Pretty faces aren’t the only things consuming all the X-Men: First Class casting buzz--maybes and question marks are too. Other than the old generation of mutants, Michael Fassbender as Magneto and James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, none of the casting news so far can be confirmed. Does Kick-Ass’ Aaron Johnson have a role in the film? Is Rosamund Pike playing Moira MacTaggert? What about Amber Heard? Is she confirmed to play Mystique? Have Alice Eve’s talks to take the role of Emma Frost concluded? And what about Caleb Landry Jones? Is he officially Banshee?
All of those questions are still unanswered, but at least we do have one done deal to report; too bad it’s a no go for First Class. As reported by Showbiz 411, Benjamin Walker is taking a pass on a part in the film to reprise his role as Andrew Jackson in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson when the show moves to Broadway. Apparently Walker has been back and forth between the two projects for quite a while now and actually signed a deal to play Beast in the film. But now he’s opting out and it might have something to do with Fox’s hopes to turn X-Men: First Class into a Twilight-like production.
The article proposes that due to Fox’s latest missteps – Knight and Day, The A-Team and Marmaduke – the suits are growing concerned and are ready to do whatever it takes to make sure First Class is done right. For them, that means casting a whole bunch of Taylor Lautners. Showbiz 411 even claims the studio checked Lautner’s availability.
Every review of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson I’ve come across praises Walker’s performance and Showbiz 411 goes as far as to say he’s a shoo-in for a Tony nomination next spring. That’s sounding like much more of a sure thing than X-Men: First Class, so perhaps it was the right choice for Walker.
