JENNIFER LAWRENCE BACK IN BATTLE FORM AS MYSTIQUE IN “X-MEN: APOCALYPSE”

Press release

 It has been 10 years since the heroes of “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” saved humanity and themselves from threats within and without. Now, in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” things are – at least for people like Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) – a little more settled. Humanity is aware of the mutants living among them and relations have been, for the most part, peaceful. But all that changes when the ancient, incredibly powerful mutant known as Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) awakens in the early 1980s and begins to destroy the world as we know it, convinced that he can create civilization again the way he thinks it should be. With Bryan Singer once more directing, “X-Men: Apocalypse” promises a huge global adventure and another thrilling mission for the world’s favorite mutants.

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

                The world of 1983 also has undergone upheavals in the treatment of mutants.  This next stage of human evolution is now accepted by most—but not all—of humanity, thanks to the heroism of Raven/Mystique, who (as seen in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”) prevented the assassination of the U.S. president and a war between mutants and humans. 

                Jennifer Lawrence is back as Raven aka Mystique, a blue-skinned shapeshifter, is seeking her true purpose, as well as elusive self-acceptance.  In the years leading up to “X-Men: Apocalypse,” she had tried to stay hidden from the world, shunning her celebrity as the face of hope and change for the new, mutant-integrated world.  She resists bearing the weight of that label, and feels much of her past doesn’t warrant the world’s perception of her as a hero.

Now, Raven is living by her own code and working independently as an underground mutant savior, to fight against the remaining instances of human exploitation of mutants and save those still being persecuted.

                “The character is more ‘Raven’ than ‘Mystique’ in this story because she cannot be her true mutant self in a world that she feels is still not as mutant-friendly as it’s perceived to be,” says Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, who first played the role in “X-Men: First Class” and then reprised it in “Days of Future Past.”  “That’s why she has basically been Raven since the events of the previous films, so no one would know she’s that mutant. When we meet her in this film, she’s been living a covert life as Raven.”  Raven’s mission to help mutants where she can culminates in her leading the X-Men in a massive battle with Apocalypse.  But first she is reunited with the two men with whom she is closest, and with whom she shares a complex and evolving history: Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto).  Raven and Charles have a long history together and were part of the original X-Men team.  In the subsequent years they grew apart, separated by both distance and philosophies. 

                Costume designer Louise Mingenbach drew upon the resources and inventory of numerous costume rental houses in the U.S. and Montréal and scoured retail vintage stores across North America to find thousands of wardrobe items needed to dress performers in 1980s apparel from Cairo, East Germany, and the U.S.  For Jennifer Lawrence, Mingenbach took into account Raven’s modus operandi:  “She’s fighting for a cause and is not particularly concerned with how she looks,” says the designer.  She found Lawrence a “Chrissie Hynde type” studded leather jacket and an old rock-‘n-roll t-shirt.  “1983 was the great era of the rocker chick,” says Mingenbach, “and that kind of look reflected Raven’s rebellious nature.”

Quicksilver in X-Men Days Of Future Past

CEREBRO SCAN: QUICKSILVER

 

X-Men: Days of Future Past”  features more mutants than have ever been on screen together before for a massive adventure launching us from an apocalyptic future back into the world of the First Class team. In Days of Future Past, a years-long world conflict between humans and mutants has taken its toll on their numbers, and now a scant few remain, including Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Erik “Magneto” Lehnsherr (Ian McKellen), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Driven to near extinction by the technological terrors unleashed by Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), the team forms a desperate plan: time travel.

 

                Logan aka Wolverine, Hank McCoy aka Beast and Charles Xavier/Prof. X employs the help of a young hiding mutant named as Peter Maximoff who later will be known as Quicksilver to bring Erik Lensherr aka Magneto out of the most secured prison built after being accused in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Faster than the speed of sound and light, this fast moving mercury marvel successfully led the young Magneto out of prison to help mutants stop the Sentinel program and save both human and mutantkind.

