Charles Xavier
Played by: James McAvoy (Atonement)
Charles Xavier is a man with a dream of a world where humans and mutants co-exist peacefully. He's also just enough of a pragmatist to know that dream is a long ways off.
In the meantime, he's partnered with his friend Magneto to build a school where young mutants can learn about their powers and train to protect their fellow mutants in the years to come. Nothing in this plan can go wrong, right?



Magneto
Played by: Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds)
One day, Eric Magnus Lensherr will become the X-Men's greatest enemy and a threat to peaceful human/mutant relations. For now, he's simply an ambitious man who shares Xavier's dream of building a school. These two friends are destined to grow apart as their philosophies clash and mutants begin to flock to Magneto's banner.



Emma Frost
Played by: January Jones (Mad Men)
Emma Frost is as beautiful as a diamond, and as hard-edged and cold. In fact, she literally transforms into organic diamond. This secondary mutation is a complement to her considerable telepathic skills. Between her abilities and personality, Emma is a manipulative woman who is used to getting what she wants. In this case, that might just include Scott Summers. But though she hides it well, Emma has a heroic streak in her.



Beast
Played by: Nicholas Hoult (About a Boy)
On the surface, Beast might seem like the happiest and most carefree of the X-Men. However, this eloquent, intelligent, witty, and athletic young Hank McCoy has suffered persecution like everyone else. The X-Men represents the only family he has.
As we saw in X-Men: The Last Stand, Beast makes a successful political career out of fighting for mutant equality. In First Class, expect the young genius to hit plenty of growing pains.



Darwin
Played by: Edi Gathegi (Twilight)
The human race is evolving into something new. Some are just doing it with a little more gusto than others. Armando Munoz's body is constantly growing and adapting to handle the current situation. This makes him effectively impossible to kill, but it hasn't won him many friends over the years.



Mystique
Played by: Jennifer Lawrence (The Burning Plain)
Anyone who has watched an X-Men movie knows where Mystique's true loyalties lie. This shape-shifter and martial arts master is one of the first converts to Magneto's cause. The fun in X-Men: First Class will be in seeing Mystique interact with the rest of Xavier's pupils in the days before they were mortal enemies.
Raven Darkholme is one of the world's first mutants in the comics, so fans haven't had much of a chance to get acquainted with a younger, more vulnerable Mystique.



Banshee
Played by: Caleb Landry Jones (No Country for Old Men)
In the comics, Banshee was already much older than the first class of X-Men when he debuted. As such, he's always been something of an outsider. But in this movie, it looks as if Banshee will be the same age as Cyclops, Jean, and the rest.



Havok
Played by: Lucas Till (House)
Being a leader with vast, barely tapped potential seems to run in the Summers family. In First Class, Scott Summers will be joined by his brother Alex. Alex Summers doesn't need to fire his concussive energy blasts out of his eyes, but he shares his brother's lack of confidence and control. Expect plenty of sibling rivalry as Havok fights to escape his older brother's shadow and carve his own destiny in an increasingly dangerous world.



Tempest
Played by: Zoe Kravitz (The Brave One)
Angel Salvadore originally used the codename Angel, but these days she goes by Tempest in order to avoid being confused with another winged X-Man.
Angel isn't the most popular student at Xavier's Institute, probably because most are grossed out by her more insectoid qualities. In the comics, Angel eventually lost her mutant powers and had them replaced by a set of tech-based elemental abilities. It remains to be seen which power set this X-Man will wield in First Class.