# X-Men First Class (unboxed spoilers)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 3, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175 "2011-06-03T08:19:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/41 "2011-06-06T04:12:21Z")

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> [@MaxTheVool](#):
>
> Does anyone know who played the captain of the US ship near the end? He was very familiar.

Jack Nicholson

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**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/42 "2011-06-06T04:33:42Z")

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> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#):
>
> Jack Nicholson

That wasn’t Jack Nicholson (although I thought it was at first.)

It was [Michael Ironside](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000461/)

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**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/43 "2011-06-06T04:50:46Z")

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> [@Sampiro](#):
>
> You left out “Movie audience goes wild”.😃 At least in mine.
> 
> I feel so lecherous wanting to do the things I want to do to Nicholas Hoult now after having so thoroughly enjoyed _About A Boy_. It’s hard to realize it’s the same kid; puberty was more than kind to him. Though it says much that Michael Fassbender can take a scene from him in the eye candy department.
> 
> I thought they missed a great furthering of _Basic Instinct_ imagery by not having January Jones part her legs to reveal diamond flash.
> 
> I’m not a huge X Men fan by any means- in fact I only saw the first Stewart-McKellen movie- and I liked this one a lot. Presumes no foreknowledge (though I’m sure it’s great if you have some) and is a good self contained plot on its own.
> 
> The Auschwitz scenes are almost frame per frame the same as the original. Does anybody know if they used the same footage? (Young Eric was of course the same actor who’s in the later Young Eric scenes, but it would be fairly easy to superimpose his face onto the existing footage.)
> 
> I know that Magneto-Xavier having been friends and colleagues is established, but is X’s brother-sister relationship with Mystique canon? And is Havok supposed to be the father of Cyclops?

In the X-Men comics Havoc was Cyclops’ younger brother, though obviously that’s not the case in the movie.

Similarly, there was no brother-sister relationship between Mystique and Charles Xavier.

While I liked that element of the movie and was glad they didn’t go with the idea of Mystique joining Magneto because Charles spurned her advances(which it looked like they were going to do at first) as a retcon it could raise obviously issues from the first two movies(mainly why there’s never any suggestion of a relationship between the two in either movie, not even when Magneto left Charles to die in X-Men 2).

Also, in the X-Men comics Mystique was Rogue’s mother though there’s never any suggestion of such a relationship between the two in the movies.

Also, I might be wrong, but I thought Rebecca Romijn did a brief cameo to. Specifically a scene in bed, though I might be wrong and it may have been January Jones instead.

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**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/44 "2011-06-06T05:06:33Z")

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> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#):
>
> In the X-Men comics Havoc was Cyclops’ younger brother, though obviously that’s not the case in the movie.

If they decide to make another prequel movie (which I have no doubt that they will) I could see them making Cyclops the younger brother. Even if he’s not a character, I could see him mention his younger brother Scott.

> [@](#):
>
> Also, I might be wrong, but I thought Rebecca Romijn did a brief cameo to. Specifically a scene in bed, though I might be wrong and it may have been January Jones instead.

Yep, that was her.

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**Author:** ![DarkFire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@DarkFire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkFire)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/45 "2011-06-06T11:52:52Z")

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> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#):
>
> I recognized young Storm when Xavier was using Cerebro, but din’t really recognize any others. Any others?

I believe I saw a kid playing baseball, he was wearing big black-ish glasses. Making me think that was Scott Summers/Cyclops.

Two or three people were in color while the rest were b/w.  
Those were the mutants I guess.

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**Author:** ![Barrett\_Bonden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5e9695/32.png) [@Barrett\_Bonden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barrett_Bonden)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/46 "2011-06-06T12:36:59Z")

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I really enjoyed the movie. Fassbender and McAvoy were absolutely stellar.

I loved what the wardrobe department did for Fassbender through the first 75% of the movie so I guess I can forgive that helmet at the end. (I realize it’s canon and was therefore inescapable.) It’s a huge credit to Fassbender’s acting skill that he can deliver his lines in that costume as if he didn’t realize what he was wearing. 😛

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**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/47 "2011-06-06T12:45:26Z")

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> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#):
>
> Also, in the X-Men comics Mystique was Rogue’s mother though there’s never any suggestion of such a relationship between the two in the movies.