 

                Quicksilver is another key mutant character in the 1970s scenes.  Quicksilver’s power, as his name suggests, is his superhuman speed, which up until meeting the X-Men, he has employed for petty theft and teenage mischief.  “Wolverine knows Quicksilver in the future,” says Singer.  “But in the past, he’s a kleptomaniacal kid with an attitude. The only way they can enlist Quicksilver’s help is to appeal to his penchant for troublemaking, asking him if he’d like to break somebody out of the Pentagon.”  

 

                Singer and director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel used high-speed phantom cameras and photo-sonic technology.  The scene was shot at 3000 frames per second with Quicksilver running parallel to the ground. “We’ve never experienced this on film before,” says Singer.

 

                The technology required the use of enormous lights rigged above the set, each powered by about 40,000 watts.  “The set was so brightly lit, we had to wear sunglasses just to work on it,” Singer adds.  “The actors had to close their eyes until the moment they started shooting.”

 

                It was also important, according to screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg, to continue the First Class story without needing a direct connection. “We didn’t want it to start or a month, or even a year after the last movie. We wanted to give it a big breadth of time so that you would meet these characters in some ways for the first time again, so we set the movie 10 years later than First Class ended and in doing that, part of my responsibility as the writer was creating a timeline so we can just give the actors a sense of who they've become and how they got there over the span of the 10 years we haven't seen.”

 

                Quicksilver will speed up in Philippine cinemas when “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (3d) opensMay 21 nationwide from 20^th Century Fox be distributed by Warner Bros.

HUGH JACKMAN BINDS THE PAST AND FUTURE DAYS OF X-MEN

Movie online release

 

With his near-impervious Adamantium-bonded bones and his remarkable ability to heal, Wolverine has, over the years, become one of the best-loved heroes in the X-Men films and one of the most iconic superheroes to make the leap from comics to the big screen. In 20^th Century Fox latest “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” he’ll be tested to the limit as his consciousness is sent back through time to help his friends stop one of the most dangerous threats they’ve faced yet.

 

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

                Directed by Bryan Singer, the movie sees Hugh Jackman’s Logan/Wolverine as the tie that binds the days of future and past.  Jackman has played the character of Wolverine seven times over 14 years, which he describes as an “incredible and rare gift.”  It is the character that has defined his career, but has never limited him as an actor.  Jackman knows Wolverine better than anyone, and he describes Logan’s return to the X-Men universe as a “rebirth.”

 

                “Logan sees himself, for the first time in a long while, as part of the X-Men team,” Jackman continues.  “He has come to terms with the fact that his anger is his greatest weapon.  He is a warrior at peace with himself now.  Being the only mutant with the capacity to heal himself, Logan volunteers to travel back in time to prevent the mutant apocalypse that the X-Men of the future are facing.”

               

                Wolverine’s mutant abilities make him the only member of the X-Men capable of making the journey.  Director Bryan Singer explains:  “Going back that far in time would rip apart the mind of anyone else.  There’s only one person who has the regenerative capabilities to survive the experience, and that’s Wolverine.  Since he doesn’t age, when Wolverine’s mind travels back to his younger self, Hugh was able to play both versions of the character.  So that was a great opportunity for me and for Hugh.”

               

                Throughout their history, Charles Xavier has tried to instill the X-Men philosophy in Logan, and tried to reach out to him and calm his anger.  In “Days of Future Past,” however, the characters reverse roles.  Logan is now the one trying to convince a younger Charles to have faith.

               

                “It’s a kind of interesting poetry that plays out between the two,” notes Singer.  “In the first ‘X-Men’ film, Xavier helps Logan find a place in the world among the X-Men.  In ‘Days of Future Past,’ Wolverine must travel back in time and help Xavier put the shattered pieces of his life back together, and save the future.”  It may be Wolverine’s most difficult mission, for as he says in the movie, “Patience is not my strongest suit.” 

