This is pretty awesome news:

The trades are reporting that the Fox “has tapped “Gossip Girl” creator Josh Schwartz to write “X-Men: First Class.” He’d also been offered a chance to direct the film, but declined.

Schwartz, the creator and exec producer of CW’s teen sudser hit as well as Fox’s youth-centric “The O.C.” and NBC’s “Chuck,” is expected to inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series, which has collectively earned $1.2 billion worldwide.

Gossip Girl and Chuck are my highlights of the 2008/9 season, and feature highly on my all-time favourite shows. The fact that the X-Men have a special place in my heart from my days of being a comic-geek also helps. 

Further down the article, it says:

Resulting film would likely draw from elements of the Marvel Comic of the same name, launched in 2006, and enlist such characters as Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat, who have appeared prominently or made cameos in prior pics.

Out of those, Rogue would be my favourite – but not Anna Paquin’s Rogue. Shadowcat’s mention will please one of my fellow fanboys, but I’m not a fan myself. As for the others… meh. There’s nothing there for me to get excited about. Let’s hope Josh Schwartz can really pull it out of the bag.

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