Saturday 14 May 2011

EXCLUSIVE: Watch 2 X-Men: First Class TV Spots

The cast of X-Men: First Class
We've got a special treat for you today, True Believers, with two Marvel.com-exclusive new TV spots for "X-Men: First Class," in theaters June 3!

Catch even more peeks at the film which details the early days of Professor X and Magneto's relationship, as well as the formation of the X-Men, in these exciting new spots! James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender bring the young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr to life in this action-packed journey back to the 1960s as we witness mankind's introduction to the X-Men!

More on Marvel.com: http://marvel.com/news/story/15889/exclusive_watch_2_x-men_first_class_tv_spots#ixzz1MJYNIWa4

Friday 13 May 2011

X-Men: First Class - Bryan Singer Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

We are ramping up our X-Men: First Class coverage in the run-up to the film's release, and following our on-set interviews with James McAvoy, who plays Charles Xavier in the film, and Michael Fassbender, who plays Erik Lehnsherr, we catch up with the movie's producer, Bryan Singer. The director of the first two X-movies, Singer explains how the volcanic ash cloud helped him find his First Class helmer, discusses the importance of the Hellfire Club to his story, and talks up the possibility of future instalments.


IGN: Why did you decide to make X-Men: First Class?

Bryan Singer: 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.


IGN: So is the plot inspired by any of the First Class story or is it something entirely original?

Singer: 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.

IGN: How is Charles and Erik's relationship at the start of this film?

Singer: I think that because of their mutual respect for each other's intelligence and powers, they are attempting to build a friendship, but they both come from completely different backgrounds. Xavier is very privileged and wealthy and as a result a bit naive and a bit idealistic. Whereas, Magneto is a product of the holocaust, he's hell-bent on vengeance, and his view of humanity and his hope for mutant-kind is seen through a much narrower prism. They both care for the same things, but in this movie you see the different ideologies fermenting.

IGN: We talked with both James [McAvoy] and Michael [Fassbender] about their characters being like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in their approach to human and mutant rights. Were you thinking that when you came up with the story?

Singer: Absolutely. That was what attracted me to the X-Men many years ago... that relationship. Two people who want the same thing want to achieve it in very different ways. Nobody wants misery and failure for themselves and the people around them, but sometimes in pursuing prosperity, that can happen if it's not done in the right way.

MORE: X-Men: First Class - Bryan Singer Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

X-Men: First Class - Havok Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

Lucas Till is best known for his roles in the Hannah Montana movie and Battle: Los Angles. This summer he'll be making the move into superhero flicks as Alex Summers, aka Havok, in the forthcoming X-Men: First Class. IGN visited the set late last year to sit down with the young star to discuss everything from superpowers to X-Men chat-up lines. Here's what he had to say...

And BEWARE OF SPOILERS ahead.

Lucas Till as Alex Summers/Havok

IGN: Have you always been a fan of the X-Men?

Lucas Till: Well I never read any of the comics but I grew up on the animated series when I was a little kid - I guess it came out in 1992. So I've always been an X-Men fan.

IGN: Can you tell us a little about who you play in the movie?

Till: Alex Summers, and his superhero name I guess is Havok. I'm Cyclops' younger brother so I can shoot plasma beams out of my entire body instead of just optic beams.

IGN: So is Alex in control of his power?

Till: Just like Scott can't control his power without glasses or a visor on, historically Alex has never been able to control his power either, so it's always been outbursts with a lack of control. In the comics he has a suit that absorbs excess energy but it was more like a meter that would tell him how much power he has, whereas in this one I have something that channels it because I can't control it myself. So I have a chest-piece that focuses the ray so I don't blow my team-mates up.

MORE: X-Men: First Class - Havok Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

X-Men: First Class - Mystique Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

Jennifer Lawrence rocketed to fame with her Oscar-nominated role in Winter's Bone, which she followed up with an equally excellent performance in the recently released The Beaver. This summer sees her try her hand at a big-budget blockbuster, playing Raven Darkholme in X-Men: First Class. The shape-shifting mutant who becomes better known as the villainous Mystique, Lawrence plays her as the good girl before she turns bad, and IGN caught up with her on-set late last year to discuss the evolution of her character.

X-Men
Mystique with the rest of the X-Men: First Class team.

IGN: Is starring in a superhero movie an antidote to the seriousness of Winter's Bone?

Jennifer Lawrence: I actually was thinking of it that way. Not this movie specifically, but kind of thinking about doing something a little lighter. I wouldn't call it an antidote, but I was definitely looking forward to it.

IGN: So tell us about your character.

Lawrence: Raven, or Mystique, is a shape-shifter and when she is in her natural, blue, scaly, red-haired form she also has super-human agility. She's young, and she's a normal teenager dealing with insecurities, but her insecurities aren't that normal. She's insecure about being a mutant, but she slowly grows to accept it and evolves into herself and starts to love it.

IGN: Are her powers fully formed in the movie?

Lawrence: She's been shape-shifting for a long time, but she's just recently learning about her superhuman agility. She discovers that in the movie.

IGN: What's it like to play a mutant?

Lawrence: It's completely different, but fun. You don't want to do the same thing every time and I do feel like I'm at the opposite end right now but I'm having a blast. It's a fun character to play, in a fun movie. We've got cool sets and I'm really loving all the special effects, because it's so different to Winter's Bone - I'm like a kid in a candy store.


MORE: X-Men: First Class - Mystique Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

X-Men: First Class - Banshee Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

Caleb Landry Jones made a cinematic splash as the creepy kid in last year's horror hit The Last Exorcism. He's tackling a very different kind of role in superhero prequel X-Men: First Class this summer, playing Sean Cassidy, who becomes better known as the sonic screaming Banshee. IGN exclusively interviewed Jones on the film's UK set late last year, and we talked about everything from cracking skulls to becoming an action figure.

IGN: How did you get the role of Banshee?

Caleb Landry Jones: All I knew was that it was the X-Men. I thought, 'What the hell are they doing auditioning a redhead? OK, I'll do my best.' I got the part and it's been brilliant. I've never been overseas - I've never been to Europe - and so that's amazing by itself. To be on a movie with such magnitude as this one is just absolutely amazing. I'm getting a chance I've never had before in my life. I'm getting to fly, which I've always wanted to do. I'm playing a superhero, which I've always wanted to do. Don't look like Spider-Man, don't look like Batman, so it's fantastic that there's one that I do look like, kind of.

Banshee
The X-Men: First Class team, with Caleb Landry Jones on the far-left.

IGN: Tell us about the character.

Jones: Well he's got a supersonic scream. He learns how to fly in this movie. He learns how to melt objects. In the beginning all he really knows is how to break things - car doors I'm guessing, things like that. And he's got selective hearing.

IGN: What does he do with his scream?

Jones: What's the technical way of saying it? I'm trying to think of Hank [McCoy]'s line when he explains it to me. He causes the sound waves... something about vibrations... I don't know the science behind it, but he can blow sh*t up and cause skulls to crack.

IGN: Do you get to do all that this in the movie?

Jones: Everything except the skull cracking. It's a PG-13!

IGN: How familiar were you with the X-Men when you got the role?

Jones: I'm much more familiar now that I've done some reading. I wasn't very familiar in the beginning - I wasn't allowed to watch it as a kid what with Wolverine saying 'Punk' and things like that. I couldn't watch the show. I was really into Batman, but not X-Men as such. Although now I've got a full booklet - it's like 500 or 800 pages of just Banshee comics.

MORE: X-Men: First Class - Banshee Interview - Movies Feature at IGN