YIPEE! X-Men: First Class Gets An Even Earlier Release Date In Ireland!

The Irish release date for the X-Men prequel FIRST CLASS has been brought forward to Monday - May 30th 2011. The film will now take the unusual step of opening on a Monday, something which worked very well for the Simon Pegg/Nick Frost film last week. Their movie PAUL made £5.5 million on its opening week at Irish and UK cinemas thanks to its valentines day head start.

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/joshw24/news/?a=30622

Releases in UK and Ireland

"[X-Men First Class] is released June 2 2011 in the UK and Ireland."

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/joshw24/news/?a=27696

Who is Professor X?

Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X) is a mutant who has one of the world's most powerful mutant minds. He is a high-level telepath who can read, control and influence human minds. A scientific genius, he is also a leading authority on genetics, mutation, and psionic powers. Throughout most of his comic book history, Xavier is paraplegic. Xavier’s goals are to promote the peaceful affirmation of mutant rights, to mediate the co-existence of mutants and humans and to protect society from antagonistic mutants, including his old friend, the militant Magneto. To achieve these aims, he founded Xavier Institute to teach mutants to explore and control their powers, and he founded the X-Men.

More details at Wikipedia

Who is the Beast?

Dr. Hank McCoy (Beast) is a mutant who originally appeared to be an ape-like human with superhuman physical strength. Over time he underwent progressive transformations to his physiognomy, permanently gaining increasingly animalistic physical characteristics, including blue fur, feline facial features, pointed ears, fangs, and claws. Despite his inhuman appearance, he is a brilliant man of the arts and sciences; he is a world authority on biochemistry and genetics, the X-Men's medical doctor, and the science instructor at the Xavier Institute. He is also a mutant political activist.

More details at Wikipedia

Who is Mystique?

Raven Darkhölme (Mystique) is a mutant who can shapeshift, and whose natural appearance includes her blue skin and yellow eyes. She is the mother of villian Graydon Creed (whose father is Victor Creed / Sabretooth), she is also the mother of X-Men Nightcrawler (whose father is Azazel), and she is the adoptive mother of the X-Men Rogue. Throughout most of her history, Mystique has been a supervillain often working with Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

More details at Wikipedia

Who is Havok?

Alex Summers (Havok) is a mutant with the ability to generate powerful “plasma blasts”, an ability he has had difficulty controlling. He is the younger brother of Scott Summers (Cyclops) and the older brother of Gabriel Summers (Vulcan). Alex and Scott were abandoned as children and Alex was adopted by the Blandings; a family whose son, Todd, had died in a car accident. During a violent altercation with a boy who was trying to hurt Alex and his foster sister, Haley, Alex manifested his powers for the first time, incinerating the boy. Alex went on to study and earn a degree in geophysics at college. There he first met the X-Men, and his brother Scott again. Eventually he joined the X-Men as a member.

More details at Wikipedia

Who is Angel Salvadore?

Angel Salvadore discovered she was a mutant when she was fourteen years old. One night a cocoon formed around her, and the next morning she emerged with wings. Wolverine helped rescue her from trouble and brought her to the Xavier Institute, where she initially had difficulty fitting in, especially with one of her teachers, Emma Frost. Over time she develops a relationship with classmate Beak. She later marries him and has children with him.

More details at Wikipedia

Who is Emma Frost?

 

Emma Frost is a mutant who served as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club. She was therefore an enemy of the X-Men for several years. Following a tragedy she had a change of heart, and she aided the X-Men and became a key member of mutant group Generation X. Emma mentored the young Generation X mutants with Irish X-Men Banshee at the Massachusetts Academy. Following this, she joined the X-Men and plays a pivot role in the group. Emma's powers include telepathy and the ability to turn her skin into a super strong diamond form.

More details at Wikipedia

Who is Azazel?

Azazel claims to be from another dimension, and spent several years fathering children with various female mutants, to open a dimensional portal to his home dimension. He met Mystique in Germany, she fell in love with Azazel, and she became pregnant with Azazel's son, Nightcrawler. Azazel sired several dozen other children, who were all mysteriously called to gather and sacrifice themselves on the island known as the Isla Des Demonas. The mutant children worked together in a zombie-like state and opened the portal to Azazel's dimension, but the X-Men had followed Nightcrawler to see where he was going and closed the portal.

More details at Wikipedia

Who is Moira MacTaggert?

Born Moira Kinross, Moira MacTaggert became one of the world's leading authorities on genetic mutation, earning her a Nobel Prize for her work. She is the longest running human associate of the X-Men and is Professor Charles Xavier's colleague and confidante. She eventually created a Mutant Research Center on Muir Island, off the coast of Scotland, and helped in the founding of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and was the co-creator of Cerebro.


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What is "A Touch of Brimstone"?

The Hellfire Club as featured in the X-Men comics was strongly influenced by a 1966 episode of the British TV series "The Avengers" - A Touch of Brimstone. In the episode John Steed and Emma Peel infiltrate the Hellfire Club who are attempting to take over the world. They dress in the same style of vintage costumes that the X-Men Hellfire Club do.

More details at the Avengers Forever.

This episode guest stars Peter Wyngarde (who is best known for playing Jason King), who inspired Hellfire Club member Mastermind aka Jason Wyngarde.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_%28Jason_Wyngarde%29

The Black Queen of the London branch of the Hellfire Club in the X-Men world is Emma Steed, another homage to this episode.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Steed

Who is Sebastian Shaw?

Sebastian Shaw is an adversary of the X-Men. He is the leader of the New York branch of the Hellfire Club, an exclusive secret society bent on world domination, although to the public, he is a legitimate businessman and ordinary human. In truth Shaw is a  mutant who possesses the ability to absorb kinetic energy and transform it into raw strength.

He was initiated into the Hellfire Club thanks to his vast fortune along with Warren Worthington, Jr. (father of Archangel), Howard Stark (father of Tony Stark) and Sir James Braddock (father of Captain Britain and Psylocke).

More details at Wikipedia.

What is the Hellfire Club?

The Hellfire Club is an underground society that often comes into conflict the X-Men. Although the Club appears to merely be an international social club for wealthy elites, its clandestine Inner Circle seeks to influence world events to their own agenda. Created by the Uncanny X-Men writer/artist duo of Chris Claremont and John Byrne, they were heavily influenced by a 1966 episode of the British television series The Avengers ("A Touch of Brimstone").

The hierarchy of the Inner Circle is modeled on the pieces of a chess set, with Black and White sets of Kings, Queens, Bishops and Rooks.

The Hellfire Club and its Inner Circle were introduced in the Dark Phoenix Saga, this incarnation, composed most notably of Black King Sebastian Shaw and White Queen Emma Frost, would remain prominent for many years. After their initial confrontations, the Hellfire Club and the X-Men settled into an uneasy alliance.

More details at Wikipedia