieving Sharon. When Xavier's telepathic mutant powers emerge, he discovers Kurt cares only about his mother's money.
Later Xavier’s goals were to promote the peaceful affirmation of mutant rights, to mediate the co-existence of mutants and humans and to protect society from antagonistic mutants, including his old friend, the militant Magneto. To achieve these aims, he founded Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters (later named the Xavier Institute) to teach mutants to explore and control their powers. Its first group of students was the original X-Men. Xavier's students consider him a visionary and often refer to their mission as "Xavier's dream". He is highly regarded by others in the Marvel universe, respected by various governments and trusted by several other superhero teams, including the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. However, he also has a manipulative streak which has resulted in several significant fallings-out with allies and students.
He often acts as a public advocate for mutant rights and is the authority most of the Marvel superhero community turns to for advice on mutants. Despite this, his status as a mutant himself and leader of the X-Men has only recently become public.
Now i know what your going to say (probably), yes i did cast Bettany as Longshot and i do believe he would own that role but even more so as Charles Xavier, yeah I've seen Bettany cast as many parts but this one seems to fit him like a glove, even down to his accent, good actor that would and probably could be up there with Patrick Stewarts.
Tim Pocock as Cyclops (Scott Summers):
Scott is the first X-Man recruited by Charles Xavier and as one of the original five X-Men, Cyclops has had a large presence in X-Men-related comics since their inception. He has also been featured in almost every adaptation of the team in other media. In practically every incarnation of the character, he has almost always been shown to be not only Charles Xavier's most loyal student, but also the one who most believes in his dream of mutant and human equality.
Xavier is known to view Scott as one of his most, if not the most prized pupil. The relationship is not mentor to protege but akin to that of a father to son. Xavier hand picked Scott to lead his X-Men and to carry on his ideals. From time to time Scott's loyalty to Xavier has cost him dearly. He has remained by Xavier's side and eventually moved out of Xavier's shadow as the singular leader of the X-Men.
He is the son of Corsair (Major Christopher Summers) of the Starjammers; the brother of Havok (Alex Summers) and Vulcan (Gabriel Summers); the father of Cable (Nathan Summers); and the widower of Madelyne Pryor and Jean Grey and a long time friend with Beast (Hank McCoy). In alternate realities, he has also been the father of Marvel Girl II and Ruby Summers, and the biological parent to X-Man and Cable's clone Stryfe.
Well of all the Wolverine movie, Tim Pocock has got to be one of my favorites, i think he deserves another chance as the young Cyclops, he done great in the small role, but if its a complete reboot cast wise then talking chance, Chance Crawford easy.
Emma Stone as Marvel Girl (Jean Grey):
Jean Grey-Summers is a mutant born with telepathic and telekinetic powers. Her powers first manifested when she saw her childhood friend being hit by a car. She is a caring, nurturing figure, but she also must deal with being an Omega-level mutant and the physical manifestation of the cosmic Phoenix Force. She faces death several times in the history of the series, first in the classic "Dark Phoenix Saga" but due to her connection with the Phoenix Force, she, as her namesake implies, rises from death.
Jean is an important figure in the lives of other Marvel universe characters, mostly the X-Men, including her husband Cyclops; her mentor and father-figure Charles Xavier; her close friend and sometimes romantic interest Wolverine; Storm, who is her best friend and a sister-like figure; her daughter Rachel Summers; her son X-Man; and stepson Cable.
Emma Stone has always been in my mind as the young Jean Grey, ever since i saw her in House Bunny & Superbad. Shes awesome in Zombieland too and i have seen her cast as MJ but i think Jean Grey is just more her, right down to her piercing green eyes, this girls got talent and talent is what we need in this Marvel role, she'd own it!
