While we’ve known for ages that X-Men: First Class would chart the friendship between Charles Xavier (Professor X – James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto – Michael Fassbender), and how differences between them forced the latter to become a villain, 20th Century Fox has now revealed the official synopsis for the film, which confirms what we knew and gives a few more details.
So without further ado, here it is: ‘X-Men: First Class charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and 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. Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.’
However there’s a bit of controversy here over whether the use of the word Armageddon means the X-Men character or just an end-of-the-world scenario. If it is the character, it would be a break with the comic books, as he wasn’t created until later in the mythology, partly from genetic material from Jean Grey, who won’t be in First Class. He’s also rather obscure to suddenly emerge as the major bad guy for the film. That suggests that perhaps Kevin Bacon, who’s playing the main bad guy, will be someone else, who’s somehow involved in events that could result in the end of the world!
X-Men: First Class hits cinemas June 3rd, 2011.