Professor X

Professor Charles Francis Xavier (also known as Professor X) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and is the founder and leader of the X-Men. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963).

Xavier is a member of a subspecies of humans known as mutants who are born with superhuman abilities. The founder of the X-Men, he himself is an exceptionally powerful telepath who can read and control minds of others. While running a private school in upstate New York in order to both shelter and train mutants from around the globe, Xavier also fights to serve the greater good by promoting peaceful coexistence and equality between humans and mutants in a world where often zealous anti-mutant bigotry is widespread.

Throughout much of the character's history in comics, Xavier is a paraplegic variously confined to either a wheelchair or a form of personal hovercraft. One of the world's most powerful telepathic mutant minds, Xavier is also something of a scientific genius, having earned Ph.Ds in genetics, biophysics, psychology, and anthropology, as well as an M.D. in psychiatry. He's put his combined talents to use by serving as a leading authority on genetics, mutations, and psionic powers. Furthermore, he has shown noteworthy talents in devising equipment to greatly enhance psionic powers. Xavier is perhaps best known in this regard for the creation of a device called Cerebro, a technology that serves to detect and track those individuals possessing the mutant gene, at the same time greatly expanding the gifts of those with existing psionic abilities.

First class

First class (or 1st class, Firstclass) generally implies a high level of service, importance or quality. Specific uses of the term include:

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Film

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X-Men: First Class

X-Men: First Class is a 2011 American science fiction superhero film, based on the X-Men characters appearing in Marvel Comics. It is the fifth installment in the X-Men film series. It serves as a prequel of the franchise. The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn and produced by Bryan Singer. The story is set primarily in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and focuses on the relationship between Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lensherr / Magneto (Michael Fassbender), and the origin of their groups—the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, respectively, as they deal with the Hellfire Club led by Sebastian Shaw, who is bent on world domination. The film also stars Rose Byrne, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones, Nicholas Hoult, Oliver Platt, Jason Flemyng, Lucas Till, Edi Gathegi, and Kevin Bacon.

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner first thought of a prequel based on the young X-Men during the production of X2, and later producer Simon Kinberg suggested to 20th Century Fox an adaptation of the comic series X-Men: First Class, though the film does not follow the comic closely. Singer, who had directed both X-Men and X2, became involved with the project in 2009, but he could only produce and co-write First Class due to other projects. Matthew Vaughn, who was previously attached to both X-Men: The Last Stand and Thor, became the director, and also wrote the final script with his writing partner Jane Goldman. First Class overtook a planned Magneto prequel that entered development hell and the Writer's Guild of America arbitration gave a story credit to Magneto writer Sheldon Turner.

X-Men

The X-Men are a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby, the characters first appeared in The X-Men #1 (September 1963). They are among the most recognizable and successful intellectual properties of Marvel Comics, appearing in numerous books, television shows, films, and video games.

The X-Men are mutants, a subspecies of humans who are born with superhuman abilities. The X-Men fight for peace and equality between normal humans and mutants in a world where antimutant bigotry is fierce and widespread. They are led by Charles Xavier, also known as Professor X, a powerful mutant telepath who can control and read minds. Their archenemy is Magneto, a powerful mutant with the ability to generate and control magnetic fields. Professor X and Magneto have opposing views and philosophies regarding the relationship between mutants and humans. While Professor X works towards peace and understanding between mutants and humans, Magneto views humans as a threat and believes in taking an aggressive approach against them, though he has found himself working alongside the X-Men from time to time.

James McAvoy

James McAvoy (/ˈmækəvɔɪ/; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor. He made his acting début as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until 2003, when his feature film career began and he continued to work in both areas from then on. His notable television work includes the drama show State of Play, the adult comedy-drama Shameless, and the science fiction show Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. Besides screen acting, McAvoy has performed in several West End productions, receiving three nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor. He has also done voice work for animated films including Gnomeo & Juliet and Arthur Christmas (both 2011).

In 2003, McAvoy appeared in a lead role in Bollywood Queen, a British Indian take on the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, directed by Jeremy Wooding. This was followed by a supporting role, the faun Mr. Tumnus, in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005). His performance in Kevin Macdonald's drama The Last King of Scotland (2006) garnered him several award nominations. The critically acclaimed romantic drama war film Atonement (2007) earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second BAFTA nomination. He appeared opposite Angelina Jolie as a newly trained assassin in the action thriller Wanted (2008).