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‘X-Men: First Class’ Done Casting; Adds January Jones, Zoe Kravitz and More

By: Erik Davis on August 18, 2010 at 2:14PM Comments (130)

I made a joke the other day on Twitter noting that X-Men: First Class was so packed with characters that the first 60 minutes of the film would wind up being all character introductions. It was a joke, sure, but there’s also no denying the fact that this sucker is at the point where it’s literally overflowing with talent. Fun for hardcore X-Men fans who are itching to see more of their favorite mutants come to life on screen, but one can’t help but wonder whether it was really necessary to include this many characters in one film, and, well, whether it will come back to bite (or scratch – where’s that Wolverine cameo, anyway?) them in the end.

January Jones

If anyone can handle all these mutants, though, it’s director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass), and he’ll certainly have his hands full. Late additions (via Deadline) to the already packed cast include January Jones (Mad Men) playing Emma Frost (instead of the previously rumored Alice Eve), Zoe Kravitz playing a character named Angel (who some suggest is an alternate name for a young Storm), and Oliver Platt as “The Man in Black” (no Lost references please!). Other additions include Bill Milner (Son of Rambow) as a young version of Magneto (to be played by Michael Fassbender later in the film) and Morgan Lily as a young Mystique (to be played by up-and-comer Jennifer Lawrence later in the film).
 
And for those who need a refresher on the folks already signed on: James McAvoy is playing Professor Xavier, Nicholas Hoult will play Beast, Caleb Landry Jones will play Banshee, Lucas Till will play Havoc, Edi Gathegi will play Darwin, Rose Byrne will play McAvoy's love interest Moira MacTaggert, and Kevin Bacon will play the not-yet-announced lead villain.
 
Do you think this film has too many cast members, or should an X-Men film always include a big ensemble cast?

Comments (130)Leave a Comment

  • Aug 27th 2010 6:51PM

    CISCO987  said...

    Wow another sequel to X-Men can't take another one after X-Men 3 when they total f****d up the story line by introducing Gene Grey as the Pheonix too early in the series and killing Cyclops was the most stupidest thing they could do. Plus did anyone ever read the comics let alone watch the TV Series come on my kids are smarter than these clowns..

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  • Aug 27th 2010 6:53PM

    CISCO987  said...

    SORRY TYPO JEAN GREY

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  • Aug 27th 2010 2:11PM

    1038959173  said...

    storm for her it ias bad enough they said that id you got dvd you can see storm as a little girl which i never saw and i got dvd and gave it away and than got it gain still never saw it now they want a another name for her

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  • Aug 27th 2010 5:40AM

    fish23  said...

    A Movie Titled X-Men First Class Should Be That - Professor Xs First Class. Cyclops Marvel Girl Beast (Not Blue) Angel and Iceman How they discovered their powers How they came to Professor Xs School For Gifted Youngsters How they learned to master their powers How to fit into society and how they possibly evolved (Beast becoming blue and furry Angel becoming Archangel Marvel Girl becoming Phoenix etc I loved all the X-Men movies so far because I grew up with these characters and love them I just really hate that the continuity of characters and events are all wrong in the movies (Ex Ages of Iceman Rogue Kitty Pryde Angel Pyro all being the same, and when they were introduced in the movies Movie Ideas: Sentinels Morlocks New Mutants

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  • Aug 25th 2010 10:37AM

    Morganmkf  said...

    Ugh! "Storm" just seems to get lighter and lighter (whiter and whiter) with every film. ENOUGH already! She's supposed to be from Africa! Argh!

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  • Aug 25th 2010 5:09AM

    petern0582  said...

    The movie producers screwed this up badly. What they should have done was to take the mess that was X-Men 3, and showed what happens when you take a bunch of hormonal teen-agers with super-powers, put them in a "school" without strong teachers (no Scott, no Jean, no Charles) and try to educate them. They could have made the Hellfire Club with Hellions movie! There's a reason to have half-naked White and Black Queens.

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  • Aug 24th 2010 1:14PM

    halooverhornz  said...

