10 Best Opening Scenes From Movie Prequels

Repeating the powerful visual of a young Erik Lehnsherr unleashing his ability to manipulate metal on a barbed-wire fence upon being separated from his family in 2000's first live-action X-Men outing, Matthew Vaughn's 2014 prequel decided that if it isn't broke, don't bother trying to fix it.

The impactful sight of the soon-to-be Magneto fighting with all he has to keep his parents from being sent to their deaths in Auschwitz back in 1944 is given a slight additional stinger, though. Erik is ultimately forced to witness his mother be gunned down by Nazi scientist Klaus Schmidt, with this violent act leading to an even more distressing magnetic display of raw emotion.

In-between those first Magneto glimpses, First Class also opts to jump on over to Westchester, New York.

Here, Lehnsherr's devastating reveal of his gifts is accompanied by a first look at a young Charles Xavier and Raven. Only what threatens to devolve into yet another traumatic experience soon turns into a rather charming first encounter between the pair, as Charles sees through the eventual Mystique's disguise and offers the lost soul refuge in his lavish home.

In depicting the hugely contrasting worlds both highly influential figures take their first mutant steps in, fans were given a deeper look at the early life events that would ultimately influence the eventual pals' many collisions in the future.