Alex Pettyfer as Angel (Warren Worthington III):
Warren Kenneth Worthington III, a mutant, Angel originally possessed a pair of large feathered wings extending from his back enabling him to fly. He is the heir and CEO of the multi-billion dollar Worthington Industries. This privileged background resulted in Warren being stereotyped as an arrogant and self-absorbed playboy during his early years with the X-Men. This personality would ultimately be replaced with a more introspective and brooding personality in the late 1980s, when the character was revamped into the more grim and gritty "Archangel" persona.
He was born in Centerport, New York to Kathryn Worthington and Warren Worthington Jr. He was attending a private school in his adolescence when white feathered wings began to grow from his shoulder blades. At first, Warren felt he was a freak, but he soon learned that he could use his wings to fly and to help people. When there was a fire in his dormitory, he borrowed some props from the school's drama department, dressed up as a "heavenly" angel, and rescued his friends. He soon learned that he in fact was a mutant. He donned a mask and costume and called himself the Avenging Angel and became a solo adventurer,[volume & issue needed] before being recruited by Professor Charles Xavier into joining the X-Men.
Now i know i picked this guy for a young Captain Britain, but it was just an extra quick, flashback part for the origin to the Excalibur movie i cast. So personally i think he's maybe wasted on that part and i thought of Angel (though come to mention it, i think someone beat me to this now, shout out whoever you are, i vaguely remember someone, picking him, i think, anyway, give me a shout ;) )
Anyways he done many movies, most well known i think would be Stormbreaker a few years ago. Yes Teddy Sears is a perfect Angel for X4 but all the way for Pettyfer for First Class.
Wesley MacInnes as Iceman (Bobby Drake):
Robert Drake was born in Floral Park, Long Island, New York, to William Robert Drake and Madeline Beatrice Bass-Drake. He is Jewish on his mother's side and Irish Catholic on his father's. Bobby's powers first manifest when he is on a date with Judy Harmon, and a local bully by the name of Rocky Beasely tries to take Judy away for himself. Knowing Judy cannot put up a good fight, Bobby points his hand at Beasely and encases him in a block of ice. Later, the local townspeople, having heard of the incident, come looking for him in the form of an angry mob. The local sheriff has no choice but to put Bobby in jail for his own "protection". While Bobby sits in his cell at the sheriff station, the outer wall is blown open, and a man named Scott Summers (Cyclops) walks in and offers to take Bobby with him. After Bobby turns him down, the two mutants get into a short battle, which is soon ended by Professor Charles Xavier.
After Xavier has sat down and talked with Bobby and his parents, Bobby's parents suggest that he go with Professor Xavier to his "school for gifted youngsters". Bobby takes the suggestion and leaves with Professor Xavier and Cyclops to become the second member of the X-Men. He is later joined by Henry "Hank" McCoy, Jean Grey, and Warren Worthington III as the founding members of the X-Men. Iceman quickly befriends Hank McCoy (Beast), and the two serve as comic relief for the team. Drake, however, remains self-conscious regarding the fact that he is the youngest member of the group. Appearing in his original snow covered form, he first battles Magneto along with the rest of the team, and later the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Bobby Drake's first girlfriend is Zelda . Not long after, he takes on a new ice-covered form. He then teams with the Human Torch for the first time. The two would become close friends as time went on. With the X-Men, he visits the Savage Land and meets Ka-Zar for the first time. He then battles the Juggernaut, and is badly injured in his first battle against the Sentinels. He next battles Magneto by himself. Later, he visits Subterranea for the first time. Then, he and Beast battle the Maha Yogi. During his original stint with the X-Men, Drake pursues a relationship with Lorna Dane, although the relationship does not last. Iceman is among the original X-Men captured by Krakoa, leading to a new incarnation of X-Men of which he is not a member. With most of the original team, he quits the X-Men.
Now i was kinda stuck on this one, i looked and looked and got a great X4 Iceman, but too old for this version as Bobby's the baby of the group, so i got down to Wesley, been in Smallville and also I've seen him in Hallmark of Fame, good actor and I'm sure his up for the challenge of hothead Iceman, coz he'll be cool! (Sorry lol).
