According to new reports, 20th Century Fox is in final negotiations with Matthew Vaughn to direct the studio's developing "X-Men: First Class", based on a treatment by Bryan Singer ("Superman Returns").
The news follows Vaughn's critically praised, box office hit "Kick-Ass", that made inroads with fanboys for its subversive humor and comic book smarts, produced, directed and self-financed by Vaughn's own Marv Films after every major studio turned him down.
Vaughn previously walked away from a Fox studio deal after negotiations bogged down to direct the Vancouver-lensed "X-Men: The Last Stand", with director Brett Ratner ("Rush Hour") parachuted in at the last minute to helm the third film in the 'mutant mayhem' movie franchise.
Marvel Comics' "X-Men: First Class", featuring 'tomorrow's brightest' superheroes when they were teens, originally debuted as an eight-issue limited series, September 2006 to April 2007, written by Jeff Parker/illustrated by Roger Cruz, followed by a special issue May 2007 and monthly series , June 2007 using the same creative team.
Marvel superhero characters appearing in the series include 'Angel', 'Beast', 'Cyclops', 'Iceman', 'Jean Grey' and 'Professor X'.
"X-Men: First Class" will focus on the back-story of the famous Marvel mutant team, during their formative years, revolving around 20-something "X-Men" mutant leader 'Xavier' and his nemesis, 'evil' mutant 'Magneto', revealing when their relationship took a 'wrong turn', to the detriment of mankind.
Producer Singer also confirmed there will be a new romantic element, 'new mutants' and a new villain. 
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