James McAvoy to play Professor X in X-Men: First Class

James McAvoy is set to play a young Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, in the Matthew Vaughn-directed X-Men: First Class according to HeatVisionBlog.

X-Men: First Class will document the roots of the X-Men saga. Before Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers. Before they were archenemies, they were the closest of friends, working together, with other Mutants, to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. In the process, a rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto’s Brotherhood and Professor X’s X-Men.

Patrick Stewart portrayed the character in the original X-Men trilogy.

Fox is planning a summer start to filming in London, with a planned June 3, 2011 release. Bryan Singer, who conceived the story for X-Men: First Class, is producing the film with Lauren Shuler Donner and Simon Kinberg.