In a new interview, Jason Flemyng, who has worked with Matthew Vaughn several times before, talks a bit more about his portrayal of the red-skinned teleporter Azazel. Warning: there may be SPOILERS ahead…
On his character:
He's the badass, knife-throwing, sword-wielding member of the Hellfire Club and it means I get to slice up loads of CIA agents. I'm an old lefty and I wanted to turn him into a Comrade because it's the Cold War, I wanted to push the idea that he's a Russian baddie.
On the future for his character, it doesn't sound like we get to see him father Nightcrawler yet, but it might be in the next movie:
He's the father of the teleporting Nightcrawler. Mystique and Azazel have a ding-dong and their kid is Alan Cumming, which I'd be happy with. I can see a resemblance there. In the next film, hopefully I get to kiss Jennifer Lawrence.
And on nearly being in X-Men: The Last Stand when Matthew Vaughn was attached to direct:
I was all ramped up and ready to play Beast originally [before Kelsey Grammar got the role]. I went over and did my camera tests and stuff.
These are excerpts from an article at the Coventry Telegraph, which is apparently sourced from a fuller interview in Comic Heroes.
X-Men: First Class is released on June 1 in the UK and June 3 in the USA.