It was a celebration of the swinging '60s. Mod dancers (on boxes!), vintage cars (for the stars!) and a live jazz band that never took a break set the stage for the New York premiere of "X Men: First Class."

A-list cast members including James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Lucas Till, Kevin Bacon and Zoe Kravitz pulled up to the scene in Cold-War-era rides, looking hot to trot.

And with good reason, "X Men: First Class" is certainly one of the most highly anticipated flicks this summer — and, from the looks of the scene tonight, it won't disappoint.

But what did the stars have to say? We caught up with them on the carpet to find out what they think makes this prequel so damn special.

Fassbender, who plays Magneto, cited the classic feel of this installment of the Marvel franchise.

"When I watched it I felt kind of like an 8-year-old again that was watching a classic sort of action-adventure," he tells NextMovie. "There are moments of poignancy. There are sinister moments, but then Matthew [Vaughn] — full credit to him — he has a great ability to bring an element of comic relief at just the right times."

While Kevin Bacon, who takes on Sebastian Shaw, didn't disagree with Fassbender, he had another take on what's going to strike a chord with audiences across the country.

"I think the surprise is going to be for people who don't necessarily like comic books or action movies — this is what I've heard time and time again — especially from women — saying, 'Wow, that was like, a really emotional movie, and really fun.' And you know what? It is fun. It's funny. It's sad. It's touching. It's sexy."

That's a pretty good sales pitch there, Kevin.

But perhaps it was one of the youngest members of the cast, Lucas Till, aka Havok, who had the most unique opinion. The barely-20-year-old thesp actually made reference to the political parallels of the film noting, "You can really call Xavier M.L.K. and you can really call Magneto Malcolm X. They were part of the civil rights movement; they were working for the equality of blacks. Now, in this movie, it's working for the equality of mutants. It's kind of interchangeable — not kind of, it's absolutely interchangeable."

He did attribute this realization to his co-star (and now friend) Zoe Kravitz, but whole-heartedly agreed with her assessment.

Another star with a personal insight to share was the gorgeous Rose Byrne, who tackles the challenging role of Dr. Moira MacTaggert. Byrne, who's fresh off the success of the comedy smash hit "Bridesmaids," sees a lot of similarities between herself and her edgy role in this flick. She explains that Moira "beomes an ally to James McAvoy's character and the two kind of bring mutants and humans together to coexist." That's a far cry from trying to throw a flawless Parisian bridal shower (though both have their merits).

Byrne coos, "She's super cool. She's a woman in a man's world. She's very driven. She's very ambitious. And she's very progressive, so I related to a lot of her in that sense." In other words, she's pretty awesome.

The camaraderie among the cast members was apparent at the premiere, as their talent will be in the film. This is one installment that's promising to deliver as much punch, and maybe (dare we say it?!) even more, as those that came before it.

"X Men: First Class" hits theaters June 3. We are officially counting down the days.