"I've always wanted to do a movie set in the 60s. The difference is that now I have experience. On X3 [which he was at one point set to direct] it was cast and I just had to tell the story.

Here we have to recast every role, recreate the 60s - which is not easy - and redesign everything. We've been playing catch-up, but it's working."

He also explains why he went for Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr (aka Magneto) and James McAvoy as Charles Xavier: "I wasn't trying to cast the young Patrick [Stewart] or Ian [McKellen]. I was trying to cast the young Professor X and Magneto; what those characters are in my mind. For me, I'm trying to make a movie that stands on its own two feet."

Hinting at follow-ups (Fox is likely setting its sights on a trilogy), he adds: "Hopefully there'll be a lot more of this version of the franchise."


Original Sources are here