Twilight’s Edi Gathegi Cast As Darwin In X-Men: First Class
TwilightvampireEdi Gathegihas signed on to join the cast ofMatthew Vaughn’sX-Men: First Class, according toDeadline. Edi will be playing the mutant named Darwin, who was originally created by writerEd Brubakerand artistPete Woods. He first appeared in X-Men: Deadly Genesis #2, and according to Marvel’s reference website, has “limitless mutation abilities being in a state of continual reaction, adapting to whatever his current situation demands.”
From Wikipedia, here is a look at the character’s comic backstory:
After birth, Darwin’s powers of self-protection and continuous circumstantial evolution made his mother hate him. The half-Black, half-Latino Darwin[1] was found by some scientists who experimented on Darwin, bringing him to the attention of the public. He was found by Moira MacTaggert and recruited as one of her “fosters.” He was in the first team, along with Kid Vulcan, Petra, and Sway to attempt to rescue the X-Men from Krakoa. While Petra and Sway were killed by Krakoa, Darwin and Vulcan were swallowed in the earth by a combination of Sway and Petra’s dying powers. Darwin absorbed the remains of the two girls and then converted himself into energy to fuse together with Vulcan. This gave Vulcan the powers of Darwin, Petra, and Sway. Rachel Summers managed to expel Darwin’s presence from Vulcan, who then took off for space. While dealing with the shocking revelations of the truth about Krakoa and Vulcan, Beast found out that Darwin was still in fact alive. He was brought back to the Institute, where Beast determined Darwin is now a being of pure energy. While not conscious, he was shown to still have brain activity and was still alive, located at the X-Mansion. Once separated from Vulcan, Darwin’s abilities caused him to develop a physical form once more.
Gathegi got his start on Crank playing “Haitian Cabbie”, and had a 7-episode run on House M.D. He later appeared in Death Sentence, Gone Baby Gone, before playing the evil vampire Laurent in Twilight and New Moon.
Previously:
In case you’re confused, here is the official casting thus far:
And here is a list of the unconfirmed casting rumors:
Matthew Vaughnbeat out eight directors to take the helm. Bryan Singer was originally attached to return to the X-Men franchise to helm this new film, but his commitment to Jack The Giant Killer at Warner Broswill prevent him from directing. Singer’s treatment was a Str Trek-style reboot/prequel, which will focus on “the formative years of Xavier and Magneto, and the formation of the school and where there [sic] relationship took a wrong turn.” Singer has previouslyadmittedthat First Class would “probably utilize some of the [planned/announced X-Men Origins:] Magneto story because it deals with a young Magneto,” and that “it might supersede” that plan because this new movie would explore “that relationship between a young energetic professor and a disenfranchised victim of the Holocaust.”
Here is the official plot synopsis:
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, following the classic Marvel mythology, charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Erik 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 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.
The day afterJamie Mosshanded in his first draft, Fox head Tom Rothman fast-tracked the project. It was at this moment that Warner Bros informed Singer that they would not delay the production of Jack and the Giant Killer. Singer will still produce the project. I’ve heard the script is solid, and everyone who has read it is excited to make it. Fox is scouting locations in West Michigan. The film is set to go into production this Summer, and the studio has set a June 3rd 2011 release date.
