Matt's [Nix] is much more a part of just the world in terms of there are mutants, mutants are hated and there are Sentinels - though very different from what we've seen before. You feel like you're here in the X-Men world.

Somehow we allow, if a character goes to the dark side, if we're hooked into that character - I'm obsessed with Peaky Blinders. Those characters are awful, and yet you root for them. You love them! Same with Breaking Bad. That's not as easy in a feature.

I think the time has changed. Because of 9/11, because of the economy, it is more and more now. There is a darker awareness, although it would seem to reason that because life is so much tougher now people would seek entertainment to just totally escape.

When I originally sold X-Men it was because I knew there was 40 years of stories. That was the point! Not only to do the movie and establish the characters, you know, you love the one you're doing. It was because there are all these great stories, what a wealth of drama.

What we always want to say [in X-men] is, "It's OK to be yourself, and actually it's a gift to be yourself. Whatever it is that you have, that may be your gift." I think that's what we always want to say, and spread it out, so have tolerance for other people who are different also.

What I'm always afraid of is going "off-book,I always get upset when the director leaves the classic comic that was so very popular. I argued, and I won't say with who about what, but when we go way away from the original source material... that material is popular for a reason and I like to stick with it.

There's 54 years of X-Men comics by now, so there are a lot of characters to explore.