X-Men: First Class Trivia

Trivia about X-Men: First Class.

• To prepare for his role as Charles Xavier, James McAvoy shaved his head... and learned that the filmmakers wanted Xavier to have a full head of hair in the prequel. Throughout the first month of filming McAvoy had to wear hair extensions.
• Although they barely interact during this movie (and in fact are antagonists through most of it), according to the comics canon, Azazel and Mystique eventually have a child together, Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (who was played by Alan Cumming in X2).
• During the Cerebro sequence, one of the mutants to be seen is Cyclops as a young boy playing with a glove and baseball, noticeable by his sunglasses, and the other being Storm, most noticeable by her haircut.
• A telepathic battle between Professor X and Emma Frost was going to be in the film, but upon the release of Inception the concept was scrapped.
• In addition to his comic book persona, the character of Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) takes on qualities of Nazi scientist Josef Mengele. Mengle is noted for his eugenic experimentation and torture often with children, to whom he would offer candy to gain their trust.
• One line was changed in the famous John F. Kennedy speech of Oct 22, 1962. The changed line was voiced by Jim Meskimen. The original line was "It shall be the policy of this nation, to regard any nuclear missile, launched from Cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere, as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States." In the film the line goes: "..to regard any nuclear missile crossing the embargo line that now surrounds Cuba, as an attack by the Soviet Union..."
• According to visual effects supervisor John Dykstra, the biggest problem was with depicting Emma Frost's diamond body "without looking like she was made of Jell-o or the polygon model of a human being". The morphed Frost was rotomated into January Jones in the live-action plates, while still retaining the actress' eyes and lips. As the character kept on going in and out of her diamond form, a motion capture tracking suit could not be employed, so the effects team used a jumpsuit covered in mirrors.
• To prepare for his role as Erik Lehnsherr, Michael Fassbender studied Sir Ian McKellen's performance as Lehnsherr in the previous X-Films, but also looked through the comics as he decided to make his own version of Magneto: "You want to respect what someone else has done, especially because the fan base really liked what Ian has done with it. But while I could have gone and studied him as a young man and brought that to the performance, I don't think Matthew is very interested in that. So I'm just going my own way and working with whatever is in the comic books and the script."
• The uniforms the X-Men wear are colored blue and yellow, in homage to the original blue/yellow suits the X-Men wore in the comics from 1963 (their debut) until (original artist and co-creator) Jack Kirby's departure from the book. After several costume changes throughout the years, the costumes used in X-Men inspired new black leather uniforms seen in the Grant Morrison written 2001 New X-Men comic).
• Matthew Vaughn instructed the cast to do away with all accents in their performances. James McAvoy had planned to copy Patrick Stewart's voice (since McAvoy was going to play a younger version of Stewart's Xavier), but Vaughn quashed it; Vaughn also told Rose Byrne that Moira MacTaggart would not have her trademark Scottish accent in the film (to the Scottish McAvoy's mild disappointment).
• To prepare for his role as Beast, Nicholas Hoult studied Kelsey Grammer's performance as Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand and Grammar's early series Frasier; he also underwent training in athletics, weightlifting and boxing.
• When Prof Charles Xavier makes his presentation on human genetic mutation at the CIA HQ, the graphic origin of the X-Men logo can be seen in the left hand image of his final side projection. It is an X-ray crystallography image of the DNA molecule, of the kind created by Dr Rosalind Franklin, which aided Dr Francis Crick and Dr James Watson in discovering the double helix shape of DNA on 28 February 1953, for which they were awarded the 1962 Nobel prize for Physiology or Medicine.
• The filmmakers had only two choices for the role of Sebastian Shaw: Colin Firth and Kevin Bacon. They decided to go with Bacon as he was American and seemed more menacing than Firth.
• Caleb Landry Jones auditioned for the film without knowing what X-Men character he was up for, saying he auditioned because it was the film that fit his biotype: "I've got red hair and freckles, I'm not gonna be Batman, Robin or Spider-Man."
• During the American/Soviet standoff, the Soviet captain refers to the man behind him as "zampolit", which is inaccurately (but not completely incorrectly) translated in the subtitles as "comrade." A Zampolit is a political officer responsible for political education and enforcing Party loyalty (in this case, on a ship), and is capable of countermanding the orders of the officer he's attached to, if they conflict with Party doctrine. The fact that it's actually the Zampolit that fires the missile to destroy the freighter is a sly bit of irony on the part of the film producers.