 

                Jackman was glad to be back on board even though he had completed “The Wolverine” only a few months before he headed to Montreal to film “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”That meant that instead of having to get in shape, he would simply have to stay in shape.  Not that his regimen is simple.  The actor’s workout program included 45-90 minutes every morning before his hair and makeup call.  His diet was also very strict, consisting mainly of broiled chicken and steamed vegetables.  He ate every two hours, often in between scenes or rehearsals.  Before shooting a specific scene he did a 15-minute extreme “pump up” and finished the day with another 45 minutes at the gym.

 

                Jackman was grateful for the opportunity to reunite with Berry, McKellen, and Stewart,with whom he’s remained friends since their coming together in the first X-Men film, as well as with Singer, whom Jackman credits for his breakthrough in Hollywood films.  Working with the young cast was also a treat.  During one particularly telling moment, Jackman was walking down the Blue Hallway set with Nicholas Hoult, who said, “I remember I was about eight years old when I saw ‘X-Men.’”  That moment made Jackman realize how iconic the X-Men universe has become. 

 

                “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (3D) will open on May 21 nationwide in the Philippines from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.  Check out the X-Men promo of Ayala Cinemas. For more online movie promos, like L.E.N.S. blogs on Facebook.

“X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST” (3D) IN THE MIDST AND AFTERMATH OF WAR

Movie online release material

Bryan Singer returns to the franchise he helped launched in “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”  Singer brings the X-Men crew for an audacious, time travelling adventure in ‘Days of Future Past’ where the future is dark for the heroes of the X-Men saga. A years-long world conflict between humans and mutants has taken its toll on their numbers, and now a scant few remain, including Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Erik “Magneto” Lehnsherr (Ian McKellen), Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page), and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). Driven to near extinction by the technological terrors unleashed by Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), the team forms a desperate plan: time travel.

 

Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

                Using Kitty Pryde’s powers, Wolverine’s consciousness will be sent back into his younger self in the 1970s, where he’ll have to track down and help the First Class versions of the characters in order to stop Trask. But that will be even harder than it sounds, as in this era, the X-Men team is just as disparate, with Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and the rest either at odds or in a low ebb. Can the younger versions of the mutants save their future?

 

                Based on Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin’s “Days Of Future Past” storyline from the “Uncanny X-Men” comic title, scribe Simon Kinberg adapted it into the movie which allows him and Singer to draw on their shared love of time travel films. Once Kinberg and Singer seized on the Future Past plot as a jumping-off point, the possibilities were endless. “Bryan and I spent months revising the script together,” Kinberg recalls.            

 

                Additionally, Singer relates on how he was drawn to the movie, “It happened over dinner, where Simon (Kinberg, writer/producer)said there was a desire on the part of him and Matthew Vaughn, who was going to direct, to explore a way to incorporate the two casts. And I said, "The only thing I can think of is time travel, and there's a precedent for it in the comic book." I started to talk about different ways we could do that with Simon.  He took those ideas back to Matthew and they began the early development of the script. When Matthew left the project, I then began trying to figure out how to crack the time travel and what would be our conceit for it. It was once I figured that out that I felt, ‘Okay, I'm ready to tell this story.’Time travel stories are their own genre; they're very specific. You have to create a set of rules, like how the past affects the future,and then you have to stick to them. Once I figured out the mechanism by which to do it, I warmed up to the notion very quickly. Plus, I very much wanted a chance to work with this new cast as a director becausethey only knew me as a producer and writer before.  It also gave me a chance to work with my friends who were in the earlier pictures. It was a wonderful experience and everybody had a really great time, which was nice.”

