In an in depth interview with IGN Movies, the producer of X-Men: First Class and director of X-Men and X2 talked in great detail about the upcoming movie and below are just some of the main highlights. To read the interview in its entirety, click on the link at the bottom of the page to head on over to the site.
On The Choice Of Title And Its Meaning: It was initially a title I liked. I knew that there was exploration of doing a movie based on the First Class comic book, but I thought that to earn that or to get there, it would be interesting to go back to the origin of the X-Men. The formation of the relationship and the schism between Xavier and Magneto. And yet I still liked the title First Class because it reflected that concept every bit as much as the comic it's based on, so I just decided that I would pursue that story of young Xavier and young Magneto but retain the title First Class as a sort of beginning of the X-Men and they could go from there.
On How He Came Up With The Story: Oh something I came up with just based on... When I made the first two X-Men films I was conscious of figuring out how to play the relationship between Magneto and Xavier and I was always very conscious of what their past must have been. What their friendship was like. So that back-story was always playing in my head whenever I was discussing scenes with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. So this was a chance to finally go back and explore the history that was always bouncing around in my mind when I was making those other movies.
On Deciding Which Characters To Include In The Movie: You first freak out because you assume that the good ones have already been picked. Then you just pick up the books and start reviewing and researching. I felt like I was back in the late '90s again, going through all the character histories and biographies and the comic books and graphic novels, and trying not to violate the tableaux but at the same time trying to have mutants that service different aspects of your story. Where their powers move the story forward as opposed to just being there to be cool.
On The Inclusion Of The Hellfire Club: The Hellfire Club is actually something that [producers] Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg had mentioned to me early on. It's something that we had discussed years ago, to incorporate them into an X-Men film, but we never quite found a way to do so. So Lauren brought it up again and I thought great, because it again plays into the idea of them being underground. Because the whole idea of the Hellfire Club is that they are an underground club, and that's perfect because we're dealing with a time when the world doesn't know that mutants exist. What better villain element than one that exists under the surface of society? And to have the mutants intertwine with the geopolitical events of the time.
On Kevin Bacon As Sebastian Shaw: evin is just a fantastic actor and we've seen him be very charming and funny and we've seen some of his darker side in a couple of pictures, but he hasn't really done this sort of thing yet. He's quite phenomenal - he speaks multiple languages in the film flawlessly, and he's at that age now where his boyish charm can now be transformed into one of those seductive villains. And he plays it quite well - it's fun to watch him on set.
On How The Movie Ties In With The Original Trilogy: I think the chronology works - there are some liberties, but for the most part, it makes sense. The characters make sense. Which is why Beast and Mystique were the only two I could bring back because you don't really know how old they are.
On Setting A Sequel In The 1970s or 1980s: Absolutely. That would be a blast.
On Whether He Has A Master Plan For A Trilogy Of Movies: Just on this one. I think that whenever people claim they have long-range plans for these things... I think what happens is you really have to see how the first one plays, how audiences respond, which characters and points of the story they respond to, and then reassess it and go from there. In my mind, that's the way I think about it.
On What Matthew Vaughn Brings To X-Men: First Class: He's incredibly good with ensemble casts, which was the most important thing. He can service many characters, each with their own separate characterisations, each driving a common story. And he already had a love of the X-Men universe from when he had been involved in X-Men 3. And he immediately took to the period that it took place. He's a huge fan of the Bond films, and he wanted to use some of that aesthetic in this film, and I thought that was really fantastic. He's a terrific director and he's a strong director, and he's also produced and has his own team. To dive into one of these movies can be very challenging - all these things kind of going against you, and he was at a place where I knew he could take these things on and wouldn't be overwhelmed.
X-Men: First Class is set to be released in the UK on June 1st and in the US on June 2nd.
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