Registration is now open for X-MEN: FIRST CLASS

So we know at one point that X-Men 2, 3 and The Incredible Hulk scribe Zak Penn had been writing or planning to write a Young X-Men movie but I have no idea what stage that project is in right now. 20th Century Fox doesn't seem to have a clear idea of just how they want to proceed with the X-Men series, with X-Men Origins: Magneto and a potential X-Men 4 presumably on hold until the results from X-Men Origins: Wolverine's opening weekend next May come through. Or maybe not.

Coming Soon have spotted a note on the Production Weekly site which name drops X-Men: First Class - not a title I've heard before. It turns out it's the same name used in an eight-issue mini-series which ran September 2006 till April 2007 from writer Jeff Parker and penciller Roger Cruz...

For millions of years, mankind's place on Earth was unchallenged €“ until five young people paved the way for a new kind of human. While students at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman taught the world what it meant to be X-Men. These are the hidden stories of the team that laid the foundation of a mutant dynasty!

Now is this the same project as the Zak Penn project, or is this something completely different? A young Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Beast and Iceman? Would that interest anyone? After X-Men 3: The Last Stand - why the hell not put the word out to the bigger writers in Hollywood, or to the big fans of the series, offer the original stars all they want to return (though Halle Berry is not worth it and her absence is not major) and weave new characters from Wolverine such as Deadpool and Gambit into the mix. With SOOOOO many X-Men characters in it's mythology, this is one series that should easily have made six movies... without any trouble before the need for spin-off's. Prequels are for the most part boring... please don't greenlit this picture!