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X-Men: First Class is a Prequel, NOT a Spin-Off

Posted on Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

When we first heard about X-Men: First Class, Gossip Girl/Chuck/O.C. creator Josh Schwartz had been hired to write a screenplay that focused on “the other teenage characters attending the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.” But apparently the project is not a spin-off, but a full on X-Men prequel. X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner revealed on Fox Movie Channel’s Life After Film School that the film actually focuses on “the first class of Xavier’s school, way back when.”

“So it’s young Scott, young Jean, young Beast and that’ll be really fun,” Donner said. “I think (the plan) is to follow some of the characters into their own stories, and weave them back into the X-Men world. And hopefully First Class will become its own franchise and we can follow them as they grow up.”

So not only is this a full on prequel, a Batman Begins/Star Trek like prequel/reboot of the X-Men series but Fox hopes to make it the first in a franchise of films. I was kind of excited to see an X-Men film that explores some of the less popular characters.

via: comicscontinuum.com

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  • starscream9289
    What the hell are they gonna do about Angel and Iceman?
  • Jaysun
    e4xactly, i dont even care about this now because they ruined angel for the series. iceman would have been nice, but as soon as he showed up in the 1st movie, i sighed a bit. angel still could have been pulled off, but that awful third movie completely pooped on the character. He was not even involved in any action, just saving his dad, and thats the end of it.
  • it's funny to have a seperate 'prequel series' so soon.

    I mean like..Batman Begins needed the reboot. Star Trek and Casino Royale were needed but still were in continuity of the original movies, which I guess what 'First Class' will be like.

    But I just think that Fox is just milking the cash cow. I don't blame them, but they need to step up their game in a post-Dark Knight/Iron Man world. (dramatic music)
  • Brian
    Still not getting what was so great about Iron Man. It was no more impressive than an average superhero movie.
  • Argh man, they got wayy more material then just bogging themselves in prequels and the past.
  • Mike
    I'd rather see a film set after X-Men 3 if really really insist doing more films. I'm not crazy about any of the prequel ideas, even Wolverine seems pointless. Didn't they pretty much say all that really needed to be said about his past in the 2nd film?
  • The problem with doing a movie after X3 is they effin killed off Prof. X. I bet that is the main reason for their decision to go with prequels, they killed off one of their best characters and are now trying to go back and fix it.
  • X3 actually has a scene after the credits role that shows Professor X's possible return.
  • freemachine
    This reminds me of a drunk housemate of mine I had in college. He was always doing self destructing shit to himself, despite all the great potential he had. I lost track of him after we graduated....I'm wondering if he's now running Fox.
  • edc
    I doubt it, your friend went to college.
  • muptup
    I'd rather see a film set after X-men2 that erases 3 from existence.
  • 790
    Fricken lame, the guy that writes Gossip Girl is scripting this? No thanks.

    This sounds like something the High School Musical crowd can get into...
  • Ben
    My advice to Fox is to come up with an idea, and then do the exact opposite of it because the ideas you're coming up with now are completely shit.

    No-one cares about the 'X kids', because we know exactly where they end up: Storm changes her accent almost as much as her hairstyle, Jean goes emo, Beast disappears for several years only to appear like he's never been away, and Cyclops does nothing but act like a tool until he disappears like a damp fart.

    Either re-boot the series or forget X3 happened and cough-up enough money to make a decent continuation. Or maybe give the rights back to someone who appears to give a semblance of a shit about the characters.
  • Actually a lot of people care about the X-Kids. X-Men First Class, the comic, is selling very well.
  • Ben
    Do you really think they're going to slavishly follow the comic? If this is a prequel then the only way they can feature Iceman and Angel is if they show their father's nutbags.
  • I'm not saying they're gonna slavishly follow the comics. Hopefully they don't. You just wrote that nobody cares abou the "x-kids", which isn't exactly true.
  • Travis McGee
    You misinterpreted him (read 3rd paragraph), he meant that Fox didn't care about the characters and they SHOULD go back to someone that cares, like MARVEL.
  • I'm thinking the only way this can work with the original team is to go in a different direction, comics do that all the time, they always have different versions of everyone, even different universes. I don't think it would work and it would be hard to sell it to an audience but they could do something like that.
  • nic
    COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER.
    well played.
  • I know, I actually agree that Fox sucks most of the time. The first x-men was alright, but the second and third sucked. But saying that they don't do anything good isn't entirely true. Fox Searchlight is still a part of 20th Century Fox, and having Fox Searchlight is a good thing :)
  • Marvel keeps branding "X-Men: First Class" as "all new, all different..." which kind of gives you an idea of what they are trying to do with the series. It's not a technical canon prequel, and it's not an Ultimate title either.

    "Wolverine: First Class" is even better than X-Men: First Class. It's basically an ongoing Kitty Pryde and Wolvie team-up. Though I doubt that Fox will bring him into the fold as it seems like they want Hugh Jackman to be that character for the forseeable future. But how awesome would a Hugh Jackman/Ellen Page Wolverine/Kitty Pryde movie be?