• Ludger Pistor and Wilfried Hochholdinger portray Nazi soldiers which Michael Fassbender's character confronts in the bar scene. Pistor and Hochholdinger also played Nazis in Inglourious Basterds, and Fassbender played an Allied soldier.
• Matthew Vaughn wanted the film to resemble the productions of the 1960s, with "very traditional framing, and camera movement when it needs to move, not just throwing it around and whizz-bang", and using the anamorphic format "to create a widescreen experience, is emblematic of '60s movies". The director had to hire five cinematographers - with sole credit being given to John Mathieson, who came halfway through the shoot and did half of the film - and four assistant directors to successfully convey the look he wanted for the film.
• Though ostensibly a prequel to the entire "X-Men" film franchise, this movie deliberately ignores continuity points of X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Matthew Vaughn explained his intention was to "make a good film that could stand on its own two feet regardless of all the other films" and also that could "reboot and start a whole new X-Men franchise". Writer Jane Goldman looked at the film as an "alternate history" for the X-Men - though a reboot, the writers did not want to go fully "against the canon of the X-Men trilogy", citing the various approaches the comic had in over fifty years of publication.
• Azazel is the modern Hebrew word for "hell", which corresponds with the character's devilish nature.
• Jason Behr, [[Boyd Holbrook, Jonas Armstrong, Patrick J. Adams, Jamie Dornan, Tom Parker, Matthew James Thomas, Andrew Garfield, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Eddie Redmayne, Frank Dillane and Jack Huston screentested for several characters in the movie with Dornan, Armstrong, Thomas, Adams and Holbrook for Charles Xavier, Garfield, Taylor-Johnson, Redmayne, Dillane and Huston for Erik Lehnsherr and Behr and Tom Parker for Hank McCoy.
• Edward Furlong was considered to play Charles Xavier before James McAvoy was cast.
• Monica Keena was considered for the role of Moira McDaggert.
• Taylor Lautner was considered for Hank McCoy before the casting of Nicholas Hoult.
• Bryan Cranston and Colin Firth were approached for the part of Sebastian Shaw before Kevin Bacon was cast. Cranston turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts with Drive.
• Abbie Cornish read for the role of Emma Frost.
• Tahyna Tozzi-MacManus was considered to reprise her role as Emma Frost from X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
• This is only the second time in a Marvel film since X2: X-Men United where Stan Lee has not had a cameo appearance
• The film was originally to be a prequel about Magneto. Screenwriter Sheldon Turner wrote a treatment which he described as X-Men meets The Pianist": the story focused on Magneto's early years as a prisoner of war in a Nazi concentration camp, until liberation by a squad of Allied Forces led by Charles Xavier. They later meet after the war and become friends, and later become rivals. The studio decided to change the film's direction to the early years of the X-Men, but incorporated aspects of Turner's script into the film.
• Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy's first appearance together since Band of Brothers.
• Bryan Singer, who directed X-Men and X2: X-Men United, was approached to direct this film in October 2009, but in March 2010 declined due to his commitment to Jack the Giant Slayer and was replaced with Matthew Vaughn in May 2010. Singer however stayed on as producer.
• The set for Xavier's mansion was also used in a TV series called Hex, which also starred Michael Fassbender, who played a character named "Azazeal" which is much like the teleporting mutant named "Azazel".
• Bryan Cranston turned down the role of Sebastian Shaw to be in Drive.
• The filmmakers hired an "X-Men" specialist to help the cast understand their roles.
• The cities of 1960s Washington and Moscow were created based on photographs of the actual cities; the Russian one in particular had its vehicles and military hardware based on videos of a 1962 Red Square, and a digital army doing an actual Soviet-style march.
• Charles Xavier makes two mentions about going bald/shaving his head. In later life, of course, Charles Xavier is completely bald.
• Director Matthew Vaughn cited the first two X-Films, Batman Begins, Star Trek and the 1960s Bond films as major influences on this film.
• This was Álex González's first English film. He enjoyed playing a villain as most of his film roles in Spain were for "good guys".
• Although he is never named in the film, Oliver Platt's character is similar to FBI Agent Fred Duncan from the early X-Men comics.
