X-Men: First Class (2011)

Prequels always make me nervous. Not because I'm afraid the directors will fudge up the story, because they always do. Not because I don't like having to rewind my cinematic memory of the story, because that's half of the fun. Prequels suck because you have to try and envision the characters at a different state of mind, something that the casual movie fan doesn't actually think about. The prequel in the X-Men movie series, 'First Class' shows how Professor X and Magneto went from best friends to sworn enemies based on their reaction to the world's stance on mutants during the Cold War. I'm really excited to see how each character develops, especially as a young adult, and to see who else is in the movie. From the trailer, you can see Mystique, Beast and maybe Nightcrawler (I'm not sure), but the rest seems up in the air. I hope they blow this one out of the water, because X-Men has been the best comic book movie series since Spiderman went loony on us. Check the trailer...

Dear Spider-Man

I guess even wall-crawlers feel the recession. Spidey, you had the run of all runs at The Daily Bugle. Jonah Jameson treated you like his personal whipping boy for your entire tenure at that newspaper, and you risked your life and secret identity countless times, all for the sanctity of your job. Not many people, or comic book characters for that matter, can say that. I suppose it's a bit of a statement by Marvel about the state of the United States, and the journalism industry. There's definitely an air of the Civil Rights going on in X-Men. I never thought they would explore the recession, or have you fired. Does this mean you're going to be a freelance photographer, or are you going to make Spider-Man your full-time position? Whatever the case, happy job hunting, Peter. Get on Craigslist and start looking for some internships (probably unpaid). If all else fails, start selling those shots of Spider-Man to another paper, man. Lord knows New York is a tough city to navigate with no deniro coming in...