And mere 48  hours after its first image hits the net, X-Men: First Class hits media burnout. In addition to the stills from Hero Complex, Ain’t It Cool News debuted the teaser poster, seen at right.

But Matthew Vaughn has something more to prove, dammit.   He hated that first image so much that he emailed Slashfilm and sent them photos of Professor X and Magneto in action.

(Boy, do I feel sheepish actually praising that image and not judging a film by its character banner!  How could I forget the way things were done on the Internet!)

Vaughn stressed to Slashfilm just how much he loved X-Men, how awesome the retro X-Men were going to be, and that no one needed to worry about ugly costumes or awkward make-up.  He stresses the image was unapproved, and remains a mystery to himself and Fox. “I freaked out on them yesterday. I don’t know where the hell that came from. I don’t think it’s a Fox image. It’s not a pre-approved image. When I found out, I said, what the fuck is this shit, and Fox is running around trying to figure out what happened as well.”

Now, I was under the impression it was an approved image since an official version was in possession by a lot of sites, and was embargoed.   Grumbles and hints on Twitter led me to believe someone had jumped the gun, or accessed something they weren’t supposed to.   Curious.   I can believe Vaughn had no idea what was going to be released and when, but is this studio spin because of poor fan reaction? (I honestly don’t know, and with everyone at Sundance, there’s not a site editor to ask at 2am in the morning.  Perhaps someone will chime in.  UPDATE: I’ve been told Fox did indeed approve the image and sent it to several outlets under an embargo.  So it was legitimate, even if the first watermarked leak was not. )

Vaughn did say the much maligned uniforms were accurate, and assures fans they look much better onscreen.   “The costumes are blue and yellow as well, because fuck it, lets take it back it the original. Also, by the way, those costumes are hardly in the movie. The main costumes are like these cool 60’s James Bond [things].”

And to prove it, he gave Slashfilm two images, one of which was Michael Fassbender in full Magneto garb. And it is pretty swank.    The straps are a bit dorky, but straps almost always are. At least it looks like something you could fight in, as opposed to the purple and red look Ian McKellen had to float around in.

Only Michael Fassbender (or Ian McKellen) could actually wear that, and look badass.  Look at those eyes.  Not a hint of absurdity.

For more from Vaughn, and for a glimpse of Professor X doing a brainfreeze/mindmeld/deep thought, head over to Slashfilm. They’re our friends, and I don’t want to deny them traffic on what is a damn fine exclusive.

Now, get back to work, Matthew Vaughn.  You’ve got a movie to finish, and I need a break from posting these things.