‘X-Men: First Class’ Set Photos Reveal the Blackbird Jet

As shooting on X-Men: First Class continues, news on the Marvel origin story/reboot has been surprisingly scarce.

Despite a few minor casting additions, Matthew Vaughn’s mutants meet High School mash-up film has managed to fly under the radar, much like the X:Men’s own Blackbird aircraft – until today, when both the film production and the Blackbird were caught on film.

Before we go any further, it’s important to note that if you are trying to avoid spoilers for X-Men: First Class, please avert your eyes. The Blackbird photos, without question, give away at least one major plot-point.

For anyone unfamiliar with the X-Men’s VIP jet, and its many useful applications, here’s a brief rundown: the X-Men’s Blackbird is a supersonic jet, a prototype version of the famous aircraft (originally created by SHIELD), and first appeared in X-Men #104  back in April of 1977. Throughout the years the jet was further modified to include a cloaking device and sensors, concussion missiles – not to mention a combination of powers supplied by whatever mutants are riding in one of the plane’s seven seats.

The Blackbird aka the 'X-Jet' in Bryan Singer's 'X-Men'

The Blackbird has appeared in numerous iterations of X-Men related media, including the 90s X-Men animated series that aired on Fox and Bryan Singer’s X-Men films.

Once again, the images below are definitely within the realm of spoiler-territory – please be advised.

Spoilers for Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class

The set-photos, which come courtesy of Comic Book Movie, were taken off the coast of Jekyll Island in Georgia and show the X-Men’s iconic jet in shambles.

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While it’s certainly possible that the photos merely represent an incomplete version of the jet, either being torn down or prepared for a shoot, it’s hard to reconcile the positioning of the cockpit, relative to the rest of the cabin, turbines, and wings – as a result it seems awfully likely that the Blackbird is destroyed at some point.

While it’s certainly fun to speculate about the events leading up to wreckage on the beach, maybe the plane is downed by the Hellfire Club in the film’s climactic conclusion or by some other means (such as the United States Secretary of State), we’ll just have to wait until the film opens in June for definitive answers.

One thing is for certain, with catastrophic action set-pieces like the one the Blackbird photos hint toward, who needs a Wolverine cameo?

Follow us on Twitter @iambenkendrick and @screenrant and let us know what you think of the photos – and how the Blackbird might get its wings clipped.

X-Men: First Class opens in theaters June 3, 2011.

Source: Comic Book Movie

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