IGN had an opportunity to speak with director Matthew Vaughn about this week’s DVD and Blu-ray release of Kick-Ass, but of course we couldn’t resist getting in some questions about his next project, X-Men: First Class.
Vaughn, speaking on the phone from Pinewood Studios in London, where he’s in pre-production on the film, said that he hopes to follow the model of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, paying homage to the original source material, while taking it in a new direction with a fresh, young cast.
“Obviously [Abrams] couldn’t make everyone happy with that one, but he did a pretty good job,” Vaughn said. “He made a fantastically exciting reinvention of that world, with those great characters. And I think there will be comparisons a little bit with X-Men: First Class. It’s very similar, in a way. But we’re doing some cool stuff in this movie, some really cool stuff that you haven’t seen before.”
While Vaughn was guarded about revealing any details of the story, as conceived by former X-Men director Bryan Singer, it does sound as though it might play a bit with the canon timeline, just as Star Trek did.
“The story that Bryan Singer came up with is very, very smart,” Vaughn said. “It’s very clever when you see how he has integrated the characters into the time period where the film is set. I’ll put it that way. I just don’t want to give it away. … It’s a very clever way of getting these characters involved in recent history, in recent world events.”
Vaughn wouldn’t go so far as to say that the story is completely original and not based on the comics, but he doesn’t worry about criticism from die-hard fans about the faithfulness of the adaptation. “There’s always that risk, but I think that when they see the film they will be very excited about the direction that we’ve chosen.”
The director also talked about the preparation the cast members are doing to get ready for filming, which begins later this month.
“The quality of the actors that we’ve got in these roles is truly world class,” Vaughn said. “James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are really working well together. We’re about to start a rehearsal period before the shoot and they are coming up with some great ideas. They really care very deeply about their characters and how they interact in the film. And the younger cast members as well, the other mutants, they’re really incredibly talented. And it’s going to be a pleasure to work with them. It really is. They’re all very, very committed as well. They’re training every day for several hours. Literally, right now they’re training with the stunt teams and they’re all taking their diets very seriously and exercising a lot and working very, very hard. It’s very exciting to see it come together.”
