Bryan Singer To Direct X-Men Origins: First Class

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By TK | Posted Under Trade News | Comments (17)

Well, thank God. The X-Men franchise may finally be back on track.

Bryan Singer, the man who kicked off the franchise with X-Men, and then upped the ante with X-Men II, has announced that he’s signed on to direct X-Men Origins: First Class. In a quickie interview on the Avatar Blue Carpet, he was quoted as saying the following:

I’m prepping up to do a movie called Jack the Giant Killer [at] Warner Brothers, and I just yesterday signed a deal to do an X-Men First Class Origins picture, which is kind of cool.

That’s not kind of cool. That’s very fucking cool. The franchise has suffered two near-mortal blows, with the excruciatingly bad X-Men III (fuck you very much, Ratner), and of course the wretched X-Men Origins: Wolverine. But Singer, despite missing his target somewhat with Superman Returns, has proven that he has the chops, the skill, and the respect for the material needed for the X-Men franchise. So all in all, it’s fantastic news.

How close it will be to the currently running X-Men First: Class comic book run remains to be seen; the comic series that originally started in 2006 as a mini-series, but ended up getting extended beyond that. It focuses on the original five X-Men - Cyclops, Beast, Jean Grey, Angel, and Iceman, with Professor X as their mentor and teacher. Obviously, it’ll be tough to establish that as the first class in the series, since Iceman was a rookie in the first two X-Men films, and Angel didn’t get introduced until X3 (although Beast was established in that one as well, it was intimated that he was an old, retired X-Man). Regardless, Singer’s attachment officially gets me interested in the series again. And frankly, it’ll be nice to see a film that’s less Wolverine-centric. Producer Lauren Shuler-Donner has said:

“So it’s young Scott, young Jean, young Beast and that’ll be really fun. I think (the plan) is to follow some of the characters into their own stories, and weave them back into the X-Men world. And hopefully First Class will become its own franchise and we can follow them as they grow up.”

So, you know, yay.

(h/t to Slashfilm)

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Comments

sweet! today just got awesomer!

Posted by: gp at December 17, 2009 10:31 AM

Hrmm...

I am glad to see Bryan Singer back, but I have some serious doubts about the project as a whole. X-Men wasn't a popular comic until the likes of Storm, Wolverine, Coloussus, etc. showed up in Giant Sized X-Men #1. There was a reason for that.

Posted by: Forbiddendonut at December 17, 2009 10:38 AM

Does this mean Singer has abandoned the horrible idea of remaking Battlestar Galactica as a movie that ignores the re-boot series? Please say "yes".

Posted by: TylerDFC at December 17, 2009 10:48 AM

*WHEE*

I came to comic books late in life, and even then it was really "graphic novels" (don't get me started) by Neil Gaiman. I have loved these movies (yes, even X3), and this may have been the final push to actually pick up the books.

Posted by: Patty O'Green at December 17, 2009 10:54 AM

I suppose they don't have to include Angel and Iceman was always kind of a waste. Singer could always just ignore the previous movies and include the original five anyway. It's not like he hasn't screwed with the continuity by turning Rogue into Kitty.

Posted by: Tracer Bullet at December 17, 2009 10:57 AM

oh yes this is good news, thoughm i do wish we could get a film that was the original team. or maybe not. i have fond memories of the original comic and original art, why do i wanted it tempered with, even by a director proven to care nicely for my x-men.

when i was on the cusp of manhood, i got hold of a first issue for 75$, now it is thousands. maybe that is the problem.

we dont need films, we could just read the stories

Posted by: idleprimate at December 17, 2009 11:51 AM

Well, they're going to have to include Storm in the first class as she was already a teacher at the school by the time of the first X-Men movie. Yay! I can totally get behind that. Do you think they will invovle Magneto and have storyline where he splits from the school?

Posted by: Peanut_Butter_And_James at December 17, 2009 11:54 AM

hell, just give me another xmen movie, thats good enuff for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: idleprimate at December 17, 2009 12:00 PM

If Iceman, Angel, Beast and whoeverthefuck are going to be in an "Origins" story Singer better be resetting that bitch. There's just no other way to make it fit with the clusterfuck they have at the moment.
They now have a chance to set up the Phoenix saga for a final, ALL ABOUT THE PHOENIX, movie not as some lame-ass side story.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at December 17, 2009 12:06 PM

Yes. This. All of it.

Posted by: jM at December 17, 2009 12:15 PM

All I want for Christmas is Jubilee. Alright, she came in the 90s and fireworks! Who doesn't like fireworks.

She was in the deleted scenes from the first movie and maybe I'm all about the 90s animated series, but whatevs.

I just wikied her and it would seem she was depowered or something, but who loves the power of a retcon. Am I right or am I right!!!

Posted by: kilmo at December 17, 2009 12:31 PM

Yes, what BarbadoSlim said. Or Cyclops could get hit really hard on the head somehow and make the whole movie a long flashback of how they all got together and rewrite that shit. *gag*

There's a LOT that goes into that Phoenix Saga, and there's no way they'd do it right, if the first three movies have proved anything. I don't care that Ratner did the last one - they're all on an identical level of suck. It's not just the disregard for character, it's also the timelines, plot development, everything really, that makes The Uncanny X-Men what they are. If it's too hard to make a decent comic book movie out of the material available to them, then I wish they'd find some other comic book to exploit/ruin.

Posted by: Chickaboom at December 17, 2009 2:05 PM

I wouldn't mind a reboot of the franchise since it was essentially ruined by Ratner and Wolverine: Origins. I would like to see the original five X-Men against Magneto and his classic Brotherhood of Evil. Good to see Singer back in this saga, though I wonder when he is going to direct something like The Usual Suspects again

Posted by: Radlum at December 17, 2009 2:57 PM

Merry Christmas to me!! I can't wait to see the young'uns in action!

Posted by: Jelinas at December 17, 2009 4:13 PM

I wonder why the feel the need to start afresh with these characters. Did Ratner really kill the franchise so badly that they can't continue to move forward?

I remember there being a rumour for a while of a "young X-Men" style film, focusing on the likes of Iceman/Kitty/Colossus. I want that film.

Posted by: Daniel Hall at December 17, 2009 6:33 PM

"Jack the Giant Killer"...

That wouldn't have anything to do with Fables, would it?

Regardless, yes. I'm super-stoked for this.

Posted by: Cody at December 17, 2009 9:29 PM

As much as I love the comic book film, I think that Marvel has fucked up the franchise too much as whole to make a good movie out of this. Brett Ratner may have been the man who killed Professor X and Cyclops, but somebody above him just let it happen. Where is Marvel's Christopher Nolan?

Posted by: GhostWheel at December 21, 2009 11:31 AM

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