 

                The Sentinels, being a big part of the story have been quite a challenge to create.  The director further shares that, “There are movies like Transformers, Iron Man and Pacific Rim that have already explored robots of all different sizes and shapes and scope and calibre. I knew that I didn’t want to make just another film where a robot attacks people, yet they are an element in the picture. They serve the story in an interesting way, and not necessarily in an obvious rock-em-sock-em battle robots way – although there is some of that too!”  And on dealing with the Sentinels, Singer has also taken into consideration the diversity of using mutant powers in the film.  “In the movie, Wolverine goes on the physical journey, but it's Xavier who goes on the emotional one. He's reached a particular low; he's lost a great deal and it's basically a journey of redemption for himself and for his relationship with Raven.  So we had to have a diversity of powers. I didn't have a Nightcrawler this time, so I decided Blink would be this movie's version of that. I like Warpath as a character, there's a lot of heart in him, and Sunspot is really cool and stunning visually. And Bishop is a strong character, and Bishop has something for the fans here that we haven't seen before.” 

 

                “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (3D) opens May 21 in theaters nationwide from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

 

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Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask in X:-Men: Days Of Future Past

Online release

Director Bryan Singer returns to the X-Men franchise, and blends the original cast with the First Class crew for an audacious, time travelling adventure in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (3D) that will open in Philippine cinemas on May 21 nationwide.

 

                For years, the X-Men have faced many threats from within and without their ranks, but in “Days of Future Past,” they’re dealing with one of the worst. The films have a history of mankind misunderstanding mutants, but in the upcoming film, scientist Bolivar Trask (played by Peter Dinklage) begins to rally the world against our heroes, and creates the monstrous, massive Sentinel robots to help tackle what he perceives as the mutant problem.

 

                With Bryan Singer back at the helm, the movie continues his approach of grounded, understandable villains, whose issues come from a place of fear and arrogance. To portray Trask, he turned to respected actor Peter Dinklage, who has found fame on the worldwide hit TV’s “Game of Thrones” playing Tyrion Lannister, a man for whom life is an endless series of shades of grey. Singer figured Dinklage was the man to bring Trask – a well-known character from the comic books – to life on screen, and developed a nuanced role for him.  Dinklage’s other notable movies include “The Station Agent,”  “Death at a Funeral,” “Elf” and lent his vocal talent in the hit animation franchise films “Ice Age” as the voice of Gruff and “Chronicles of Narnia” as the voice of Trumpkin.

 

                “Days Of Future Past” not only represent the first time that the “classic” X-Men actors including Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, Ellen Page and more have shared the marquee with the First Class characters introduced in 2011, but the return of Singer to the franchise he helped launch. He’s back behind the camera for the adaptation of one of the best-loved X-Men stories, which found our heroes fighting for survival in a dark future where the hulking, robotic Sentinels created by Bolivar Trask have been slowly wiping them out. In a desperate final gambit, the mutants look to time travel to help their younger selves stop this awful timeline from coming to pass. And, thanks to his innate healing abilities, Wolverine (Jackman) is the one chosen to endure the strain of travelling back in time.

 

                Based on Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin’s “Days Of Future Past” storyline from the “Uncanny X-Men” comic title, scribe Simon Kinberg adapted it into the movie which allows him and Singer to draw on their shared love of time travel films. Once Kinberg and Singer seized on the Future Past plot as a jumping-off point, the possibilities were endless. “Bryan and I spent months revising the script together,” Kinberg recalls.

 

                The X-Men throng needs to be all ready for this time, they are facing their toughest challenge yet.  “Game Of Thrones” fan favourite Peter Dinklage was hired to play a very different version of Bolivar Trask, a genius who views mutants as a mortal threat to mankind and decides to create the menacing, technologically advanced Sentinel robots to fight them. Singer chose Dinklage for several reasons. “I was very familiar with him and I'm a fan of his. He first and foremost, carries the screen, and there's not a second that you take him for granted.”

 

                Kinberg admits that Trask’s creations were another big driving force behind the choice of storyline. “Once we all committed to “Days Of Future Past,” we knew the Sentinels would be a part of it, and Trask would be central to the story,” he says. “Bryan has done a lot of things to make the Sentinels feel loyal to the books but also distinct from all the things that are ripped off the Sentinels, like all the other robot movies that have come in the last 15 years or so, so they look and feel different. And Bryan spent a lot of time working on them to make them feel period specific but also cool and what a kid would fantasize about.”