Joshua Jackson as Beast (Hank McCoy)
Beast (or The Beast), Dr. Henry Philip "Hank" McCoy, when first introduced, the Beast — a mutant — possesses ape-like superhuman physical strength and agility and oversized hands and feet, though he otherwise appears to be a normal human being. Throughout his history, the Beast undergoes progressive transformations to his physiognomy, permanently gaining increasingly animalistic physical characteristics. These include blue fur, feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. His physical power increases to even greater levels, as do his senses.
Despite his savage appearance, he is a brilliant man of the arts and sciences; he is a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, the X-Men's medical doctor, and the science and mathematics instructor at the Xavier Institute (the X-Men's headquarters and school for young mutants). He is also a mutant political activist. Fighting his bestial instincts and fears of social rejection, the Beast dedicates his physical and mental gifts to the creation of a better world for man and mutant. He also has a witty sense of humor.
One of the original X-Men of course and never liked this actor much in Dawsons Creek but he sold me once I saw Fringe, to be fair I've only watched a handful of episodes of this show but really want to see this from the very start, but what I've seen of Josh, is he's an awesome actor and could play a young Hank easy and it was MR MURDOCK cbm user who thought of him first, so all credit goes to him for this one and yes Josh is a tad older in the group but Hank is supposed to be that much older and wiser than the rest of the team.
Clive Owen as young Magneto:
Magneto was born Max Eisenhardt sometime in the late 1920s to a middle class German Jewish family whose father, Jakob Eisenhardt was a highly decorated World War I veteran. Surviving discrimination and hardship during the Nazi rise to power, Kristallnacht, and the passing of the Nuremberg Laws, in 1939 Max and his family fled to Poland where they were captured during the German invasion of Poland and sent to the Warsaw Ghetto. Max and his family escape the Ghetto, only to be betrayed and captured again. His mother, father, and sister were executed and buried in a mass grave, but Max survived possibly due to the manifestation of his powers. Escaping from the mass grave, he is ultimately captured yet again and sent to Auschwitz, where he eventually becomes a Sonderkommando. While at Auschwitz, Eisenhardt reunites with a Roma girl named Magda, with whom he had fallen in love when he was younger, and with whom he escapes the prison camp during the October 7th 1944 revolt. Following the war, he and Magda move to the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, and adopts the name "Magnus". Magda and Magnus have a daughter named Anya, and live uneventfully until one night when an angry mob burned their home down with Anya still inside. Enraged at the mob preventing him from rescuing Anya, the young Magneto's powers manifest uncontrollably, killing the mob and destroying a part of the city. Magda, terrified at Magneto's power, leaves him and later gives birth to the mutant twins Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch before walking away to die. Wanted by the authorities for the deaths and destruction in Vinnytsia, while searching for Magda, Magnus paid a Romanian forger George Odekirk, to create the cover identity of "Erik Lehnsherr the Sinte gypsy" for him.
Magneto's experiences surviving Nazi Germany, Auschwitz, and Vinnytsia would shape his outlook on the situation that mutants face in the Marvel Universe. Determined to keep such atrocities from ever being committed against mutant-kind, he is willing to use deadly force to protect mutants. He would believe that mutants ("Homo superior") will become the dominant life form on the planet and would set about either creating a homeland on Earth where mutants could live peacefully, or conquering and enslaving humanity in the name of mutantkind.
Magneto's first villainous act was attacking a United States military base called Cape Citadel. He was defeated by Charles Xavier's mutant students, the X-Men. Who better than Clive Owen for the role of a younger Mag's, yeah i know your shocked I picked this one lol, epic role in the making!
Tom Felton as a young Quicksilver (Pietro Django Maximoff):
The character first appears with his twin sister, the Scarlet Witch, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the title X-Men. The siblings are mutants, with Pietro possessing superhuman speed and Wanda able to control probability. The pair are recruited by their father Magneto, and after several brief appearances in the title X-Men, depart when Magneto and his lackey the Toad are abducted by the cosmic entity the Stranger. Pietro and his sister reform and are recruited by Avenger Iron Man to join superhero team the Avengers.
