X-Men: First Class

The 2011 American superhero film directed by Matthew Vaughn serves as a prequel to the previous installments of the franchise and is based on Marvel Comics. Set in 1962, it chronicles the origins of Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), who later become known as Professor X and Magneto. The film begins with Erik's childhood in a Nazi concentration camp, where he first manifests his ability to manipulate metal. His mother is killed by Dr. Klaus Schmidt, later known as Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), fueling Erik's desire for revenge. Simultaneously, young Charles meets Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), a shape-shifting mutant, and invites her to live with him as his sister. In 1962, Erik hunts Shaw, while Charles earns his doctorate and collaborates with the CIA to counter the threat posed by Shaw and his team of mutants: Emma Frost (January Jones), Azazel (Jason Flemyng), and Riptide (Álex González). Charles and Erik join forces and begin recruiting a team of young mutants, including Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult), Sean Cassidy (Caleb Landry Jones), Alex Summers (Lucas Till), and Armando Muñoz (Edi Gathegi). They train to stop Shaw, who plans to incite a nuclear war between the US and the USSR by placing missiles in Cuba. In the film's climax, Erik kills Shaw, but his ideological differences with Charles lead to their separation. Erik becomes Magneto and forms his own brotherhood of mutants, while Charles establishes a school for gifted youngsters. The film explores themes of friendship, betrayal, and the struggle for peaceful coexistence between mutants and humans.