Entertainment

“X-Men: First Class” | 10 years of reboots that almost worked in the Mutants franchise

Published

3 years ago

May 25, 2021

Marking 2011 Napkin Day, or “nerdy World Pride Day,” FOX released an X-Men movie that would stop investing in the future of mutants and start exploring its past. Released as a reboot / prequel, X-Men: First Class hit theaters without much fan expectation, which came from the disappointing X-Men 3: The Final Showdown (2006). However, the proposal put forward by director Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman: Secret Service) was so interesting that even those who weren’t fans of the mutant universe were interested in the new approach.

The main change has been the youth of the cast. While the original trilogy starred adult actors, encountering adult issues, “First Class” bet on mutant teens or young adults. At one point, it even looks like the X-Men: Evolution series, which was so popular with kids in the 2000s. Plus, it gave a much more fun new dynamic, it also helped identify the target audience of the film, which were young people. Along with that, another major change, more faithful to the comic book, marked the new effort: the uniforms. While Bryan Singer’s films were marked by these black leather costumes, seeming to come out of a sadomasochistic dream, Matthew Vaugh’s version bet on the classic black and yellow costumes, like in the comics. Bringing in this color gave the heroes a new identity and made the makeup of the costume much less generic.

Another great merit was to put Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) as protagonists. Instead of rivals, they would now work as friends. Fighting for the same cause, they learn from each other and are already starting to deviate from their ideals, which would cause the relationship of enemies in the future. And the McAvoy and Fassbender lineup was perfect. Even continuing the legacy of characters previously played by movie legends Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, the new Xavier and Magneto owed their predecessors nothing. In fact, as controversial as it may sound, it wouldn’t be absurd to say that this film’s character and performance development has surpassed that of the original trilogy. It was very interesting to be able to go into the origin of these icons of comics and cinemas and to better understand how they became two sides of the same coin.

And at this point in character development, we finally had a journey worthy of Magneto, who wasn’t afraid to explore his past of sadness and suffering. As well as being a mutant, he is Jewish and experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. The opening sequence that shows him having his family dead so Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) can force him to show off his powers is one of the best superhero movie openings and begins a personal journey of revenge which is amazing. to see it develop over the course of the film.

Another point that was better developed was the question of “Wolverinependence”. The previous franchise was completely focused on Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), leaving the other mutants halfway out. I mean, they were there, but none were as interesting or as developed as Logan. So Vaughn turned the situation around and left Wolverine aside, summing up his role to a very short but memorable participation. Thus, the other X-Men were able to shine in the spotlight, providing new cores for the franchise, like the whole political context of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Unfortunately, not everything is flowered. Another villain switched sides in this story and ended up generating controversy was Mística (Jennifer Lawrence), who gained a lot of notoriety and starred in a love triangle that was not so well developed, but was compliant. to what was presented in the story. In this way, she acquired an interesting role as a supporting role. The problem is, the film’s ending gave her a hook for a starring role in the sequel. And as you may remember, the sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), was directed by Bryan Singer to unite the old trilogy with the new, in an effort to urgently correct a hundred chronological errors. In other words, all of these very interesting new proposals introduced by Matthew Vaughn were pushed aside to tell a completely pasteurized story, with all of the mannerisms and negatives that Singer had already demonstrated in the original films.

Either way, X-Men: First Class was an attempt to bring Marvel mutants in a new form, aimed at winning over comic book fans and a younger audience. And the truth is, I could have started a brilliant new franchise, if it hadn’t been for the disorganization and lack of planning the late FOX had regarding the X-Men. In isolation, it’s a film that combines action, fiction, fantasy and fun. As a franchise, it ends up being marked as the first chapter in an ill-fated film series.