    I think that theres nothing better than having a ton of characters in a comic book movie in particular ! It always bothered me how many characters they left out of these movies ! Think of how many fans of each character there are and can finally see them on screen ... & think of how many newcomers interests get sparked by these characters ! I think its gonna be awesome

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 10:09PM

    wgl_script  said...

    ...Deadpool became Weapon XI (as in 11). It wa called the Weapon X Program. "X" as in 'Expirimental." Logan, an agent of the Canadian military/government, became Wolverine while in the Weapon X Program. I am sure there were other who went through the program. Although not mentioned in "Origins," I think Alpha Flight might have been part of the Weapon X Program at one time. Although it was explained at the end of "Origins" why Wolverine could not remember who Sabretooth was in the begining of "The X-MEN," it was a pretty stupid way of putting it. Besides, Sabretooth in "X-MEN" didn't seem to remember Wolverine...never really acknowledged him. That is all I have for now. I hope you have enjoyed MY two cents worth. Excelsior!

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 10:03PM

    wgl_script  said...

    ...an alternate reality inwhich Wolverine had cut out one of Cyclops' eye, after Cyclops had blasted one of Wolverine's hands off. During this storyline, Magneto removed the adamantium from Wolverine's boned through his skin. This left Wolverine with his TRUE mutant powers...the ability to heal himself and his hightened sense of smell. HOWEVER, somehow Wolverine stll had claws. How you ask? They were bone. That's right...bone claws. ANY true X-MEN fan will tell you that the claws Wolverine has were surgically implanted during the adamantium-infusion process. This is how Logan got the (code)name Wolverine...NOT from some love story his girlfriend/fiancee told him. Also, Wolverine was NOT Weapon X (as in 10) and Deadpool became...

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 9:57PM

    wgl_script  said...

    ...It is one thing mess with the story line of a comic book or novel when making it into a movie. One of my favorite books, "The Grapes of Wrath," was made into a movie. However, due to some of the conten in the book, it had to be omitted from the movie when it was made. Not to mention they didn't have colored film back then. However, to change actors to portray characters...that just is not right. Since I mentioned the change of actors in the rolde of Sabretooth in "Wolverine," I want to end by commenting a bit on "Wolverine." WRONG ORIGIN!!! Back in the late 1990's or early 2000's, the X-MEN storyline (consisting of "The Uncanny X-MEN" [orgiginally titled "X-MEN"], X-MEN," and various other titles included an alternate reality...

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 9:50PM

    wgl_script  said...

    Much like when there was Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager all on the air at the same time (even if it was for only one season). Still, I personally think that would have been for the best. As for the change in the actors...this is ALWAYS a bad idea. It didn't work in "Speed 2"; it didn't work in "Lawnmowerman 2"; it didn't work in "Iron Man 2"; It didn't work in X-MEN Origins: Wolverine; it's not going to work in "X-MEN: First Class." They NEED Stewart to be professor X (just give him a wig and lots of make-up to make him look younger). They also need (his name escapes me) the original Magneto. They NEED Kelsey Grammar back as Beast (iin human form). It is one thing to mess...

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 9:44PM

    wgl_script  said...

    ..."The Second Class" made up of Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Banshee (who should have been female due to Irish lore), Nightcrawler, Sunfire, and Thunderbird. Since Thunderbird died after only three issues, have Thunderbird die in the second movie. As the X-MEN return (all 11 who lived) to the mansion, have them being welcomed by a group of young mutants...as the "The New Mutants." The story line for the third movie could be the introduction of the Botherhood of Evil Mutants; the original five leave at the end (with Cyclops being the first to go about 2/3 of the way through). This could open the doors for an "X-Factor" movie (or two or three since the original five eventually came back). To some, this might be a bit too much.

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 9:36PM

    wgl_script  said...