    And how the hell is Josh Schwartz gonna do this with three TV shows and "Bright Lights Big City"?
  • filmkid
    this is just stupid why not just make X-Men 4 and bring in Mr Sinister was the main villain
  • That would be a nice angle for Fox to try to save the franchise. They could actually bring back Cyclops with that storyline. i doubt they'll do that because by the time all these prequels get done with, all the original cast will be too old and they'll be forced to reboot the franchise.
  • this sounds like a teenybopper superhero movie... I would rather watch a new X-Men movie with an adult cast.
  • OH god... this movie is gonna be so much like the crap they made last year as animated series which is viewable on Marvel.com website... It's like a mix of aal the chick talk of Gossip Girl and lame stories of Heroes...
    (btw... I'm not talking about that excellent Wolverine and X-men animated series... that's a whole different thing)

    Please don't do that to us
  • The Iron Avenger
    Hmmmm. Young Beast? You mean Beast as in Dr. McCoy? As in Doctor McCoy who hadn't mutated yet until in between X2 and X3? You fail, Fox.
  • I'm not so sure about this reveal. Sounds like it's about X-Men where they are kids???????
  • It's about the first class of X-men. A younger team of Cyclops, Beast, Jean Grey, Ice Man, and Archangel.
  • X-Men the high school years. They all go to a rich private school in the upper east side of Manhattan, but soon find out they wont be going to Yale so they go to the Yale of Mutant Schools. lots of dramaz!
  • fox better not frak this up
  • How can you say that knowing already that they're going to?
  • Josh Schwartz!? Really!? FOX, what the hell are you doing in that joke of a movie studio you're running over there!? You hire a guy from Gossip Girl to write an X-Men prequel? Not only that, you think that this is actually a good idea!? Look, the reason why your movies suck so much is because you simply do not know how to make a good movie. Let's take Iron-Man, for example, perfect casting, great writing and wit with just enough action. Hm. Let's look at Fantastic Four, terrible writing, cheesy storyline, and...Jessica Alba?
  • As a huge comic book fan, I'm concerned for this project. One thing I didn't like about the "X-Men" films is that the filmmakers thought it would be a good idea to make Iceman a younger character, when, as everyone knows, he was an original X-Men. The first two movies were good ("X2" was the best of the trilogy), but the third was horrid. Here's hoping that "First Class" is done decent. Marvel needs to buy the X-Men rights back from Fox, cause it's one of their strongest titles and Marvel has shown they know how to make a good comic book movie.
  • Justin Craig
    What in the blue Hell is happening here!!?? They're obviously making a prequel that disregards Iceman and Angel since those two characters were turned into toddlers for the X-Men trilogy. Unless of course they make this movie its own separate series, which I think they should. Then again, I'd be most happy if they just didn't make it at all. Gossip Girl? Are you fucking kidding me? X-Men is not some kiddie high school drama. It's a sacred super hero universe that fans get really passionate about. Therefore, Fox should step into a hole and die.
  • No, X-Men is not some kiddie high school drama but sadly I think that is exactly the demographic that Fox is aiming at. Which makes sense, if you think about it, because it would be smart to bring in a younger crowd and hope that you develop a following. And considering the way most kids that age are (and what they tend to follow) they probably aren't that far off base, which doesn't bode well for the rest of us (who actually read and expect more than what some people settle for).
  • Don't have much faith in this. Hope Fox sells the rights back to Marvel at some point.

    X-Men and X-Men 2 were handled relatively well. After that everything kind of went downhill with the series. Thanks to an increasingly worsening 20th Century Fox of course. A studio that doesn't bother investing in talent and instead they produce 90 minute movies with directors being heavily monitored and restricted to only "commercially" appealing guidelines (no character development, ridiculously simple plot/story condensed for a short running time to fit into more screenings).

    I don't want to sound like a complete negative nancy but this studio hasn't delivered anything decent in a while.
  • Yeah, Slumdog SUCKED!
  • That was Fox Searchlight. Nice try.
  • Mel
    Fox Searchlight had no input in the making of the film. They only purchased distribution rights after seeing the film. Furthermore, 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are two completely different companies under one umbrella name.
  • Which is owned by 20th Century Fox.
  • Searchlight is a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox led by two completely different chief operating officers than their parent company. They don't handle the big budget tentpole films.

    Don't just mix them together because 20th happens to be the parent company they work on completely different projects.
  • totally disagree. Fox has no clue what they are doing.
  • John Guard
    this whole X-men thing.....is on the verge of being overexposed.

    everybody want to do a prequel.

    but most of them end up being unrelated to the original.
  • the more and more I think about it, the more I can see how Fox doesn't know what to do with the franchise. It's been mishandled right now, and they're going backwards (prequels, spinoffs) instead of fowards.
  • I think they realize what they've done with X3 and can't really go forward with it. I think they have thought about a reboot but have ultimately decided against it.

    I agree though that they have no idea what to do with the franchise and should possibly start new with a reboot. Or if anything, let Marvel have their characters back.
  • edc
    the movie will stop halfway though and restart with even younger actors.
  • edc
    THIS MOOVEE IS GONNA TOTALLY ICE OUT AT THE HALFIZZLE WAIZZLE MARIZZLE ANBE RESTARTED TO THE EXTREME WITH YOUNGER ACTRZ!

    [this is a remake of my previous post, updated for the new, hip, 2 minute old audience.]
  • I'm hoping this turns out to be a great movie. I think they could go directly off of the Wolverine movie, or how the work print ends, and start from there. Show exactly what's gong on with Scott Summers and Jean Grey. I think this movie has the potential to be something good and the other members of the X-men need more screen time than they've had in the past.
  • I know it's a matter of opinion but I have to say X2 didn't suck, it's actually better than the first X-men film to me.
  • huh? is this on the dvd, i don't remember anything like that
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