Jason Flemyng and Rose Byrne Join X-Men: The First ClassJason Flemyng has officially signed on for Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming superhero film X-Men: First Class, according to Empire. The British actor will portray Azazel, the father of Nightcrawler, in the X-Men universe. Here’s an excerpt from the site’s article.
“Matthew showed me my costume just the other day. Now I swore I’d never be in heavy make-up again, but this role is going to involve it. But at least they said, “Don’t worry, we’ll add the tail in post”. I am Azazel, and I can teleport by waving my arms [gestures like a cross between a flamenco dancer and a Bollywood star].”
The site was also able to confirm that Flemyng’s Azazel will be red, as opposed to Nightcrawler’s blue-skinned character. It wasn’t clear at this time how big Flemyng’s role in the film will be. In other news, apparently Rose Byrne will be playing the role of Moira MacTaggert, a scientist and an authority on genetic mutation. She’ll be the love interest of James McAvoy, who plays mutant telepath Charles Xavier. We thought this role had already been cast with Rosamund Pike set to play this character, but apparently that was premature. Thanks Production Weekly, for being wrong. Byrne is known for her role in the hit FX show Damages, but recently was seen as Jackie Q in Get Him to the Greek.
We are not clear on how big these roles will actually be in the film, but it seems as if Vaughn’s film will be very mutant-heavy with all the various castings happening. Presumably we will see Mystique being played by Jennifer Lawrence giving birth to her son, eventually dubbed as Nightcrawler.
Here is the current cast as we know it so far:
- James McAvoy — Professor Charles Xavier
- Michael Fassbender — Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
- Alice Eve – Emma Frost
- Nicholas Hoult — Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast
- Caleb Landry Jones — Sean Cassidy/Banshee
- Kevin Bacon — Mr. Sinister (rumored role)
- Edi Gathegi — Darwin
- Jennifer Lawrence — Mystique
- Rose Byrne – Moira McTaggert
- Jason Flemyng — Azazel
We are still waiting on casting confirmations on mutants like Storm, Cyclops, and Jean Grey as part of the First Class, but also what other big ones will show up based on the origin set-up by the previous Wolverine film, such as Sabretooth and Gambit.
Jane Goldsman has penned the script, along with Ash Miller & Zack Stentz, based on the idea by Bryan Singer. Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men. Regarding the film’s story, Vaughn said, “The story that Bryan Singer came up with is very, very smart … It’s very clever when you see how he has integrated the characters into the time period where the film is set. I’ll put it that way. I just don’t want to give it away. … It’s a very clever way of getting these characters involved in recent history, in recent world events.” It has also been confirmed that it is a prequel to the first three movies.
