January Jones Cast as Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class! Full Cast Update!

by Aaron Einhorn
It’s been awhile since we looked at the cast for X-Men: First Class, so with the host of casting announcements made yesterday, it seems like it’s time. Last night, Deadline broke the news that January Jones had secured the role of Emma Frost, a role originally assigned to Alice Eve. They also announced that Zoe Kravitz would play Angel (a curious casting choice, given that Kravitz is a woman), Bill Milner would play a younger version of Magneto, and Morgan Lily will be playing a younger version of Raven, aka, Mystique.

So, let’s look at that assembled cast list, shall we?

• January Jones – Emma Frost
• Zoe Kravitz – Angel
• Jason Flemyng – Azazel (the father to Nightcrawler)
• Bill Milner – Younger Magneto
• Michael Fassbender – Magneto-who-isn’t-that-young-but-isn’t-played-by-Sir Ian McKellan
• Morgan Lily – Young Raven
• Jennifer Lawrence – Mystique
• James McAvoy – Charles Xavier
• Rose Byrne – Moira MacTaggert
• Nicholas Hoult – Hank McCoy/The Beast
• Caleb Landry Jones – Sean Cassidy/Banshee
• Lucas Till – Alex Summers/Havoc
• Edi Gathegi – Darwin
• Kevin Bacon – Unknown villain, possibly Mr. Sinister
• Oliver Platt – The Man in Black (but presumably not Johnny Cash)

I’m sorry, but does anyone not think this is going to be a mess? I’m trying to be hopeful. I’ve liked director Matthew Vaughn’s other works, and I’m excited to see Bryan Singer taking a hand back in the X-Men franchise. But the cast does not engender hope. First off, there are a ton of minor mutant characters who are of limited interest to long-time fans, and none of the students other than Beast actually represents the earliest students of Xavier’s – unless of course Zoe Kravitz is actually Storm instead of Angel, which is currently a popular theory across the internet.

In any case, we should know more soon, since X-Men: First Class begins filming next week.

(Source: Deadline)