Friday 13 May 2011

X-Men: First Class - Bryan Singer Interview - Movies Feature at IGN

We are ramping up our X-Men: First Class coverage in the run-up to the film's release, and following our on-set interviews with James McAvoy, who plays Charles Xavier in the film, and Michael Fassbender, who plays Erik Lehnsherr, we catch up with the movie's producer, Bryan Singer. The director of the first two X-movies, Singer explains how the volcanic ash cloud helped him find his First Class helmer, discusses the importance of the Hellfire Club to his story, and talks up the possibility of future instalments.


IGN: Why did you decide to make X-Men: First Class?

Bryan Singer: It was initially a title I liked. I knew that there was exploration of doing a movie based on the First Class comic book, but I thought that to earn that or to get there, it would be interesting to go back to the origin of the X-Men. The formation of the relationship and the schism between Xavier and Magneto. And yet I still liked the title First Class because it reflected that concept every bit as much as the comic it's based on, so I just decided that I would pursue that story of young Xavier and young Magneto but retain the title First Class as a sort of beginning of the X-Men and they could go from there.


IGN: So is the plot inspired by any of the First Class story or is it something entirely original?

Singer: Oh, something I came up with just based on... When I made the first two X-Men films, I was conscious of figuring out how to play the relationship between Magneto and Xavier and I was always very conscious of what their past must have been. What their friendship was like. So that back-story was always playing in my head whenever I was discussing scenes with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. So this was a chance to finally go back and explore the history that was always bouncing around in my mind when I was making those other movies.

IGN: How is Charles and Erik's relationship at the start of this film?

Singer: I think that because of their mutual respect for each other's intelligence and powers, they are attempting to build a friendship, but they both come from completely different backgrounds. Xavier is very privileged and wealthy and as a result a bit naive and a bit idealistic. Whereas, Magneto is a product of the holocaust, he's hell-bent on vengeance, and his view of humanity and his hope for mutant-kind is seen through a much narrower prism. They both care for the same things, but in this movie you see the different ideologies fermenting.

IGN: We talked with both James [McAvoy] and Michael [Fassbender] about their characters being like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X in their approach to human and mutant rights. Were you thinking that when you came up with the story?

Singer: Absolutely. That was what attracted me to the X-Men many years ago... that relationship. Two people who want the same thing want to achieve it in very different ways. Nobody wants misery and failure for themselves and the people around them, but sometimes in pursuing prosperity, that can happen if it's not done in the right way.

MORE: X-Men: First Class - Bryan Singer Interview - Movies Feature at IGN