James McAvoy talks X-MEN: FIRST CLASS; refers to it as "a love story"

James McAvoy talked to the LA Times about his role as a young Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class opening in theaters on June 3.  

Here is what McAvoy had to say about he and Michael Fassbender (Magneto) filling the roles of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen:

"I don’t think about it too much. This isn’t a reboot, so I’m not replacing anyone, in which case you might want to try to be as different as possible and stay away from what has been done before. This is a prequel, so I’m the same character, just younger, but the challenge for me — and for Michael — is to show the same person in a different place in their life, to show someone before they’re this bad guy, before they’re this saint. Charles wasn’t always a … monk, this selfless, sexless monk that he becomes."

Here is what McAvoy had to say when asked about the physics of the friendship between Charles and Erick:

"It’s kind of a love story, like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” which, really, was a love story between two men. This is the first time in their lives they’ve met someone who is an equal of sorts, someone who understands them and can connect and push them too. Especially Charles, he’s fascinated with Erik and his potential. For Erik, Charles is the first person he’s trusted to really tell about his past and the first person to understand the horrible things he’s been through."

McAvoy goes on to talk about his take on playing Xavier:

"Charles is caught up in himself. He enjoys success and is proud, and he’s not the selfless person that he becomes. You look at the relationship with Raven – who becomes Mystique – and you examine that relationship and the way he treats her like a living experiment. She’s an assistant to him and he cares for her, but there’s his ego and condescending big-brother attitude as well. You see it in the way he treats the others. In the “later” movies, he’s exorcised that from his personality. For me, trying to keep that ego as an underpinning of the character is important."

Here is what McAvoy said about Matthew Vaughn's prior statement that he was "wringing all the life out the superhero genre":

"All fashions go around. At some point, the audience taste and stamina might be less, and then you see the cycle of fashion and it goes away for a while. I look at the Christian Balemovies, the Batman films, and that shows you that superhero movies don’t just have to be about men in tights. I think ‘The Dark Knight’ was really quite interesting, and if you can make movies that are that interesting, it sort of goes beyond fashion. You just try to be as good as you can and try not to get fired. Seriously, that’s a real threat with these superhero movies.  People get fired all the time, and I don’t want to lose my job."

 His comments of the film being a love story do make sense. I am looking forward to seeing this film and to seeing a more substantial trailer.

What are your thoughts on this news?