To be honest, I’m kinda looking frward to this movie more than pretty much any other this Summer. Why? Well, because it’s the X-Men, that’s why.

Plus, Bryan Singer in the director’s chair and a cast that’s the envy of the civilized movie-watching world. Also, it just looks cool. Oh, and because this sound like a movie I’m gonna love:

The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original “X-Men” film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past, “X-Men: First Class,” in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future.

And yes, there’s a new trailer that’s just dropped today. Check it out after the break.

Look for X-Men: Days of Future Past to arrive in theaters on May 23.

After reading Kick-Ass 2, we waited for the firs trailer to come out for the movie to see if it lived up to the first one. While no one agreed with all of the changes made to the original Kick-Ass movie, Matthew Vaughn still did a great job working with the source material and made an entertaining adaptation.

How do you take something like Kick-Ass and make it more profane and obscene than having a little girl spewing expletives and hacking guys to death? Kick-Ass 2 apparently plans on doing it with even worse language and a horde of new costumed vigilantes.

This latest trailer gives a look at Jim Carrey in action as Colonel Stars and Stripes as well as his “wonderful pet.” We also get a further look at Red Myst who has reinvented himself with a very un-PG new name. We’re not sure if it all works or will end up a giant mess. Still, we’re interested enough to go see it.

Kick-Ass 2 returns Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Jeff Wadlow takes over for Vaughn as director.

Check out the trailer after the break.

Matthew Vaughn is a frustratingly great director. He is great in regards to his four feature films all being excellent, and he is frustrating because the man seems to take great pleasure in agreeing to do awesome projects and slipping away from them so close to production.

For those of you who don’t remember, Vaughn was the original choice to direct X-Men: The Last Stand after Bryan Singer jumped ship to his Superman snore-fest. Everything seemed great in the X-Universe until, at the last-minute, Vaughn dropped out and Fox was forced to call in Brett Ratner who has a history of bringing in projects on time and on budget. Now X3 had an extremely mixed reaction (I actually loved it, ask me to defend it to a hater some time for raucous debate) but one thing is certain, the film suffered from Vaughn’s departure.

Fast forward a handful of years and Vaughn finally made his X-Film and it ended up being the best of the franchise and single-handedly saved the struggling mutants from an impending cinematic reboot fate. Now we stand at the precipice of another X-Film production with Vaughn at the helm and, wouldn’t you know it, the man bows out.

One of the major highlights of the original Kick-Ass was the spot on performance by Nicolas Cage. His presence and manic energy brought something to the table the helped tie the film together. Unfortunately, spoiler warning, Nic Cage’s Big Daddy had to die and now the sequel needs to find some one to replace the hole he left.

Nic Cage is one mighty hole to fill, sure there are bigger and better actors, but so few can fill a void left by Cage at his finest. Well the casting gods have worked their magic and found someone who might just be up for the task, Jim Carrey. Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar recently took to his website to share his thoughts on the news:

…the energy Jim’s going to bring to Colonel Stars has me buzzing as much as Nic Cage with Big Daddy. You have to remember that Big Daddy’s role before Cage came on was a much more straightforward bad-ass. It was Nic who gave him that Adam West delivery and brought this incredible warmth to the character, especially with regard to Mindy.

Kick-Ass was a favorite for a lot of us here at The Flickcast, so this casting has caused a great deal of excitement. Which the film needs more of because even though they are bringing almost everyone else back for the film, director Matthew Vaughn will not be back. He will be to busy shooting X-Men: Days of Future Past, a statement that in and of itself also causes great excitement ’round these parts.

The X-Men film franchise has undergone a roller coaster of quality. Like any good roller coaster there are ups and downs, and some times wicked loops, and right now the franchise is about to hit one of those pretty big, gut churning upside down loops.

