Later this month, 20th Century Fox will bring itsX-Men prequel trilogyto a close withX-Men: Apocalypse, which is set in the year 1983. This continues a trend of each movie being set a decade apart, with 2011’sX-Men: First Classset in the early 1960s and 2014’sX-Men: Days of Future Pastset in the 1970s. AfterX-Men: Apocalypsedebuts, we know the studio is developingThe New Mutantsspinoff, with production set to begin later this year onGambit. But we don’t have any official word about plans to continue the flagshipX-Menseries. ProducerSimon Kinbergrecently shed some light on the future of this franchise, confirming that the next movie will be set a decade afterX-Men: Apocalypsein the 1990s.
Unfortunately, he didn’t reveal in his interview withComingSoon.netif that next project isThe New Mutants, which is currently in development with writer-directorJosh Boone, or if he’s referring toX-Men 7. Back in November, rumors surfaced that directorBryan Singerwill be returning to Montreal, where he shotX-Men: Days of Future PastandX-Men: Apocalypse, to shoot an unspecifiedX-Menmovie in 2017, with 20th Century Fox planning a 2018 release date. That report was never confirmed, but just last month, another rumor surfaced that claimedX-Men 7would reboot the Dark Phoenix saga.
TheDark Phoenixsaga was told in the originalX-Mentrilogy, which ended in 2006 withX-Men: The Last Standand featured the death of Jean Grey. The rumor from a few weeks ago claimed that this new version will be much different than how the story played out in the movies and the original comics, and the events ofX-Men: Days of Future Pastallows the filmmaker to come in and reboot the story.X-Men: Days of Future Pastessentially created a newpresent day timeline, which brought Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) back to life.
While this report was never confirmed, if true, it isn’t known if the studio will bring backSophie Turner, who plays the young Jean Grey inX-Men: Apocalypseto tell this story. If it is set in the 1990s, it certainly would seem likely that the youngGame of Thronesstar would come back to reprise her role. With just a few weeks left untilX-Men: Apocalypsehits theaters, hopefully the studio will shed some light on their plans for the franchise, after that movie hits theaters.
As forThe New Mutants, writer-directorJosh Boonerevealed through Instagram last week that his movie will includemutant characterssuch as Magik, Wolfsbane, Dani Moonstar, Cannonball, Sunspot and Warlock in his superhero lineup. The filmmaker also recently revealed that the second draft of his script is complete, although we don’t know when production may begin, or when the studio plans on releasingThe New Mutants. Stay tuned for more on 20th Century Fox’s epicX-Menfranchise as soon as more details surface.
