What's Next for 'X-Men'?

The "X-men" franchise continues to move ahead, with several spin-offs planned following "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" which, despite poor reviews, has managed to pull in $357million worldwide so far.

A second "Wolverine" movie and a "Deadpool" spin-off have been confirmed as being in development while talks are also under way on a "Gambit" spin-off.

Also in the pipeline are "X-Men: First Class," about the early years of Xavier's school and set to feature young versions of Cyclops, Storm, Beast, Jean Grey and others; and "X-Men Origins: Magneto," showing the events that shaped the mutant archvillain played in the "X-Men" movies by Ian McKellen.

But which will be next?

David Goyer, who wrote the "Magneto" screenplay and was at one point attached to direct it, explained what was going on behind closed doors at 20th Century Fox.

He told Superhero Hype there had been "some preliminary discussions" about Magneto, although he did not confirm the status of his involvement with the project.

He added: "I think, at Fox, they're trying to decide if making a young X-Men film makes the most sense next [or] does Magneto make the most sense next. They're just trying to decide internally who's next up."

The end of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" certainly pointed towards "X-Men: First Class," but moving straight into that project omits Xavier's prior history with Magneto and leaps over the events that led to the establishment of the school.

I think the answer is to push forward with "X-Men Origins: Magneto" and "X-Men: First Class" almost simultaneously or with a maximum of one year apart. Why must we have three-year gaps between the X-Men movies?

And the studio should get Bryan Singer back, at least to executive-produce these films if he doesn't want to direct. Singer will notice all the details and potential continuity glitches that filmmakers less experienced with the franchise might overlook.

With a screenplay ready on "Magneto," it does seem the obvious choice to move forward first, once a director has been confirmed.

"X-Men: First Class," whose script was penned by "Gossip Girl" creator Josh Schwartz and recently reworked to tie in with what was seen in Wolverine, should follow closely behind.

The confirmed "Wolverine" sequel and "Deadpool" spin-off, along with the more nebulous and as-yet-unconfirmed "Gambit" film, do not yet have a script so they are unable to proceed at present anyway.

What "X-Men" film do you think should come next?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: The Geek Files