So, January Jones is going to be Emma Frost, adding yet another Big Name to the massiver-by-the-minute X-Men: First Class roster. I'm not opposed to this in principal, I think Jones could make a totally reasonable Emma Frost, particularly if they were filming the Dark Phoenix Saga in a way that was reasonably true to the source material (I think the fact that First Class is going to be set in the future is promising, though of precisely what, I'm not sure). Can't y'all just see Betty Draper wilting under the psychic power of Phoenix in a testy mood?
Given the success folks like Anna Paquin and Hugh Jackman had after X-Men, I think it's easy to forget that the first movie in that trilogy had two really legitimate stars in Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan and a ton of other people on the cusp. Halle Berry wasn't even really Halle Berry yet, Monster's Ball was still a year away. Rebecca Romjin and Famke Janssen were supermodels, and weren't really expected to be that good, though in the end, Romjin's performance in The Last Stand is perhaps the most affecting thing in it. I wonder if internet culture and movie websites today just make it seem like First Class is full of reasonably big names, though Kevin Bacon and James McAvoy are probably the most established actors attached to the project. It'll be interesting to see, if the movie is actually substantially good and significantly fun, who breaks out from it to go on to greater things. These movies are good potential proving ground, a place where minor stars can make a mark with only moderately-known characters. I'll be curious to see who makes the leap.