James McAvoy will think big as Professor X in ‘X-Men: First Class’
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24 Frames, our sister blog, has a big scoop on ‘X-Men: First Class,’ the cinematic return to Marvel mutantkind that is being directed by Matthew Vaughn (‘Kick-Ass’) and fast-tracked for summer 2011 release. Here’s an excerpt...
The studio is hiring James McAvoy to play the role of Charles Xavier, the professor who organizes the X-Men band of mutants into a group (and force for good).
Patrick Stewart played Xavier in the original set of pictures, but of course as an origin story, many of the characters in ‘First Class’ will skew younger.
McAvoy, who’s next up in the Robert Redford post-Civil War drama ‘The Conspirator,’ has played in films with superhero themes before, primarily as a lead character in the assassin picture ‘Wanted.’
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-- Steven Zeitchik
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IMAGES: Top, Professor Xavier in a trading-card painting by Adam Rex (Marvel and Upper Deck). Middle, James McAvoy portrait by Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times. Bottom, ‘X-Men: First Class’ cover by Marko Djurdjevic. (Marvel).