• The group of mutants gathered by the CIA in this film serve as a catalyst for the formation of the X-Men which consists of Charles Xavier, Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto), Hank McCoy (Beast), Raven Darkholme (Mystique), Alex Summers (Havok), Sean Cassidy (Banshee) and Armando Muñoz (Darwin). In the comics, the original group of X-Men students consisted of Hank McCoy (Beast), Jean Grey, Scott Summers (Cyclops), Bobby Drake (Iceman), and Warren Worthington III (Angel) - all mentored under Professor Charles Xavier (Professor X).
• This is the second time that January Jones has been cast in 1962 opposite an actor with a pork based name. The first was in Mad Men opposite Jon Hamm and then this alongside Kevin Bacon.
• Taylor Lautner was considered to play Hank McCoy (aka Beast) but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Nicholas Hoult was later cast.
• Josh Schwartz wrote an early version of the screenplay, but once Bryan Singer became attached, Schwartz's script was ditched as Singer wanted to take the story in a different direction. Jamie Moss was subsequently hired to write a new draft.
• Moira MacTaggert uses the call-sign "X-ray Bravo Seven Zero" to identify the X-Men plane. This was the military designation (XB-70) of an experimental nuclear bomber developed in the 1950s, of which two prototypes were built. It was known for its striking, radical design and Mach 3+ speed.
• Matthew Vaughn considered his friend Dexter Fletcher for the part of the Man in Black, but the studio felt the cast had too many British actors.
• There are about 1150 visual effects shots in the film.
• In April 2006, Zak Penn was hired to write and direct this film; he was going to make a prequel about Magneto, in a vein similar to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. However, the filmmakers decided to shift the focus from the early years of one mutant to those of the X-Men. Penn found this approach more interesting than what he'd come up with and so stepped down with his blessing.
• When Charles and Erik try to talk to Logan in the bar, a neon sign for "Marv's Beer" is visible on the wall behind them. This is a reference to director Matthew Vaughn's production company Marv Films.
• Filming was originally to take place on Tybee Island, but a producer browsing on the online map program Google Earth found Jekyll Island to be a more suitable location.
• Amber Heard was rumored to play Mystique before Jennifer Lawrence was cast.
• Matthew Vaughn was originally hired to direct X-Men: The Last Stand, but left citing pressure from the studio to finish the film within a short time.
• Composer Henry Jackman based his score on composer John Barry's work on the 007 films.
• Rosamund Pike was considered to play Moira McTaggert and later for Emma Frost.
• The visual effects of Banshee's screams was done through a digital ring-like structure based on renderings of sound waves like Schlieren photography.
• Michael Fassbender, who plays the Jewish Holocaust survivor character Magneto in this film, had earlier played an Allied Forces soldier in Inglourious Basterds and Band of Brothers. Sir Ian McKellen, who also played Magneto, had conversely earlier played a Nazi in Apt Pupil.
• Alice Eve was originally cast as Emma Frost, but a deal couldn't be reached and she was replaced with January Jones.
• The scene at the water fountain where Moira "hears" Professor X speaking to her while her co-workers have been frozen, was shot during the final sound mix, on the first floor of building 32 on the Twentieth Century Fox lot.
• The mutant Sunspot was planned to appear in this film, but was cut out as Matthew Vaughn felt there wasn't enough time or money to fit him in.
• As of 2011, the highest-grossing film ever made about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• After leaving with Shaw and the Hellfire Club, Angel (Zoe Kravitz) doesn't speak for the rest of the film.
• Sarah Harding was called back three times for the role of Emma Frost.
• Broadway actor Benjamin Walker was previously cast as Beast, but dropped out of the role to star in the Broadway musical "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson".
• The early version of the X-jet is visually almost identical to the Lockheed SR-71 including the shock diamond effect from the engines. However, the X-jet adds additional engines on the underside for VTOL capability and substantially changes the internal layout from a two person cockpit to a much larger cargo area
• The X-Men's plane bears a striking similarity to the Lockheed SR-71, an American supersonic reconnaissance plane. However, the original plane was not able to depart vertically or even hover in mid-air. It was used for several high-altitude penetration missions deep inside Soviet territory.
• Charlie Rowe was initially cast as the young Charles Xavier but, due to scheduling conflicts with Neverland, he was replaced by Laurence Belcher.
• Jason Behr, Boyd Holbrook, Jonas Armstrong, Patrick J. Adams, Jamie Dornan, Andrew Garfield and Tom Parker screen-tested for several characters in the movie.
