Previously discussed was the tug-of-war between Sony and Fox for the services of one of our favourite actors, Michael Fassbender, for their Spider-Man and X-Men: First Class films respectively.

Anyone who has watched Fassbender in his British films such as Fish TankĀ  and the outstanding Hunger will know exactly why he is being courted and his standout turn in Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds will have opened Hollywood’s eyes to his talent

HeatVision are saying that Fassbender is now in early negotiations to play Erik Lensherr (Magneto) in the latest X-Men film, here’s their exact words,

The studio has been testing and reading actors such as Aaron Johnson and Andrew Garfield to join James McAvoy, who is playing Professor Xavier in the movie, which focuses on the superpowered team X-Men in a younger incarnation than the previous trilogy.

So, while this is no confirmation it could show which way the wind is blowing in Fassbender’s mind, and I’d rather see him here, facing up to James McAvoy, but along with the recent reports on Rosamund Pike and Amber Heard signing up for Mutants 101 there’s another name thrown into the ring – the man who would be Beast…

Showbiz 411 appear to be confirming a NYT article about the casting of one Benjamin Walker as the young Hank McCoy. Not familiar with his work on screen a quick search find his defining role to date appears to be in New York theatreland hit Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which which is still running across the pond.

Interesting times for X-Men, personally I can’t wait until we’ve got a full line up, I am wondering which role, if any, X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn has lined up for Mark Strong…