Rebellious teenagerJubilation Lee finds herself in trouble after her mutant "fireworks" power manifests itself at a local arcade. She is rescued from her predicament byEmma Frost andSean Cassidy, the headmasters ofXavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. They recruit "Jubilee" and offer her sanctuary at the school, a place where mutants learn to control their powers. The trio then picks up teenagerAngelo "Skin" Espinosa and proceed to the school where Jubilee and Skin are introduced to their fellow students;M,Mondo, Buff, and Refrax. At the school the students are taught not only to cope with their mutant powers but also with a world that fears and hates them. The students are warned not to leave the school grounds lest they come into conflict with the "townies" from the local area.
In addition to coping with their new abilities, Jubilee and Skin find their dreams haunted by Russel Tresh, amad scientist obsessed with the power of dreams. Tresh once worked with Emma Frost as a researcher on a project to develop a "dream machine" to access the dream dimension but he was fired from the team when Emma discovered his unethical behavior. Tresh believes that material extracted from mutants' brains will allow him to develop his own psychic abilities. Although Jubilee is able to resist Tresh somewhat, Skin finds himself drawn to Tresh and his promises, and unknowingly falls victim to the scientist. Instructors Frost and Cassidy soon find themselves leading the novice team against an enhanced Tresh to rescue Skin - a conflict which sees the youngsters pull together as a team and leaves Tresh trapped in the "dream dimension".
Finola Hughes asEmma Frost / White Queen:[1] She runs theXavier's School for Gifted Youngsters with Banshee. She takes her job very seriously and wants to make sure that the students are sufficiently trained for any situation. Part of the reason for this may be because in her past she trained another group called the Hellions who were lost, something she blames herself for. Her powers include mind control. A naturalbrunette, Hughes wore a blonde wig for the role, and would joke that as a Size 34B, she struggled to stay true to her comic counterpart'scleavage.[7]
Jeremy Ratchford asSean Cassidy / Banshee,[1] an Irish mutant, runs theXavier's School for Gifted Youngsters with Emma Frost. Sean is much more laid-back in his teaching approach than Emma and wants to make sure that the students bond as a team. He can produce a sonic scream that can stun people. Ratchford described the character as "more warmly paternal than Emma", and claimed he had come close to being cast as the voice ofWolverine inX-Men: The Animated Series.[7]
Agustin Rodriguez asAngelo Espinosa / Skin:[1] He has skin that can stretch in a variety of different ways, including the ability to wrap himself around objects. He has a younger sister, whom Russel Tresh threatened if Skin didn't obey him. He seems to have some psychic abilities. Rodriguez was suggested to the producers after being spotted in an episode ofNew York Undercover.[7]
Suzanne Davis as Arlee Hicks / Buff, one of the students at theXavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, she is a friendly person, whose mutation increases her muscle mass and strength.[2] She is insecure about her physique and wears loose clothing to cover it up.
Randall Slavin as Kurt Pastorius / Refrax, one of the students at theXavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, his eyes emit radiation giving him X-ray vision and heat beams.[2] He is a practical joker who has a crush on Buff. He wears special glasses to control his powers and is best friends with Mondo. Slavin noted that the producers were initially after ajock-type for the role but instead found him after deciding to go with a "skinny, weak, short-haired guy". He described the character as an "all-round frat, skate punk, lustful guy".
Matt Frewer as Russel Tresh,[1] an unethical scientist and researcher who is investigating subliminal and psychic powers. He worked on a project with Emma Frost, who got him fired for his unethical behavior. Following this he put his talents towards the advertising industry where he uses the money to build a machine to access the "dream dimension". Producer Eric Blakeney was delighted to get Frewer for the role, having worked with him onMax Headroom. Frewer described Tresh as "very childish... He's kind of a genius gone wrong, and is very spiteful".[7]
The film was planned to air duringsweeps as Fox was confident it would make a strong impact, and had a budget of over $4m. Producer Eric Blakeney hoped it would lead to furtherGeneration X TV movies, or a full series. New World Enterprises kept strong security over the script, which was not allowed to be viewed by the press. Blakeney had previously worked on21 Jump Street, and saw common ground between the teenage mutants and real-life teenagers, noting "I remember what it was like to be a teenager, and everything is wrong in your skin.". Director Jack Sholder had experience on a comics property before, having directed an episode ofTales from the Crypt, which was loosely inspired byEC Comics' horror comic of thesame name.[7]
Budgetary reasons meant a direct translation of the comic was impossible. The most notable casualties were the characters ofChamber andHusk, whose powers involve drastic alterations to their bodies and would be difficult to depict in live-action.[7][4][8] Instead, the film's producers consulted withGeneration X comic writerScott Lobdell to create two new characters - Refrax and Buff, and suggested that if they proved popular they might be added to the comic itself, and featured inToy Biz'sX-Men action figure range.[7]
Other changes were made to the characters in the development of this film. Jubilee, for example, was not portrayed as a character of Asian descent, despite the X-Men comics and broadcast series having portrayed her asChinese American. Ironically,Sandra Oh auditioned for the part of Emma Frost.[1]
Just before the release, the TV special was testing the waters fora series of TV movies instead of a TV series.[4]Generation X was broadcast onFox as part of the Fox Tuesday Night at the Movies[2] on February 20, 1996.[1] The movie tied for 72nd out of 108Nielsen-rated programmes.[9]
