It should be noted that the studio behind the X-Men films, Fox, have not stated whether they will be going ahead with a sequel to the prequel (what do you even call that?!). Hopefully they've merely been waiting for all of us to plonk out our hard-earned cash for the DVD/Blu* before they go ahead with the greenlight.
Ok! Let's get presequelling up in here!
The first (and second) things I'd love to have for a First Class sequel (Second Class?) would be director Matthew Vaughn and screenwriter Jane Goldman back. This dynamic duo were a large part of why this film worked in the first place (the fact it worked at all, let alone really well is a testament to their awesomeness) and to think of a sequel without them... well, that kinda sucks already.
More support from the studio would also be key to creating a successful sequel. By that, I mean more lead time given to the production/post-production. X-Men: First Class had a ridiculously truncated production period (which may have worked for it, forcing Vaughn to go with his gut rather than overthink things). The first lot of advertising for this blockbuster summer release didn't even hit until early this year! Usually studios are pimping their tent-pole films a year or more in advance (case in point: next years The Avengers has not only had Comic-Con presence, it's already had a teaser trailer attached to Captain America and a recently released trailer). In addition, the promotional material for the film was largely crap (who can forget the truly awful posters with James McAvoy's floaty head in Xavier's wheelchair-bound crotch?), so that aspect would need to be revised too.
For the film itself my main concerns would be that it didn't get packed unnecessarily with new mutants. One of the (many, many) failings of X-Men 3 was the simple fact that it became overstuffed with X-cameos; what the hell was the point of Angel (aka Warren Worthington II) in that film? Compare that with the inclusion of Nightcrawler in X-Men 2 (and the removal of a couple of uselss mutants such as Sabretooth and Toad). Hopefully, with a sequel to First Class they can largely avoid this trap, as the mutant race is still in its infancy. That being said I also hope they don't ditch all the mutants from the first class either.
I would also hope Xavier isn't taken out in the early stages of the conflict (see X-Men 1 - 3). You can see why the filmmakers decided upon this for each film - his mental powers are pretty all-powerful and he's crippled so can't really get up to too much traditional action. However, I would hope Vaughn/Goldman can come up with some exciting, intriguing stuff the young Professor could get up to on the battlefield. While, with his telepathy, he could take on an overall strategic view it would also be great to see a guy in a wheelchair kicking ass, right?
And lastly, I would love to see a greater exploration of the Xavier/Raven/Erik dynamic. I thought the Xavier/Raven relationship was one of the more intriguing tweaks on the X-mythos in First Class and McAvoy and Fassbender are too good not to have bouncing off one another again. While the corruption of their friendship felt a bit rushed in an effor to make First Class fit in established continuity, I think writers like Vaughn and Goldman could still work some great mileage from it.
Ok. So, that was some random blogger's thoughts on a possible sequel to a modestly succesful prequel to a film franchise that may have a fourth sequel greenlit. Thanks for reading and, yes, I do have X-characters I'd love to see in a sequel but I'll leave that to list making sites.
*on a side-note: I understand the reasoning the studios have for loading their Blu-Ray releases with far more content than their DVDs for the same film, I'm just getting a little pissed at it. Even when I had a full-time job I didn't have the spare cash to fork out for a Blu-Ray player, let alone the HD capable TV I would need to receive the full advantage of the format.
Nice fan wank! I enjoyed the film and would definitely be up for sequels.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the rushing of the friendship dissolution - I think the film would have been fine if it ended with Xavier and Eric still friends.