X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner said we'd be finding out "soon" about more casting updates for X-Men: First Class and she wasn't kidding. With the X-Men prequel set to being production in August and some key characters cast already, we're just starting to see producer Bryan Singer and director Matthew Vaughn fill out the ranks of the X-Men: First Class roster.
The latest character about to be confirmed is that of Emma Frost (aka. the White Queen) who once fought against the X-Men but later joined them. Emma Frost is a main character in the current X-Men comics and she was mistreated included in last summer's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, leading to the obvious inclusion of her character in X-Men: First Class.
The latest rumor about casting Emma Frost involved British actress Rosamund Pike although this raised some confusion due to her age of 31. Emma Frost, along with the other X-Men team members are meant to be in their late teenage years and in the Wolverine flick, Frost was depicted as being the same or of similar age as Cyclops. Luckily, Pike was later reported to be playing the character of Moira MacTaggert, a scientist and early love interest of Professor X.
Now comes news that Alice Eve, once a candidate for the lead female role in Marvel Studios' The First Avenger: Captain America, is in negotiations to play Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class. At 28, Eve is only 3 years younger than Rosamund Pike, but she sure has more of that Emma Frost look. Frost, after all, is supposed to be not only one of the "hottest" X-Men characters, but one of the hottest among all comic book characters ever, so it's quite a character to live up to.
As for the character's abilities, Emma Frost is a telepath not unlike Cyclops' other love interest, Jean Grey, but she also has the ability to turn her skin into diamonds, becoming nearly invulnerable when she needs to during combat. Telepathic love triangle, anyone?
Eve had a breakthrough role in this year's She's Out of My League and she represents another strong addition to the excitement-generating cast which already includes James McAvoy as Professor X, Ben Walker as Beast and most recently, Michael Fassbender as Magneto.
I'm excited to find out who Singer and Vaughn decide on to play Cyclops and Jean Grey and we're all curious as to what other characters will make up the X-Men roster for the prequel.
Is this another solid casting addition in your eyes? What other X-Characters do you think should be included in First Class?
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X-Men: First Class opens June 3, 2011.
Source: Deadline
Image edited from art by J. Scott Campbell