Matthew Vaughn’s First Class was welcome return to quality, but was a tad confusing in the continuity department. It was clearly a prequel, and Fox remains steadfast in the concept that the whole franchise fits together. So people have been wondering what, if any, steps the sequel will take to help bring things together.

Recently producer Bryan Singer confirmed the film’s title, which gives us a very good indication of where potential connective tissue can arise to properly connect First Class with the rest of the franchise. The new X-Men film will be known as X-Men: Days of Future Past.

For those uninitiated in X-Men lore, Days of Future Past refers to a story written by Chris Clarmont that revolves around an alternate, dystopian future and the attempts of one mutant from that time to travel backwards to stop an assassination. In other words, a perfect template for a film set in the past to tie in with a set of films that are perpetually set in the ‘not to distant future’.

What makes this even more perfect is that Days of Future Past doesn’t really need to be a perfect adaptation. The story is very malleable so the filmmakers have some wiggle room to change things as they see fit to make a good movie. A luxury Fox hasn’t had in the past when they tried to change the Galactus and Phoenix story arches.

Stay connected to The Flickcast as we will be on top of any new updates on the next X-Film in the coming months.

One of the surprise films of 2010 was Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass. Based on the Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. graphic novel, the movie told the tale of a high school nerd who decides to be a super hero, despite his lack of any super powers.

The movie was a loud, vulgar, and gory explosion of awesome and it left many wanting more. Unfortunately the movie landed director Vaughn a chance at the “big leagues” and he went on to make the best X-Men movie to-date. With the head honcho otherwise occupied, it looked as if Kick-Ass 2 might not see the light of day.

Well that turns out not to be the case. Deadline is reporting that Universal is in talks to make the sequel as early as this year”

Universal Pictures is in talks to make Kick-Ass 2, with Jeff Wadlow directing his script. I’m told the intention is to get the film in production by August. Discussions are just getting underway with such original cast members as Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and they will have to be signed to new deals to reprise their roles.

The Wadlow script was actually written at the request of Vaughn who wanted work on the sequel to happen while he was occupied in the X-Universe. At first the concept of losing Vaughn might seem harsh to the fans of the first film, but knowing that he was involved at some point early on, and gives his blessing now is an encouraging sign.

Writer Mark Millar, best known for the Kick-Ass and Wanted franchises, confirmed to the Daily Record that a slew of comic-to-film projects from his Millarworld production company will be going into production in this coming year.

Currently, Millar has a number of film projects being developed simultaneously, along with the monthly comics hitting the shelves. He stated that the fact his characters are being utilized for films is somewhat surprising, considering that the majority of comics-to-film adaptations that are being greenlit are based on characters that have been around for decades.

“We shoot Kick-Ass 2 and American Jesus this summer. Then Matthew (Vaughn) and I have Secret Service, which is a nerdy James Bond,” Mark said. Kick-Ass 2  is a follow up to the 2010 film which starred Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz.

Millar’s  American Jesus  will follow a kid who finds out he is the second coming of Jesus Christ. “If you are doing a movie about the return of Jesus as the Bible prophesied in the Book of Revelation, you have got to do it straight and treat it with dignity. I’m not taking the piss. It will be treated like a proper film,” said Millar of his post-apocolyptic thriller.

Those of you who caught last year’s break-out superhero film, X-Men: First Class, most likely developed a totally normal man-crush for a certain featured actor in the film. Believe it or not, it wasn’t for former heartthrobs James McAvoy or Kevin Bacon. The standout role in the film clearly went to Michael Fassbender, who played Eric “Call me Magneto” Lensherr.

Fassbender was slightly less known before the role, and is quickly becoming a big player in the competition for leading man in Hollywood. It seems that even First Class scribe Simon Kinberg agrees, and plans on expanding Fassbender’s story a bit more for the proposed sequel which he’s working on now. From MTV.

What’s what was so cool about the first one and what we want to continue. Magneto becomes the villain ultimately of the franchise but he’s a much more complicated character as a young man. He’s someone you sympathize with, you care about you root for even though might not necessarily agree with his methods, you understand his philosophy.

