Sebastian Shaw (X-Men Movies)

Sebastian Shaw is the main antagonist of X-Men: First Class.

He is portrayed by Kevin Bacon who also played Wade, Bobby Hayes, David Lindhagen, Jacques, Ray Duquette and Sebastian Caine.

X-Men: First Class
Sebastian Shaw (under the alias Dr. Klaus Schmidt) was a scientist working for the Nazis during WWII. He was present in the concentration camp where a young Erik Lehnsherr's mutant powers first manifested. Shaw attempted to coax the boy into consciously using his ability but to no avail. He then threatened to shoot the boy's mother if he did not move a small gold coin made out of Nazi gold by the time he counted to three. When Erik failed to do so, Shaw executed his mother. This enraged him greatly, causing him to lash out with his powers, killing two guards to the delight of Shaw. He then congratulated the traumatized young mutant.

18 years later, Sebastian emerged as the leader of the Hellfire Club, a group of mutants with aspirations of world domination. He was observed in Las Vegas by CIA Agent Moira MacTaggert meeting with U.S. Army Colonel Hendry where he threatens him into supporting the building of American missile sites in Turkey, near the Russian border. When MacTaggert witnesses Shaw's henchmen Azazel and Riptide using their powers, she attempts to warn her superiors; but Shaw has Azazel teleport Hendry to a Joint Chiefs meeting where he voices his support of the plan. Later, when Hendry comes to Sebastian's yacht to collect his payment, he attempts to have him killed. But the Colonel pulls out a grenade and threatens to blow them all up if they refuse to let him go. Shaw takes the grenade and pulls the pin himself, displaying his mutant power by absorbing the energy from the blast and killing Hendry himself. That night, a now adult and vengeful Erik Lehnsherr, who had been hunting Shaw, sneaks aboard the yacht and attempts to murder the man who'd tortured him; only to be overwhelmed by Emma Frost's telepathy. At the same time, the U.S. Coast Guard arrived along with MacTaggert and mutant telepath Charles Xavier to apprehend him. Frost used her powers to shield Shaw from him and they all made their way to their submarine and narrowly escaped capture.

On their way to meet with a Soviet general, Frost senses Xavier's enhanced telepathy (through use of Cerebro) and informs Sebastian that he is recruiting his own team of mutants, consisting of Dr. Hank McCoy, Angel Salvadore, Sean Cassidy, Alex Summers, Raven Darkholme and Armando Muñoz. Shaw reveals a helmet he had built by the Russians that shields him from telepathic influence and orders her to meet with the general in his place. He, Azazel and Riptide track Charles and his team to a secret CIA facility where they proceed to kill everyone, leaving the young mutants as the only ones left. He then offers them a chance to join him in the upcoming war with humankind, an offer that only Angel accepts. When the others attempt to stop her, Shaw absorbs Summers' energy blast and kills Muñoz before leaving.

Shaw proceeds to Russia, where he meets with the Soviet general he sent Frost to see during which she was captured by Lehnsherr and Xavier; forcing the man to send Soviet missiles to Cuba. It is his plan to goad the U.S. and Soviet Union to use nuclear weapons on each other, causing WWIII which will cripple human civilization and allow mutants to rise up and rule. He accompanies the Russian fleet in his submarine to assure that the missiles reach their destination, but he is tracked by Xavier and his team. Lehnsherr uses his powers to lift the sub from the water before they both crash on a nearby beach. Shaw attempts to absorb the energy from the sub's nuclear reactor (becoming a human atom bomb) but is foiled by Lehnsherr. The two fight and Sebastian has the upper hand, until Erik manages to remove his helmet allowing Xavier to mentally freeze his body. Lehnsherr then takes Shaw's helmet for himself and uses his ability to force the Nazi gold coin he still kept through Shaw's brain, killing him. His body was then used by Erik, as a means of showing he was now in charge to Shaw's former comrades.

Trivia
Producer Lauren Shuler Donner said Bacon was considered for Shaw for being an actor who could convey a villain "with different shades, that's not always clear that he's the bad guy". Vaughn added that Bacon "had that bravado that Shaw needed", while stating that the actor was his top choice along with Colin Firth. Bacon accepted the role as he was a fan of Vaughn's Kick-Ass and liked both the character of Shaw and the script, which he described as "a fresh look at the franchise, but also the comic book movies in general". The actor considered that Shaw was a sociopath to whom "the morality of the world did not apply", with producer Simon Kimberg adding that Bacon portrayed him as "somebody, who in his mind, is the hero of the movie". Bacon also said that "aside from the kind of evil side, I portrayed him as kind of a Hugh Hefner type". Vaughn discarded Shaw's look from the comics as he felt he would "look like an Austin Powers villain".