X-Men: First Class Character Profiles

One of the biggest and most anticipated movies of the summer, X-Men: First Class hits theaters June 3rd. The is the fifth installment of the X-Men film series (which includes X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and is a prequel to the first three movies. This film will focus on the relationship between Professor X (played by James McAvoy) and Magneto (played by Michael Fassbender) and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. With that said I thought we could go inside each character, seeing what their roles are in the film and the actors and actresses playing said parts.

Below is the official premise for X-Men: First Class to get you up to speed then on with the character profiles.

"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. Before they were archenemies, they were closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men."

James McAvoy: Professor Charles Xavier is the leader and founder of the X-Men and one of Magneto's best friends until conflicts of opinion create a rivalry between them and their teams. He is a mutant with the power of telepathy. His power is so strong he can control the minds of others. Laurence Belcher will play a young Charles Xavier in the film.

Michael Fassbender: Erik Lehnsherr AKA Magneto is the leader and founder of the Brotherhood of Mutants and one of Professor X's best friends until conflicts of opinion create a rivalry between them and their teams. Magneto's mutant powers give him mastery over all electromagnetic forces. He can perceive the magnetic forces of the earth and bioelectrical patterns of all living beings. He can use his power to reshape even the most indestructible metals in existence, including Adamantium. Bill Milner will play a young Erik Lehnsherr in the film.

Kevin Bacon: Sebastian Shaw is the leader of a secret society bent on taking over the world called the Hellfire Club. Shaw is a mutant who possesses the ability to absorb kinetic energy and transform it into raw strength.

January Jones: Emma Frost AKA White Queen is a mutant with the power of telepathy which include mind control and thought projections. She can also change her body into diamond form. She is a member of the Hellfire Club and is described as coldly calculating, manipulative and secretive.

Rose Byrne: Dr. Moira MacTaggert is a HUMAN scientist with an authority on genetic mutation and the love interest of Charles Xavier. Dr. McTaggart was known for her fierce determination, her sympathy to the mutant cause, and her ability to argue even Professor Xavier down.

Nicholas Hoult: Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy AKA Beast is a former scientist and political activist, who transformed into a frightening looking mutant, but is kind at heart. A mutant, his powers are super-strength, invulnerability, and the ability to stick to the ceiling with his feet. He performed an experiment on himself when he was at the school which is the cause of his blue fur. He fights crime as a member of the X-Men and often acts as the brains of the teams, being the smartest of them all.

Jennifer Lawrence: Raven Darkholme AKA Mystique is a dangerous shapeshifting mutant with the ability to turn into anyone. Mystique assumes all physical attributes of those she is mimicing including finger prints, retinal patterns and she can shift her vocal cords to match their voice. However, she cannot replicate powers of people she copies. Her mutation also slows her aging process. Mystique is an extremely skilled hand to hand combatant and also highly proficient with a wide variety of weaponry. Morgan Lilly will play a young Raven Darkholme.

Zoë Kravitz: Angel Salvadore is a mutant with insectoid physiology. She has a pair of veined wings that grow from her back and allow her to fly. She can also vibrate her wings at high speed to create a deafening ultrasonic sound.

Caleb Landry Jones: Sean Cassidy AKA Banshee is an Irish mutant with the ability of sonic screaming. He can hover or fly at the speed of sound and generate sonic blasts which strike with tremendous concussive force, liquefying or outright disintegrating targets at his highest levels of power.

Lucas Till: Alex Summers AKA Havok is a mutant possessing the power to absorb ambient cosmic energy, process it and emanate it from his body as waves of energy that heat the air in the path, turning it into plasma in the form of a blast or discharge. These waves will emanate from his body in all directions unless he purposefully tries to channel them in a single direction, usually along the length of his arms.

Álex González: Janos Quested AKA Riptide is a mutant with the ability to spin his body at an incredibly fast rate. He also has the ability to generate calcium growth from his bones that protrude through his skin, often taking the form of shurikens and spikes. When he spins, Riptide can release these growths at will from his skin, the additional velocity that comes from his spinning making them lethal missiles that can even punch through steel.

Jason Flemyng: Azazel is Nightcrawler's father who has the ability to teleport across interdimensional distances, generate bolts and streams of paralyzing energy, as well as destructive energy which causes a form of disintegration, and can disguise his appearance.

Edi Gathegi: Armando Muñoz AKA Darwin is a mutant with the power of reactive evolution. His body automatically adapts to any situation or environment he is placed in, allowing him to survive possibly anything. Examples of his powers include gaining night-vision after a few seconds in the dark, functional gills after being submerged in water, fire-proof skin after being exposed to flame and converting his body into pure energy.

Profiles aside I think these characters, unlike the characters from the previous X-Men films will all get a chance to shine. There are so many new interesting characters to follow that it will feel good for a change to not have to solely focus on Wolverine, Storm and Cyclops. Once this film hits theaters a the new/old generation of X-Men will begin and seeing the state that superhero movies are in, it's a welcomed change and one that I look forward to seeing for years to come.