As a fan of all-things X-Men I was slightly worried about a movie featuring the origin of the group and the lives of the young and future X-Men. Turns out I really had nothing to worry about because X-Men: First Class was awesome and director Matthew Vaughn did a bang up job.

Now, the movie is soon to arrive on Blu-ray, which is the only way to see it. We’ve got all the info on this release for you below, straight from the official press release. Plus, read carefully (especially if you’re attending Comic-Con in San Diego) for a special prize commemorating the film’s arrival on Blu-ray.

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

The Ultimate Blu-ray and DVD Experience Arrives on First Class Friday, September 9th

BONUS OFFER: First 1,000 Fans to Pre-Order A Blu-ray or DVD

During San Diego Comic-Con Receive a Limited Edition X-MEN: FIRST CLASS T-Shirt!

Big summer super-hero movie scores carry with them a certain set of expectations. The broadness of the source material opens the doors for large and exciting music that should play with the imagination and enhance the very feel of the movie. Of course with great expectation comes great pressure and not all blockbuster scores can resonate beyond the background of the scene. The X-Men franchise has always been one to deliver the goods on the soundtrack, and the newest installment continues that trend nicely.

The franchise has yet to have a single recurring composer, and the new film doesn’t break tradition with Henry Jackman stepping up to the podium for this round. Jackman has not done much as yet in his career, but has written music with Hans Zimmer on some high profile projects and has two other scores later this year. As a relative unknown he is a wild card, it is hard to know what to expect.

Well, we now know that we should be expecting great things from Mr. Jackman. The score for X-Men: First Class is a solid and often rousing musical experience. One that stands shoulder to shoulder with most super-hero scores of the past decade. It might lack the bombast of Spider-Man or the sheer scope of X-Men 3, but it packs a serious punch and excels in all the right places.

For those keeping count, X-Men: First Class is the fifth film in the X-Men series and, chronologically, the first. It opens with the same sequence of a young Erik Lensherr in a Nazi concentration camp, wrenched from his parents and twisting the metal gates, as in the original X-Men film, but expands on the events immediately following: Erik is brought before Nazi scientist Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), who tries to harness Erik’s gift by promptly shooting his mother. Across the world, a young Charles Xavier, possessing the gift of mind-reading, catches the shapeshifter Mystique breaking into his family mansion.

Fast-forward to 20-some years later, it’s 1962 and Charles (now played by James McAvoy) is a prominent biologist at Oxford whose work focuses on genetic mutation; Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is working as a waitress and posing as Xavier’s sister; Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is hunting down the Nazi scientists who killed his family; and Shaw is now leading a terrorist organization known as the Hellfire Club, aided by his henchmen Emma Frost (January Jones), who also has the power to read minds as well as morph into a sexy diamond, and the demonic-looking Azazel (Jason Flyming), who can teleport as well as impale victims on his pointy tail; finally, there’s Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne), a CIA agent who’s hunting down Shaw.

MacTaggert’s investigation uncovers Shaw and his merry band of mutants, which leads her to team up with Xavier and take the villains on aboard Shaw’s yacht, right in step with Lensherr. Shaw escapes, and MacTaggert, Xavier, and Lensherr head back to the CIA, where the three set up a mutant task force (the gathering of which is one of the movie’s best scenes) to save the world.

While we’re only 8 days away from Fox’s big summer blockbuster X-Men: First Class and we’ve seen almost all of the film from clips circulating the web. With that, we’ve got some awesome new clips for you to drool over.

For those who still haven’t heard about the details of the film, here’s the official synopsis.

X-MEN FIRST CLASS charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time.

Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to prevent nuclear Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

With a full cast and Kick-Ass’s driver Matthew Vaughn directing the film, we expect some pretty big results from this 60’s style prequel. Check out the clips after the jump and catch First Class in theaters on June 3rd.