 

                “X-Men:  Days Of Future Past” (3D) is the biggest X-Men film ever attempted, and indeed the biggest Fox has made since “Avatar.”

 

X-MEN’S TOUGHEST CHALLENGE YET IN “X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST” (3D)

                20^th Century Fox has just released new photos from the upcoming “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” the most epic and action-packed X-Men to-date.

 

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

                Back at the helm of a blockbuster film franchise he helped launch, Bryan Singer directs “X-Men: Days of Future Past” where mutants are fighting for survival in a dark future where the robotic Sentinels have been slowly wiping them.    The mutants look to time travel to help their younger selves stop this awful timeline from coming to pass. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), having the ability to instantly heal, is the one chosen to endure the strain of travelling back in time.

 

                The Sentinels, created by Bolivar Trask (played by “Game of Thrones’” Peter Dinklage) is an unprecedented technology  designed to hunt and kill mutants.  Son of the wealthy son of industrialist Larry Trask, Bolivar believes that mutants are a threat to human existence, so he took it upon himself to preserve humanity with his Sentinel program.  Dinklage, in recent interviews, shares, “I didn’t want to play the villain. He’s a man of science. He’s a man of invention. He actually sees what he’s doing as a good thing — [his ambition is] definitely blind and he’s quite arrogant. He’s strove all his life for a certain respect and attention.”

 

                “X-Men: Days of Future Past” will open in Phils. cinemas nationwide on May 21 from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

“X-MEN: FIRST CLASS” EXCELS AT P71 MILLION MARK IN PHILS.

“X-Men: First Class” stirred the franchise anew as it exceeded fans’ and the general public’s expectations when it opened with a whopping P 71 million at the box-office nationwide on its first 4-day weekend (June 2-5, 2011) in the Phils.

            The movie delivered with flying colors, surpassing 20^th Century Fox’s estimates and is now 2011’s Biggest Opening for a Fox film so far, besting the studio’s recent box-office hit “Rio” at P 17 million on its opening weekend.

“X-Men: First Class’” P 52.2M opening weekend in Metro Manila overtook “Pirates 4’s” opening 3-day weekend of P 47M and that of “Thor’s” P 45.4M 3-day weekend. The fourth installment of the “X-Men” franchise is now the 2^nd Biggest Opening Weekend for the year so far succeeding “Kung Fu Panda’s” P 64M 4-day weekend.

Previous X-Men films have shown male comic book fans dominating the film's market share, but “X-Men: First Class” rebooted the franchise to an even wider demographic as it exceeded “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” gross that previously opened at P 35.4M in 2009 and now holds record as the 2^nd Biggest Opening Weekend of the franchise next to “X-Men: Last Stand” that opened on a 5-day weekend at P 58.8M in 2006. 

Also surpassing the studio’s “Star Wars: Episode III” at a P49.8M opening,  “X-Men: First Class” so far is now Fox’s 3^rd Biggest Opening Weekend All-Time following “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” at P60.9M opening and that of  X-Men’s “Last Stand.”

 So far recorded as the Biggest Opening Weekend for a Non-3D film, “X-Men: First Class” raked in more than 440,000 admissions in 228 screens on its 4-day Phils. debut.  With the movie reaping strong positive reviews, it will most likely hold strong in the coming 3 weeks more particularly in the following top grossing cinemas.

            Ayala Cinemas’ Trinoma climbed its way to the top of the list in “X-Men: First Class’” top grossing cinemas with its P 4.3million receipt. Next in line are  SM Mall of Asia P 3.8M; SM Megamall P 3.05M; SM North Edsa/The Block P 3M; Glorietta4 P 2.9M; Powerplant P 2.5M; Gateway Cineplex/Ali Mall P2.2M; Eastwood P 2.07M; Greenbelt3 P 1.8M and Alabang Town Center P 1.7M.

