Several details from next summer’s X-Men: First Class have been revealed thanks to an informal phone interview AICN conducted with the film’s producer (and director of the first two X-Men films) Bryan Singer.
First Class is said to take place in the 1960’s and will heavily play with the style of the day. Audiences will see John F. Kennedy as President and the parallel storyline of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X will play in the background. Overall, the look is said to emulate the original X-Men costumes far more than previous films have, though the film’s chronology pre-dates the First Class story in the comics, meaning that many of the expected characters (Cyclops and Marvel Girl are listed by name) will not appear.
The villain of the film is, as rumored, Sebastian Shaw (played by Kevin Bacon). January Jones’s Emma Frost will appear as the Hellfire Club’s White Queen as well.
The central focus of the film is the friendship between Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Eric Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) and how it falls apart. Xavier will not be depicted as bald or in a wheelchair for the majority of the film, though we will learn what cripples him.
AICN‘s article makes frequent James Bond comparisons, noting that the film will heavily play up the ’60s style, but with retro-future technology in a setting that spans the globe. Russia (a.k.a. the U.S.S.R.) specifically is mentioned.
X-Men: First Class is slated to hit theaters on June 3, 2011.
