X-Men: First Class [2011] (1 disc)

Random Trivia For This Title:

• Azazel is the modern Hebrew word for "hell", which corresponds with the character's devilish nature.
• As of 2011, the highest-grossing film ever made about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Although they barely interact during this movie (and in fact are antagonists through most of it), according to the comics cannon, Azazel and Mystique eventually have a child together, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (who was played by Alan Cumming in X2).
• Amber Heard was rumored to play Mystique before Jennifer Lawrence was cast. Rebecca Romijn makes a cameo as the "age-progressed" Mystique in Erik's bed.
• Broadway actor ^[?] Benjamin Walker was previously cast as Beast, but dropped out of the role to star in the Broadway musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Taylor Lautner was considered to play Hank McCoy (aka Beast) but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Nicholas Hoult was later cast.
• According to VFX supervisor John Dykstra, the biggest problem was with depicting Emma Frost's diamond body "without looking like she was made of Jell-o or the polygon model of a human being". The morphed Frost was rotomated into January Jones in the live-action plates, while still retaining the actress' eyes and lips. As the character kept on going in and out of her diamond form, a motion capture tracking suit could not be employed, so the VFXperts used a jumpsuit covered in mirrors.
• The ending fight between Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr was going to have them use their powers, but Matthew Vaughn reasoned that since it was an origin story about the early X-Men the fight had to be a more conventional brawl: "Fox were saying, people want to see super heroes use their powers ... but not in this film. Sometimes they just want to punch each other. That, to me, is what's different."
• To prepare for his role as Charles Xavier, James McAvoy shaved his head ... and learnt that the filmmakers wanted Xavier to have a full head of hair in the prequel. Throughout the first month of filming McAvoy had to wear hair extensions.
• The group of mutants gathered by the CIA in this film serve as a catalyst for the formation of the X-Men which consists of Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), Hank McCoy (Beast), Raven Darkholme (Mystique), Alex Summers (Havok), Sean Cassidy (Banshee) and Armando Muñoz (Darwin). In the comics, the original group of X-Men students consisted of Hank McCoy (Beast), Jean Grey, Scott Summers (Cyclops), Bobby Drake (Iceman), and Warren Worthington III (Angel) - all mentored under Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X).
• Matthew Vaughn instructed the cast to do away with all accents in their performances. James McAvoy had planned to copy Patrick Stewart's voice (since McAvoy was going to play a younger version of Stewart's Xavier), but Vaughn quashed it; Vaughn also told Rose Byrne that Moira MacTaggart would not have her trademark Scottish accent in the film (to the Scottish McAvoy's mild disappointment).
• Though ostensibly a prequel to the entire [X-Men] film franchise, this movie deliberately ignores continuity points of X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Matthew Vaughn explained his intention was to "make a good film that could stand on its own two feet regardless of all the other films" and also that could "reboot and start a whole new [X-Men] franchise". Writer Jane Goldman looked at the film as an "alternate history" for the X-Men - though a reboot, the writers did not want to go fully "against the canon of the X-Men trilogy", citing the various approaches the comic had in over fifty years of publication.
• This is only the second time in a Marvel film since X2 where Stan Lee has not had a cameo appearance.
• Caleb Landry Jones auditioned for the film without knowing what X-Men character he was up for, saying he auditioned because it was the film that fit his biotype: "I've got red hair and freckles, I'm not gonna be Batman, Robin or Spider-Man."
• ^[?] Charlie Rowe was initially cast as the young Charles Xavier but, due to scheduling conflicts with Neverland, he was replaced by Laurence Belcher.
• A telepathic battle between Professor X and Emma Frost was going to be in the film, but upon the release of Inception the concept was scrapped.
• Rosamund Pike was considered to play Moira McTaggert and later for Emma Frost.
• Matthew Vaughn considered his friend Dexter Fletcher for the part of the Man in Black, but the studio felt the cast had too many British actors.
• Alice Eve was originally cast as Emma Frost, but a deal couldn't be reached and she was replaced with January Jones. ^[?] Sarah Harding was called back three times for the role and Tahyna Tozzi was considered to reprise the role which she played in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• This was Álex González's first English film. He enjoyed playing a villain as most of his film roles in Spain were for "good guys".
• Bryan Cranston turned down the role of Sebastian Shaw to be in Drive. For the role of Sebastian Shaw, the filmmakers primarily thought of two actors: Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon. They decided to go with Bacon as he was American and seemed more menacing than Firth.
• With Hugh Jackman's brief cameo as Logan/Wolverine in this film, he is now the first actor to ever play the same comic book superhero in five different movies. And it also makes him the only actor to appear in every single [X-Men] movie.