           

Still within the million mark’s top grossing cinemas are SM Cebu P1.7M; Shang Cineplex P1.69M; Ayala Cebu P 1.68; TheatreMall P 1.6M; Robinson’s Ermita P 1.55M; Newport P 1.53M; Robinson’s Galleria P 1.5M; Filinvest P 1.3M; Market!Market! P1.2M; SM Fairview P 1.1M and SM San Lazaro P 1M.

            “X-Men: First Class” is set in the 1960s – the dawn of the Space Age, and also the height of the Cold War, when escalating tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union threatened the entire planet – and when the world discovered the existence of mutants that unveils the beginning of the X-Men saga. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender star as Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr before they took the names  Professor X and Magneto.  Before they were archenemies they were the closest of friends, working together and with other mutants to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe.

            “X-Men: First Class” is still showing nationwide from 20^th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros.

             

Mutant Genesis of X-Men: First Class

Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy

The first X-men movie started with the conflicting interests of Professor X and Magneto. Regardless of their individual differences, they still consider each other as close friends. When the X-Men comics first appeared, it already highlighted the conflict between the group and Magneto. But the conflict of Prof. X and Magneto is not between good and evil. It's about ideology. 1963 was the time when racism was an issue in the United States. This was the time of Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. You can say that Prof. X is an embodiment of Dr. King and Magneto is Malcolm X. Of all the villains, you can't say Magneto was totally bad. This is the message Stan Lee was saying when he first created the X-Men. Even until now, the message is still relevant even to us Filipinos. Our history was also about racism. When our colonizers treat us differently that ideas were also developed. In our historical context, I can say our national hero, Jose Rizal shares similarities to what Charles Xavier was trying to do and Erik Lehnsherr was like Andres Bonifacio.

Havok: Movie and comics version

Like the first movie trilogy, there were also inconsistencies like making Alex Summers aka Havok older than his brother Cyclops, who appeared in the three X-Men movies and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But the movies were not consistent with the comics. Like making Iceman younger than Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast and Angel which was the first X-Men team members. Even Beast was made older than all of them. 

The first X-Men team

The uniform they wore for the mission were similar to the X-Men uniform in the comics. Even the details of Banshee was quite similar. Despite this minor inconsistencies, it was a redeeming movie for the X-Men franchise since the third movie, X-Men: The Last Stand which was the poorest movie considered by many fans. Expect cameo appearances from a couple of characters so don't blink while watching the movie. X-Men: First Class opens June 2 in cinemas.

X-Men team uniform pattern

BEFORE HE WAS MAGNETO...FASSBENDER IN “X-MEN: FIRST CLASS”

Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender is Erik Lehnsherr, the young Magneto, leader of the Brotherhood of Mutants, Master of Magnetism and quite possibly the most powerful mutant on the planet in “X-Men: First Class.”

The Erik of “X-Men: First Class” is a very different, and arguably a more dangerous proposition – a man tortured by the ravages of his past, consumed by pain and a thirst for vengeance and a mutant just starting to grapple with the notion that humanity is something to be discarded like a used toy.  Exploring then a rich and rewarding friendship with the young Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Erik has finally met an equal.     

 “There is a very strong bond between Charles and Erik, and a deep respect. But from the beginning, their ideologies are at odds. Erik is very wary of new elements in his life.  When Erik and Charles have their parting of the ways, audiences will realize that great things could have happened if they had joined forces forever,” says Michael Fassbender.

“X-Men: First Class” tracks Charles and Erik in their mid-twenties, during the height of the civil rights movement and the Cold War.  Both aspects of that period provided an exciting opportunity to explore events that would shape our modern world. One of the Cold War’s flashpoints was the Cuban missile crisis, during which the threat of sudden global extinction loomed large, and which provided the ultimate stakes for mutants to reveal themselves to the world and prevent a conflagration that would engulf the planet.  They are essentially cut from the same cloth, and both see mutants as potential subjects of persecution.  However, Charles lives to protect those who fear him while Erik lives to destroy them.  Each believes his side is right.  Neither is willing to compromise.

