X-Men: First Class (2011)

• Add

Production

Production/Development:

The film was started in April 2006 right before the release of X-Men: The Last Stand. Originally Zak Penn was set to write and direct a prequel spin-off. It was revealed in March 2008 that the film would be similar to the book X-Men: First Class, at which point Josh Schwartz was attached to the project as a writer. Josh Schwartz had the possibility of directing X-Men: First Class. The film was then given to Bryan Singer to direct. The film's future at the time hinged on the success of X-Men Origins: Magneto. Singer then added most of the plot of X-Men Origins: Magneto into the script with the help of Jamie Ross, Ashley Edward Miller, and Jack Stentz. Singer then left the project to work on his Jack the Giant Killer adaptation. He moved from the position of director to producer. In May 2010 Matthew Vaughn was brought onto direct the film and it was given a release date of June 3, 2011.

Filming

Principal Photography started in August 2010 around Oxford, England. Production then moved to Georgia, United States. Jekyll Island was chosen over Tybee Island because when one of the producers of the film picked it because when viewing it on Google Earth the water around was bluer.

Plot

Charles use's Dr. McCoy's Cerebro to amplify his psychic powers and find other mutants

The film opens in 1944 showing Erik Lehnsherr being torn away from his mother, as they are being taken to a concentration camp in Nazi occupied Europe. As she is being torn away from him, he reaches out and bends the metal gate she had being taken through. This had been seen by Sabastian Shaw, working as a doctor for the Nazi's. He kills Erik's mother in front him in order to anger him enough to use his mutant powers. The movies next movies to upstate New York, where a young Charles Xavier believes someone has broken into his house, he then finds his mother in the kitchen, or rather a young Raven Darkholme posing as his mother, scavaging for food. Charles uses his telepathic abilites to see through Raven's shape shifting abilites, however instead of being angry, he takes pity on her, and is fascinated by her evident mutation. He then invites her to live with them. The film next moves onto the early 1960's where CIA agent Moira Mactaggert is investigating a group known as the hellfire club, who the CIA believe have communist connections. During the course of her investigation however she witnesses a number of mutants using their abilites, and as mutants are not known to the public, is shocked. In response to this she tracks down Charles Xavier, now a graduate of Oxford, who had just presented his thesis on human evolution and mutation. He reads her mind and him and his adoped sister Raven join her and return to America where Charles reveals the existance of mutants CIA. They are taken to a special division of the CIA, which was established to deal with the paranormal. While Charles and Moira are investigating the Hellfire Club, Erik Lehnsherr is tracking down Sebastion Shaw to get revenge on him for the death of his mother. Their paths meet when they both launch an attack on the Hellfire club, Erik almost loses his life and is saved by Charles.

The first class of X-Men

Charles manages to convince Erik that he cannot defeat Shaw by himself and so they set out to find other mutants to rally to their cause. All the while the Hellfire Club is planning to bring about World War III, believing that mutants would be the only survivors. Charles and Erik are joined by fellow mutants Alex 'Havok' Summers, Sean 'Banshee' Cassidy, Armando 'Darwin' Muñoz, Angel Salvadore and Dr. Hank 'Beast' McCoy. Relising that the Xavier and Erik were recruiting and were a threat to him, Sabastion Shaw sent his associate Emma Frost to meet with a Russian general to help move their plans for world war ahead, while him, Azazel and Riptide attacked the CIA building where the X-men had gathered. During the attack both Charles and Erik believed that Shaw would be meeting with the general and so had taken the opportunity to take him down, instead they captured Emma Frost. Shaw kills Darwin, along with every human in the building, and recruits Angel to his cause. While the Hellfire club moves forward in its plans for nuclear war by forcing the Russians to place missiles on the island of Cuba, Xavier and the other mutants decide they must strike back against the hellfire club and so begin training. During this time, Hank McCoy designs a device for Havok to focus his powers, and wings for Banshee so he can use his ability to fly. Also ashamed of his own mutation (specifically his feet, which have opposable thumbs like a hand) he designs a serum to hide his mutation, but it has the opposite effect and antagonises his mutation leading to him becoming Beast. Xavier relising that Shaw would surely be at Cuba, the centre of the conflict, to ensure that his plans would not fail, launches the X-men against him, not only to stop Shaw, but to show the world the existance of mutants and to show that by stopping another war, they are not to be feared. Xavier and Erik are successful, however Erik kills Shaw.

The X-men launch an attack against the Hellfire club and try to prevent a war.

The US and Russian governments, both knowing of the existance of mutants, decide to take the opportunity to try and wipe them out and both forces unite, and launch a missile attack against the island where the X-men and Hellfire club had been fighting. Erik easily stops the attack and turns the missiles back against the ships, however when Moira began shooting at him he diverted a bullet away from himself and it hits Charles, paralyzing him from the waist down. Erik, believing that humans would never accept them, and afraid of another holocaust, relised that him and Charles, who only wanted peace between humans and mutants, took charge of what was left of the Hellfire club and left the island. As the film ends, Charles, now in a wheelchair, wipes Moira's memory of everything that had happened so that they would not pose a threat to the mutants. Erik, now Magneto, breaks Emma Frost out of the containment facility where the CIA had been holding her and asks her to join his brotherhood of mutants.