The roster for the upcoming movie X-Men: First Class is a lot of things- but lacking in characters definitely is not one of them. In fact, it feels like the film's producers did their very best to combine new interpretations of characters from previous films such as Mystique and Beast, with a slew of new characters like Havok, Banshee and Moira MacTaggert. While we may not entirely know how Fox plans to translate some of these Marvel characters onto the big screen, there is actually a lot we can tell from the trailers that have been released.
One big question is, how will the movie portray Moira MacTaggert, the Scottish scientist who is often credited (in the comics) for helping to build Charles Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters?
== TEASER ==The character of Moira MacTaggert will be portrayed by Australian actress Rose Byrne, and it will be interesting to see if Byrne opts for the Scottish accent which X-Men writer Chris Claremont made such a big part of Moira's character starting with her first appearance in X-Men #96 in 1975. While Moira does not directly appear in any of the trailers for X-Men: First Class, she is, in several clips, standing by Charles Xavier's side during his instruction of one of his students. Moira is seen in the image below standing on the left side of Banshee while Charles Xavier tries to teach him how to control his mutant powers. Even though we only get a glimpse of Moira, this scene is incredibly telling.
We recently posted Banshee's character trailer on Comic Vine a couple of weeks ago which opened up with Banshee coming onto Mystique (or, well, he tried to anyway). Later in the very brief clip, we catch a glimpse of Moira helping Charles Xavier standing at Banshee's side. So, why does this matter? Moira's very first appearance in X-Men #96 eventually led to the romantic relationship between Moira and Banshee in later comics. I'm guessing that's not going to happen in the movie. What else won't happen? Moira with a machine gun (or so I hope), which can also be found in her first appearance, and is an image that leads me to beg the question; why would Professor Xavier need an armory in his school? But that's another issue entirely.
While we don't know a whole lot about how she will be portrayed on the big screen, I do hope that Moira will come across as the strong, intelligent women she has sometimes been portrayed in the comics as being, and that she is not solely utilized as a plot device. If I had to guess, it is probably likely that Charles Xavier and Moira MacTaggert will have a romantic relationship in the film; something that did happen in the comics prior to Moira's marriage.
What we may not see? I don't think that the film will delve too deeply into her back-story, examining her mentally, physically and sexually abusive marriage to Joseph MacTaggert as well as the appearance of her son Kevin who was a mutant. I personally think it would be pretty cool to see Moira team up with Beast on some science projects in the film; sort of a tip of the hat to their collaborative search for the cure to the legacy virus. What aspects of Moira's character do you want to see translated onto the big screen? How much do you think they will change her character?
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