New X-Men Film in the Works for 2011 - A Return to Basics?

A new X-Men film is in the works for 2011 with an impressive rumored cast. Alice Eve will play Emma Frost with James McAvoy as Professor X. This film will be a prequel and will take place before the events established before the original three movies and probably after the events in Wolverine.



The first two X-Men films were instant classics and very ground breaking when it came to comic book films. The focus on these characters was amazing. These were people we were dealing with who just happen to have powers. Their struggle for mutant rights at the fore front mirrored the rights minorities had to fight for, most importantly gay rights. It didn't hurt that openly gay director Bryan Singer was helming these first two films. Many scenes mirrored that of experiences that the gay community are all too familiar with: Wolverine getting told to leave a bar because they don't want his kind there, Iceman's "coming out" scene with his family, the constant defending oneself against prejudice. These first two films were very multi-layered and very powerful.

Next up was X-Men: The Last Stand; the last X-Men film in 2006. No doubt it left some fans disappointed: A new director took charge and that came with new directions that fans of the first two movies were not too sure of. Contract negotiations with the actors affected how the characters interacted; sometimes it was for the best, sometimes for the worse. The Phoenix Storyline, epic in the comics and the animated series, was now a B story to the film, taking a backseat to the Gifted storyline involving a cure for mutants. The action scenes took over and it was hard to differentiate this movie from any other typical super hero film. It wasn't completely hopeless though. Halle Barry as Storm finally got to shine and I felt Storm was finally Storm. Ellen Page (who would later play the title character in Juno) was introduced as Kitty Pryde and became an instant fan favorite.

The Wolverine spin-off was a few steps in the right direction - it didn't hurt that Hugh Jackman was naked for a nice part of it - and introduced some characters that X-Men fans have been wanting to see in the film franchise for awhile now. In this one movie we get Deadpool, Gambit AND Emma Frost. It's success meant that more X-type movies could be made.

Aside from the new X-Men movie in 2011, Wolverine might be getting a sequel with Deadpool getting his own spin-off too. For now, X-Men: First Class is next for our favorite mutants. A lot of new cast members playing younger versions of established characters, so no Halle Barry or Ellen Page sadly, but I hope it means more of a return to the character driven action of Bryan Singer's first two X-Men films.