If I remember right, adoptive mother, as compared to biological mother for Nightcrawler.

I liked the film too. Honestly, I don’t recall whether Azazel and wind-blowy-guy (who didn’t even get a name that I recall) got any lines at all, which seems funny to me in retrospect. Slightly annoyed that out of our heroic group, it was the two non-white characters who died and turned to Team Evil respectively, but I suppose that’s to be expected. I’ll have to echo the Nicholas Hoult lust, but i’ll add Jennifer Lawrence to that too. January Jones as Emma Frost I agree seemed a bit flat, but to be fair, I think as a character she’s not supposed to be cool snarky woman yet.

As far as noticing character in that Cerebro bit, i’m sure I remember recognising some at the time, but I too can only remember Storm now. Hugh Jackman’s cameo was pretty hilarious.

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**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/48 "2011-06-06T15:04:44Z")

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I saw the movie last night and while I liked it, I was unimpressed by the acting of some of the supporting characters…or maybe it was the scripting behind them, I don’t know.  
The main characters—the mutants—were all well-rounded and scripted, but to me it felt like the human characters were all cardboard cutouts speaking in cliches.

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**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/49 "2011-06-06T15:21:45Z")

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I just caught it yesterday with my kids. I liked it. In fact, it seems to be one of those movies that I start to like more after I’ve seen it.

I guess I was expecting a little more constant action and a little less exposition / character develpment / quite moments / whatever. Maybe that’s what makes grow on me though.

I did think the final action sequence was pretty kick-ass.  
Here’s the thing that makes me feel like a total moron though: throughout the whole movie I was trying to place Emma Frost – where had I seen that actress before? Of course – Elizabeth Smart, she was great in Zach and Miri.

Then I open this thread. Oh, it’s January Jones? Ok. Who the hell is January Jones? Don Draper’s wife on Mad Men? Oh her … shit, she’s gorgeous.

I still like Elizabeth Smart too, though.

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**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/50 "2011-06-06T15:30:21Z")

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I have only recently gotten into the X-Men comics (making my way through the Dark Phoenix Saga as we speak) but **Sr. Olives** is somewhat… obsessed. We both loved it from start to finish. Great acting and I felt like the character swaps resulted in a more well-rounded fighting team. Scott Sommers is a doof; I’d take Havoc any day. Also, whoever thought they could make Banshee interesting?! X-Men 2 is still one of the best action movies of all time, but First Class is almost as good.

I am so glad they spent time on Magneto. After seeing this film I have to say he is my #1 favorite villain, because no matter what he does, you just can’t _hate_ him.

‘‘But Magneto, why do you think–’’

‘‘Holocaust survivor, bitches.’’

‘‘Oh, I see. You may have a point there.’’

Also, he manages to fuck up the X-Men not because he bears them ill will, but because they have conflicting ideologies that make their clash inevitable. It’s a subtle, but powerful difference. Also, his helmet is awesome, thank you very much. When I saw Shaw pull that thing out, I was like, ‘‘Dude, you are _so_ not making it through this film alive.’’ Such a bad-ass villain. I do kinda wish they’d done an origins movie on him, because it would have been the most amazing thing ever.

My take on Professor X lecturing the X-Men for screwing around just days after he’d been drinking and using cheap pick-up lines on women: ‘‘Let the hypocrisy begin.’’

I also loved the treatment of Beast. He’s one of my favorite X-Men, and Mr. Hoult did him justice. While there was a little retcon in terms of how he got his blue fur, it seems consistent with the character… he did always seem a little ambivalent about looking like a giant furry blue monster (at least, he did in Joss Whedon’s _Astonishing X-Men_, which is the first time I was introduced to him.)