    This may take a few posts as I have more than just two cents to chip in here. I agree with an earlier post that if the producers of the "X-MEN" movies had followed the storyline of the comic book, those who have been reading the comic book since its incarnation would know the outcome. This being said, I still would have liked for the first "X-MEN" movie to have been based on the original five-member team: Cyclops, Marvel Girl/Jean Gray, Iceman, Angel, and Beast (in his original human form). It didn't have to be 100% cannon to the comic, just keep with the original idea. Then have the second "X-MEN" movie start out with the capture of the original five; Professor X recruiting the "Second Class"...

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 8:30PM

    Archer171  said...

    So until the rights revert back to Marvel, these "X" films will be crap. Real quick for those like the writer of this article, Angle is not another name for storm. He was one of the original five X-Men who had big white wings as seen in X3. A movie that had MANY issue for comic book nerds and the general public a like. Marvel seems to have learned, with films like Iron-Man, to do it themselves and sell the distribution rights. So once the lease on X-Men, Spider-Man, and the like runs out, these titles will get a reboot by people who about the story quality too. Until then, don't hold your breath.

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 5:59PM

    nychevyrider  said...

    although kick *** was a good movie to me. the new xmen sounds like their adding where they should be subtracting. i hope stan lee doesn't allow any additional characters to be added on to the xmen team. they stop following the comic book series as is. i mean whats next? it sounds like the new x-men movie should be called X-LAX

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 12:43PM

    1236951828  said...

    the sad thing about all of this...from the beginning they failed to stay true to X-men PERIOD...the series should have been introduced with stronger character based individuals...Halle Berry (beautiful) was casted as a very weak and subdued STORM...which is far from the truth...BEAST..AWESOME...Rogue OMG...how did she come by her POWERS?..research...and FINALLY...NO this many cast members shouldn't be in the film...however I am and will remain a true X-MEN...fanatic..THINK ABOUT...making a movie based on the ORIGINAL X-MEN and building would be awesome...technology today would allow for effects to be more realistic...and there4 allowing off-shoots movies to develop as if writing an actual comic series...read the comics series...that simple.

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  • Aug 23rd 2010 10:55AM

    1068242864  said...

    They need to read the origianl comic and start with the original first class, Scott, Jean, Hank, Bobby and Warren. This will help get the story line back on track.

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  • Aug 22nd 2010 6:58PM

    Quiet_Guy  said...

    Is it just me or does this page totally remind you of Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back's fanboy scenes?

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  • Aug 22nd 2010 3:44AM

    FunnyGuy1969  said...

    I'm going to reserve judgement on this newest installment of the X-men franchise until the previews start showing up. I've never been much for prequel movies until X-men origins: Wolverine and the latest Star Trek movie. Those 2 movies were awesome, prequel or not. But i agree with many others that said X-men 3 sucked, because it did. I thought killing Prof X was horrible, but I actually didn't mind when Cyclops was killed. All 3 movies turned Cyclops into a joke, he was nothing but a spoiled rich-boy pansy. The comic version of Cyclops was a tough and charismatic leader kind of like Captain America (I'm also curious about that upcoming movie too). Overall, I've liked the Marvel comic movies. Hopefully that trend will continue.

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  • Aug 22nd 2010 1:19AM

    Mongo the Movie Mongul  said...

    This movie's gonna suck monkey balls.

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  • Aug 21st 2010 10:09PM

    kimberlymunchkin  said...

    would have been nice to see some of the big characters from previous films

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  • Aug 21st 2010 9:58PM

    allycat74x  said...

    With ppl like you, they will be making X-men crap til we all die. Very simple..the other three sucked..origins sucked...and this one will suck...but because groupies flock to anything, they will take a crap on a piece of paper...call it X-men 3..and you will go see it..Can't wait for the second coming because society has gone beyond rock bottom and needs to be cleansed.

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  • Aug 21st 2010 7:44PM

    1796040742  said...

    Proff X should have been pcasted as patrick stewart

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  • Aug 21st 2010 7:29PM

    lucasj11a  said...

    X3 still wasn't worse than wolverine and the magic amnesia bullet. Now THAT wuz funny lol!

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  • Aug 21st 2010 7:24PM

    lexillygio  said...

    I think X-Men is. The #%*@ bring it on show them all why not showme the Action X-Men rule

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