James McAvoy lands Xavier in X-Men: First Class
Matthew Vaughn's 'X-Men: First Class has landed Scottish actor James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier.
The 'Wanted' star will begin shooting the comic book prequel later this summer in line for a June 2011 release.
McAvoy is a good pick to replace Patrick Stewart, but he's awfully young to be teaching anyone. But remember, this isn't really about the first class of X-Men the way we thought it would be. X-Men: First Class would be an origin story for Professor X and Magneto. In this film, young Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr will discover their powers, hone them, and take on their cool aliases. They will then join with fellow mutants "some familiar, some new" to stop a global threat. Their friendship fractures, and creates the rift between Magneto's antagonistic Brotherhood of Mutants and Professor X's peaceful X-Men.
Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn is making the film, which he’s currently re-writing with regular collaborator Jane Goldman. It’ll chart the early days of Xavier and best pal Erik Lensherr (the future Magneto), who discovered their powers and worked with a number of other mutants (including younger versions of some of the most famous X-Men characters) to stave off a devastating threat.