James McAvoy uses his brain as Professor X in X-Men: First Class

As was hinted when Bryan Singer’s return to the X-MEN franchise was announced (now in a producer capacity), X-MEN: FIRST CLASS may be more of a prequel to Professor X/Magneto than the mutant-powered team itself.

So naturally it would need a pair of strong actors to go head-to-magnetism, and it’s halfway there: James McAvoy has signed on to play the world’s most powerful mutant telepath, Charles Xavier.

McAvoy won’t just get to relax in a wheelchair and look like he’s concentrating really hard, since the story takes place in the days before the event that caused his physical disability. (It’s probably still a vacation compared to the merciless pummeling McAvoy endured in his last big-screen comic adaptation, WANTED). It’s unknown if he’ll showcase a shiny scalp for the flick.

With one of the ostensible leads found (and the production under the gun to make a June 3, 2011 release), expect an appropriate pre-Magneto to be announced soon, along with the students attending Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngers.

Matthew Vaughn (KICK-ASS) is directing, and has been working with his writing partner Jane Goldman on the screenplay (based on Singer’s story outline). The plot rundown: Before Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were archenemies, they were the closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.