James McAvoy is the Telepathic Leader and Founder of the Team of Mutants Known as 'X-Men'

Giving a good indication of just how young Matthew Vaughn plans to go with his X-Men prequel First Academy, the 31-year-old wide-eyed babyface of James McAvoy has been cast as the sage leader of the X-Men, Professor X. The Hollywood Reporter continues:

According to Fox, “First Class” will “chart the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. 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.”

Patrick Stewart played the character, a bald-headed, wheelchair-bound telepath, in the original "X-Men" trilogy. Fox did not reveal if McAvoy will sport a follicle-free pate.

Can I assume we'll be seeing a final showdown that sees Xavier facing the magnetism-wielding Elijah Wood?

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