• The cast and crew stayed in hotels on Jekyll Island located, quite literally, across the street from the beach in which the finale scene was shot. This made commuting to set each day quite easy.
• Beast is the only student from the original X-Men comic to appear in this film. His classmates were Bobby Drake/Iceman, Warren Worthington III/Angel, Jean Grey, and Scott Summers/Cyclops. Scott's brother, Alex, appears in this film and its two sequels. Scott, Jean, and Bobby appeared in all three original films. Beast and Angel didn't appear until the third film, X-Men: The Last Stand.
• There are actually three Summers brothers in the comics: Scott, Alex and Gabriel Summers, the brother who went rogue known as Vulcan.
• This movie initially started out as a spin-off focusing almost exclusively on Magneto's backstory which was meant to be part of a planned X-Men Origins film series, but the idea was then discarded in favor of a prequel that also included Professor X as a major character (he only had a supporting role in the original Magneto script) along with his first class of mutants.
• Josh Ramsay (lead singer of the Canadian band Marianas Trench) provides Banshee's screams in the film.
• Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy both previously appeared in the HBO Mini-Series "Band of Brothers".
• The Fast and Furious and X-Men franchises have often released the same installments of a franchise in the same year. X2: X-Men United and 2 Fast 2 Furious were both released in 2003, X-Men: The Last Stand and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift were both released in 2006, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Fast and Furious were both released in 2009, X-Men: First Class and Fast Five were both released in 2011 and The Wolverine and Fast and Furious 6 were released in 2013. Furious 7 was set to be released in 2014, the same year as X-Men: Days of Future Past, however, it then was pushed to 2015 after Paul Walker's death. Both Logan and The Fate of the Furious were released in 2017.
• In Las Vegas during the casino party, the song Palisades Park by Freddy Cannon can be heard playing. One of the lyrics in this song that can be heard clearly is "we ate and ate at a hot dog stand." This may be a reference to the first X-Men film, in which Stan Lee cameoed as a hot dog vendor.
• Even though the two gentleman share no screen time together both Glenn Morshower and Michael Ironside appear in the film. Both of them have portrayed DC's General Sam Lane. Morshower in Supergirl and Ironside in Smallville.
• Kevin Bacon and Edi Gathegi previously worked together in the thriller Death Sentence. In the film, Bacon played a good guy, whereas Gathegi played a bad guy.
• Jason Flemyng (Azazel) and Rade Serbedzija (the Russian general) both appeared in Snatch, but did not share screen time
• Italian censorship visa # 104396 delivered on 31-5-2011.
• Despite being the main hero, Charles Xavier never comes into contact with villain Sebastian Shaw.
• With Kevin Bacon in this film, there are now 4 actors who have appeared in a famous slasher movie franchise and appeared as a villain in an X-Men film; after Tyler Mane (appeared in X-Men and Halloween and Halloween II), Kelly Hu (appeared in X2: X-Men United and Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan), Liev Schreiber (appeared in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 3) and Kevin Bacon (appeared in X-Men: First Class and Friday the 13th).
• Glenn Morshower, Ray Wise and Rade Serbedzija all appeared in 24.
• Meagan Good, Erica Hosseini, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Josh Hutcherson, Kevin Pennington, Jasmine Dustin, Jack Huston, Eddie Redmayne and Frank Dillane were all rumored to have roles.
• Cameo: Rebecca Romijn:  as the "age-progressed" Mystique in Erik's bed. Romijn played Mystique in the earlier X-Men films.
• Hugh Jackman accepted the opportunity to cameo as Logan/Wolverine when he learned he would be the only character in the film to use the word 'fuck'. He improvised the line, "Go fuck yourself," after using 7 other takes to say, "Fuck off". The reaction from McAvoy and Fassbender to the different line was authentic.
• With Hugh Jackman's brief cameo as Logan/Wolverine in this film, he is now the first actor to ever play the same comic book superhero in five different movies. And it also makes him the only actor to appear in every single "X-Men" movie.
• The ending fight between Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr was going to have them use their powers, but Matthew Vaughn reasoned that since it was an origin story about the early X-Men the fight had to be a more conventional brawl: "Fox were saying, people want to see super heroes use their powers... but not in this film. Sometimes they just want to punch each other. That, to me, is what's different."