Kevin Bacon Wants To Play His X-Men: First Class Mutant In The MCU

Kevin Bacon expresses his desire to play his X-Men: First Class mutant, Sebastian Shaw, in the MCU. Released in 2011, X-Men: First Class was a prequel and reboot of 20th Century Fox's main X-Men films following the original trilogy's conclusion, X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006. The film proved to be a massive success both critically and commercially as it garnered over $350 million at the box office and spawned three additional films.

X-Men: First Class saw Bacon play the lead villain opposite James McAvoy as the telepathic X-Men leader, Professor X, Jennifer Lawrence as his shapeshifting foster sister, Raven/Mystique, and Michael Fassbender as the magnetic field manipulator, Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto. Shaw, as a doctor at a Nazi concentration camp, was instrumental in manifesting Erik's powers through experiments. This experience fueled Erik's quest for vengeance against Shaw, the leader of the secret society of mutants known as the Hellfire Club. However, Shaw proved a powerful foe as his mutant powers of absorbing kinetic energy had kept him young and strong.

In a recent interview with Inverse, Bacon revealed that he would like to reprise his X-Men: First Class role as Shaw in the MCU. The star understands that he was once part of a separate Marvel universe, and realizes that due to the use of the multiverse, Shaw has an opportunity to make an appearance in the MCU. Read what Bacon had to say below.

“I was in one side of the Marvel Universe. Do I still have an opportunity to get into the other side? It's a multiverse, right? I love that stuff.”

Magneto kills Sebastian Shaw in X-Men First Class

Although Shaw existed in an entirely different Marvel universe entirely, Bacon understands that through the use of the MCU's current usage of the multiverse concept in its latest films, there is a possibility for the character's return, even though Shaw died at the end of X-Men: First Class. WandaVision toyed with idea of pulling characters from a different franchise when Evan Peters, Fox's Quicksilver, was cast to replace Aaron Taylor-Johnson's version of the character. However, Peters' appearance in WandaVision ended up being a different character entirely. However, Spider-Man: No Way Home proved that including characters from a separate studio's franchise could not only be done, it could be done well. And thanks to Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox, the MCU now has access to the rights of characters previously owned by Fox.

As the MCU has proven, Shaw's return to the screen is entirely plausible, regardless of the character's fate at the end of the X-Men: First Class. Spider-Man: No Way Home featured Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), and Electro (Jamie Foxx), all killed at the end of their respective Spider-Man films. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also properly introduced an X-Men character, Professor X played by Patrick Stewart who originally portrayed the character in four of the seven main X-Men films. However, the version in the Doctor Strange sequel was not the same from the Fox films. Although X-Men: First Class' sadistic mutant, Shaw, will likely not return to the big screen anytime soon, so far the MCU has proven that anything is possible.

Next: Endgame Theory Explains How Mutants Can Logically Fit Into The MCU

Source: Inverse