Quicksilver is a mutant capable of moving and thinking at superhuman speeds. Originally capable of running at the speed of sound; exposure to the High Evolutionary's Isotope E made it possible for the character to run at supersonic speeds of up to Mach 5 and resist the effects of friction, reduced oxygen, and kinetic impact while moving at super-speeds. The character's speed allows him to perform feats such as create cyclone-strength winds; run up walls and cross bodies of water.
Now don't get me wrong, i hate the Harry Potter movies with a passion lol, but this guy Felton just screams Quicksilver (well the young version of course). Have seen his stuff while suffering through Potter heh heh and i gotta say i can't think of anyone who would be better than him for Mag's kid Pietro!
Jacqueline Macinnes Wood as a young Scarlet Witch:
The Scarlet Witch debuted, together with her brother, Quicksilver, as a part of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Shes a mutant who can tap into mystic energy for reality-altering effects; this power was formerly limited to the creation of "hex-spheres" of reality-disrupting quasi-psionic force to cause molecular disturbances in a target's probability field, resulting in spontaneous combustion, deflection of objects in flight, and so on. She later became able to alter reality on a far greater scale, creating entire armies of enemies from nowhere. Although the Scarlet Witch has been trained in basic sorcery techniques, she lacks the specialized mystic training required to fully control her ability to manipulate probability via "hexes". Visually, these hexes could manifest as "hex spheres" or "hex bolts" and increased the probability of various unlikely phenomena, including spontaneous combustion of inflammable objects, rapid rust or decay of organic or inorganic materials, deflection of objects and powers in flight, and disruption of energy transmissions or fields and so on. These hexes were relatively short range and limited to line of sight. Casting a hex requires a gesture and concentration on her part, though the gestures are largely a focus for the concentration. Despite this precision, the hexes are not necessarily guaranteed to work, particularly if Wanda is tired or using her powers excessively. If overextended, Wanda's hexes can backfire, causing probability to work against her wishes or to undo previous hexes. The effects are varied but almost always detrimental to opponents, such as causing the artifact the Evil Eye to work against inter-dimensional warlord Dormammu, the robot Ultron to short circuit or a gas main underneath the Brotherhood of Mutants to explode. Wanda is an expert combatant having been trained by both Captain America and Hawkeye, as well as being an adept tactician due to her years of experience working as an Avenger and her experience in a variety of combat situations. The Scarlet Witch also has the potential to wield magic and later learned that she was destined to serve the role of Nexus Being, a living focal point for the Earth dimension's mystical energy.
Wood made a name for herself playing the part of the "hair girl" on a commercial for First Choice Haircutters. In May 2008, she booked the contract role of Steffy Forrester, daughter of Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss) and Taylor Hayes (Hunter Tylo), on the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Have seen her act and I've got to say, she'd be an amazing younger version of the character and look good all in red! : P
James McAvoy as young Charles Xavier in Flashbacks:
Well news today Wanted boy has a part and probably Prof X, I'm thinking its a flashback part as he looks waaaaay to young to play Xavier, even the younger version, well for the training of the X-men time anyway. Yeah I know Bettany's only eight or nine years older but he can look older than what he is too!
Right last but not least...
If they reboot the whole cast, then Chance Crawford as Cyclops:
Although as stated above i'd prefer Tim Pocock as the young Scott Summers again, but if they recast then its got to be Chance, This was ECKMAN's choice in his First Class casting and I've got to agree, he would make a great Cyclops (never seen Gossip Girl but I've seen him act). Anyways even though i see a perfect Vance Astro in Avengers/New Warriors (which is my new pick for him). Gotta say Scott if Tim doesn't get the part.
LEEE777 - Hope you liked, took long enough, been planning this months and months ago, just like the Flash and Excalibur (done that one lol).
Until next time, see you in the funny pages! : P