X-Fever

With X-Men: The Last Stand hitting theaters next week, the media blitz, tie-ins and hype for the film are in full force:

Bring on the Bad Guy
MTV.com chats with Sir Ian McKellan about his roles in both this week's big summer flick, The Da Vinci Code, and, of course, X-Men:

In May 26's "X-Men: The Last Stand," McKellen digs deeper than ever into his explanation of the "why" behind Magneto's villainous ways. The supposedly final film has the mischievous mutant seizing upon the controversy raised by a supposed "cure" for the superpowered characters and simultaneously stealing an all-powerful ally from the ranks of Professor X.

"Famke [Janssen] had to work very, very hard on this part," McKellen beamed, proud of his co-star, who explores the evolution of Jean Grey into Phoenix. "She was asked to do some almost impossible things, and I was in very close quarters and saw her do them. I think people are going to be amazed and thrilled with her performance in this, and I should think it would lead to other highly dramatic stuff as well — Joan Crawford stuff."

Mutants on Parade
Parade magazine chats with Hugh Jackman about his career to date, particularly what the X-films have done for him:

Seven years ago, Jackman was an ambitious yet virtually unknown actor whose biggest credit was a London stage revival of Oklahoma! Suddenly, at 31, he was offered the leading role of Wolverine in X-Men. His wife, actress Deborra-Lee Furness, counseled strongly against the move, worried he’d be typecast as a comic-book hero. “The first thing in this script is that claws come out of your hands?” she asked. “What is that?”

Jackman had no idea—but he took the job. The first two X-Men films earned more than $700 million in worldwide box-office receipts. The newest, X-Men: The Last Stand, opens May 26. Now Jackman, a native Australian, finds himself in command of a franchise and triumphant in a broad range of stage and screen roles. He already has completed five movies set to open this year, ranging from romantic comedy to sci-fi drama.

X-Chat

Tom DeFalco has a new book coming out called Comics Creators On X-Men, which features interviews with Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Dave Cockrum, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar and Chris Bachalo. Per the Alien Online:

This 256-page book traces the creation of the X-Men, in a chronological exploration of their most resonant adventures and villains. Along the way, interviewer Tom DeFalco, former Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, uncovers the brainwaves, conflicts and legends that shaped X-Men into one of the world's most popular series of comic books.

The book will be published in England by Titan Books.