Matthew Vaughn Confirmed to Direct Sequel to X-Men: First Class
Posted 01.31.12 by BrentJS
In modern Hollywood, where sequels are the norm and studios are constantly on the lookout for that next big tentpole franchise, it's become customary for actors to sign multi-picture deals — Chris Evans signed a whopping six-picture deal to portray Captain America in Marvel Studios movies. However, directors are rarely afforded the same treatment because, as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo director David Fincher puts it, studios want to make sure the director behaves during the filming of the first movie.
While director Matthew Vaughn was typical in that he was only signed by 20th Century Fox to direct one X-Men movie, he apparently behaved enough during the filming of X-Men: First Class that the studio wants him to come back for another go-round as mutant maestro. In a statement announcing that Fox has "re-upped" Emma Watts as President of Production in a "multi-year deal that will keep her in the post through 2015," it was revealed that Vaughn will return to direct the sequel to X-Men: First Class that Simon Kinberg is writing and Bryan Singer will produce.
The idea of Vaughn returning to direct a sequel to First Class isn't that novel: X-producer Lauren Shuler Donner said in September of last year that she
"definitely" wanted Vaughn back if a sequel was going to be made and he has been talking about his plans for a sequel since before the first movie opened in theaters. Would a sequel see the franchise fast-forward to the present or continue its march through history? While Singer said that he didn't think that "every movie has to be a history lesson," Vaughn revealed back in May that he would like to do more of the history-rich storytelling that made the first movie stand out from the crowd of summer superhero movies.
I thought it would be fun to open with the Kennedy Assassination, and we reveal that the magic bullet was controlled by Magneto [Michael Fassbender]. That would explain the physics of it, and we see that he's pissed off because Kennedy took all the credit for saving the world and mutants weren't even mentioned. And we could go from there, and I've got some fun ideas about what other mutants to bring in.
While Vaughn's "Second Class" of mutants will likely include new additions to the roster to make up for those that died or defected in First Class — we would love to see him put Sunspot back on the team after cutting him from the first movie — he teased last year that he may only bring in one new mutant, a powerful mutant to serve as "nemesis" to Magneto now that Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) is in a wheelchair. If that ends up being the case, we're hoping that Vaughn was referring to a powerful evil mutant like Mr. Sinister or Apocalypse, someone who could serve as an even greater threat than Magneto himself, which would force Xavier and Magneto to temporarily put aside their differences and team up again for the greater good of mutantkind.