It may not be Taylor Lautner but a cast member of Twilight has finally joined X-Men: First Class, Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming prequel to the X-Men franchise.
Edi Gathergi, who has appeared as a vampire in the first two installments in the Twilight saga has joined the cast of X-Men: First Class as Darwin, reports Deadline New York. Darwin, a recent addition to the comic book cast of the X-Men, is a mutant who has the power to evolve out of any threat. Throw him in water and he’ll grow gills. Dowse him in fire and he’ll become flame-resistant. Darwin should prove to be a visually interesting addition to the growing cast of mutants.
Other members of the cast include James McAvoy as Professor Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Alice Eve as Emma Frost, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Caleb Landry Jones as Banshee and Lucas Till as Havoc. Kevin Bacon is playing the villain.
The Buzz: It’s quickly becoming apparent that X-Men: First Class will concentrate on introducing a new group of mutants rather than show the first days in Professor Xavier’s academy for characters such as Cyclops, Jean Grey or Storm.
While I’m always open for fresh concepts in summer popcorn flicks, I must admit to being a little afraid that Fox is shooting themselves in the foot by bringing in a total new slate of characters. While Wolverine was clearly the stand-out mutant from the first trilogy of X-Men films, the audience is aware and fond of the characters that made up the rest of his team. By limiting the number of mutants who are instantly recognizable with the audience, the producers of First Class have the chance to make a fresh start for a franchise that quickly grew stale. At the same time, it’s an uphill battle to get audiences in the seats without the draw of the X-Men characters many audience members grew up watching on Saturday morning cartoons.
I’m interested to see what other mutants are left to be announced for X-Men: First Class. Fox might just yet announce the young actors who will be taking over the roles of the original trilogy’s characters. Personally, I’m hoping for a nice balance of new and established characters. Who would you like to see join the cast of mutants? The first person to say Maggot get’s the hose.