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**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/51 "2011-06-06T16:09:12Z")

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> [@Jack\_Batty](#):
>
> I just caught it yesterday with my kids. I liked it. In fact, it seems to be one of those movies that I start to like more after I’ve seen it.
> 
> I guess I was expecting a little more constant action and a little less exposition / character develpment / quite moments / whatever. Maybe that’s what makes grow on me though.
> 
> I did think the final action sequence was pretty kick-ass.  
> Here’s the thing that makes me feel like a total moron though: throughout the whole movie I was trying to place Emma Frost – where had I seen that actress before? Of course – Elizabeth Smart, she was great in Zach and Miri.
> 
> Then I open this thread. Oh, it’s January Jones? Ok. Who the hell is January Jones? Don Draper’s wife on Mad Men? Oh her … shit, she’s gorgeous.
> 
> I still like Elizabeth Smart too, though.

Ouch, wrong even when you’re wrong! You were thinking of Elizabeth Banks. Smart is the kidnapping and rape victim.

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**Author:** ![Double\_Foolscap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/52 "2011-06-06T16:20:57Z")

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> [@RikWriter](#):
>
> I saw the movie last night and while I liked it, I was unimpressed by the acting of some of the supporting characters…or maybe it was the scripting behind them, I don’t know.  
> The main characters—the mutants—were all well-rounded and scripted, but to me it felt like the human characters were all cardboard cutouts speaking in cliches.

Pulling this theory out of my arse - it was another way to make the humans seem more mundane than the mutants?

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**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/53 "2011-06-06T16:46:20Z")

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> [@drastic\_quench](#):
>
> Ouch, wrong even when you’re wrong! You were thinking of Elizabeth Banks. Smart is the kidnapping and rape victim.

Oooh. That’s a little embarrassing. Of course, I meant Banks.

I blame CNN.

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**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/54 "2011-06-06T16:56:47Z")

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One thing I caught myself wondering, after having seen First Class and then X-2 last night on TV.

How did Mystique choose her regular, “non-blue” (well…not regular, since regular is blue, but you know what I mean) form? I mean…does part of her “know” that’s what she would look like as a non-mutant? Did she see someone who looks like that and decide to emulate her? And in First Class, her knowing what she would look like in (the equivalent of) 20 years…just a damn good guess?

While watching X-2 last night, it was nice to see her conversation with Nightcrawler, with him asking why she doesn’t look ‘normal’ all the time, and her response of,  
“Because we shouldn’t have to.”

And was ‘groovy’ really in use as early as 1962? I thought it was more of a late-60’s word. Still a great (in a cheesy way) pick up line…I’ll have to steal it. 😃

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**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/55 "2011-06-06T20:21:40Z")

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> [@Double\_Foolscap](#):
>
> Pulling this theory out of my arse - it was another way to make the humans seem more mundane than the mutants?

I thought of that, but if so, that’s a bit ham-handed.

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/56 "2011-06-06T20:55:35Z")

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That was one HELL of a movie. I just got back from taking both girls to see it. A winner, all around, and more proof that Bryan Singer should be the avatar of the X-Men franchise. The guys got a vision.

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**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/57 "2011-06-06T21:02:42Z")

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> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#):
>
> That was one HELL of a movie. I just got back from taking both girls to see it. A winner, all around, and more proof that Bryan Singer should be the avatar of the X-Men franchise. The guys got a vision.

What Singer elements did you find in this film? I thought it was a stylistic and tonal departure from his movies.

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/58 "2011-06-06T21:34:10Z")

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Really? I think the entirety of the civil rights emphasis (even including a shot at ‘don’t ask don’t tell’) come from him.

I know that Stan had a vision around that in the early comics but Singer’s the one who chose to focus on that in his movies and seeing that back here (as opposed to Ratner’s sensibilities in X3) makes the film more than a standard action film. There’s something there when my 11 year old comes out of a theater saying ‘it’s not right for people to pick on mutants just because they’re born that way’. Score one for the good guys, in my humble opinion.

Toss in that Singer is one of two people credited with ‘Story’ and I don’t see how one can’t conclude that Singer’s a guiding light here.

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**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/59 "2011-06-08T14:39:52Z")

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> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#):
>
> There’s something there when my 11 year old comes out of a theater saying ‘it’s not right for people to pick on mutants just because they’re born that way’. Score one for the good guys, in my humble opinion.

Awesome.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-first-class-unboxed-spoilers/584175/60 "2011-06-08T21:48:04Z")

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I enjoyed the movie, but the women’s clothes didn’t seem right. Skirts weren’t that short at that time, and it bothered me the entire time.

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