Erik is also hesitant to join Charles on his mission to save the world from itself.  “Erik is quite Machiavellian; he believes the end justifies the means,” Fassbender explains. “He has no regard for humans, and feels they’re inferior.”  Erik’s cavalier attitudes about humans stem from his childhood, which couldn’t have been more different from Charles’ life of privilege.  Erik had to survive without parents, and as a youngster was forced to endure unimaginable hardships. 

Erik is a force of fury and hate, hunting Schmidt and the other Nazi doctors whom he believes turned him into a kind of Frankenstein’s monster.  Even as Erik finds his first friend in Charles and is embraced by the other members of the team that will become the X-Men, he never veers from his mission.  “Erik is totally driven; if Charles or anyone gets in his way, he’s going to put them down,” says Fassbender. 

Director Matthew Vaughn had seen Fassbender’s critically acclaimed performances in “300,” “Hunger,” and “Inglourious Basterds,” and after Fassbender’s impressive audition, cast the actor as Erik.  “Michael gives Erik an interesting attitude, and Erik is really straight-up cool,” says the director. “Michael’s work in this film is reminiscent of Sean Connery’s interpretation of James Bond. Erik is like the ultimate spy – imagine Bond…but with superpowers.”

  “X-Men: First Class” opens June 2 (Thursday) nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. Visit  20th Century Fox (Philippines) on Facebook and on www.youtube.com/20thcenturyfoxph for promos and latest clips.

CAUSING HAVOK: LUCAS TILL IN “X-MEN: FIRST CLASS”

Lucas Till as Havok

In the original X-Men trilogy, the field leader of Professor X’s mutants was Scott Summers, aka Cyclops (James Marsden), who also appeared briefly in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With “X-Men: First Class” taking place in 1962, though, Scott has yet to be born. So the heroic mantle will fall to another member of the powerful clan – his brother, Alex.

Like Scott, Alex – aka Havok – has the ability to project beams of destructive energy, albeit from his body and not his eyes. And like Scott, Alex has trouble controlling those beams – trouble that puts him in a very dark place when he first comes to the attention of X-Men founders Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender).

Alex is played by relative newcomer Lucas Till, a 20 year old American actor previously best known for roles in the likes of “The Spy Next Door” and “The Hannah Montana Movie.”

Comic art of Havok

Riding and maneuvering one of the film’s most eagerly anticipated sets was the X-Jet, based on the XB-70, a prototype long-range, supersonic bomber developed in the U.S. in the late 1950s, the immense structure which measures some eighty feet in length is Havok’s ride in the movie which Till finds comfy.  “You could fall asleep in that thing, even when you go upside down,” he says of the X-Jet set.

 Stressing that Havok comes with a K and not a C, Till shares how his character found his way into the X-Men class, “In this movie, he’s found in confinement because he can’t control his powers and accidentally or intentionally has killed people. We leave that ambiguous. He’s a nice kid, but some things have happened and they haven’t been good. So he’s got a serious guard up in front, but he’s a hero on the inside.”

            “He’s the rebellious one. Definitely. And quiet. He’s a powder keg waiting to explode, metaphorically and literally. He’s always on the brink of destroying everything around him,” adds Till of his character’s temperament. 

            Till has a leading role in Battle: Los Angeles, and starred as young Jack Cash in the Oscar-winning film Walk the Line.   Recently, Till guest-starred on the high profile primetime series, House, with Hugh Laurie.

  “X-Men: First Class” opens June 2 (Thursday) in Phil. theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. Visit  20th Century Fox (Philippines) on Facebook and on www.youtube.com/20thcenturyfoxph for promos and latest clips.