Can X-Men: First Class Revive the X-Men Franchise?

The release of X-Men in 2000 was one of the most important events in comic book movie history. Never before had a superhero flick taken the source material so seriously. In this case, it did it by focusing on the metaphor of prejudice that has been the driving force of X-Men comics for years - and the series just got better from there.

...well, until 2009.

While X-Men: The Last Stand didn't quite live up to all of the high expectations set by its predecessor, X2: X-Men United, the series hit its first serious misstep with the prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It's a shame, as Wolverine has one of the best back stories in comics and excelled in the role, defining it on the big screen, but the film completely missed the mark. It was too short, too cluttered with mutant cameos, lost sight of the "realism" approach that made Bryan Singer's X-movies so effective and, well, for a movie about a man with surgically-implanted adamantium claws and the anger issues to go with them, it was far too nice.

All is not lost for that character's film future, luckily. Another film titled The Wolverine is set to be directed by David Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream), still starring Jackson and largely ignoring the prior prequel. Chronicling Wolverine's background in Japan, Logan's individual movie career is definitely looking up again.

But what about the actual X-Men themselves?

X-Men: First Class, produced by Bryan Singer and directed by Matthew Vaughn (who almost directed X-Men: The Last Stand), will explain the beginning of the "first" X-Men team and the famous fall out of best friends (and ideological opposites) Charles Xavier and Magneto. The story will be set during the 1960's, imitating the costumes and styles of that era, while using the real-life Civil Rights Movement as a backdrop.

This aspect is both a divergence from the comics as well as a loving tribute to them - and perhaps the most interesting aspect of the movie. First off, the things that might raise comic geeks' eyebrows about the time setting is that it basically establishes a first X-Men team that precludes characters like Cyclops and Jean Grey from appearing, due to their younger ages. Cyclops is perhaps the hardest loss for the fans; though the comic book Cyclops could be seen in many ways as the central figure in the team, the movies have largely wasted him.

Setting the movie in the 60's, though, allows for many interesting possibilities aside from just a fresh start. It pays tribute to the fact that the X-Men were first created in the 60's, in a way bringing them back to their roots. In addition, it's an even more in depth tribute to have the film revolve around the Civil Rights Movement. Besides that the X-Men have always been about prejudice, it's not hard to see that Stan Lee based the character of Xavier on Martin Luther King Jr., and Magneto on Malcolm X. Since the story will focus on the two parting ways, this parallel will give the already epic implications of their separate philosophies a bit of historical weight.

So will X-Men: First Class revive the series and bring it back to its roots? All will be clear this year, but for right now, the odds are looking good.