The LA Times Blog posted a slightly shortened version of their lengthy editorial on the X-Men, featuring an interview with Bryan Singer and X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner. The full version will appear in the Sunday Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times tomorrow.
There was a lot of info to soak in from this piece so on Thursday, we looked at it from the standpoint of the status and plan for X-Men: First Class and now we'll look at the other X-Men projects that Bryan Singer may be involved with for Fox studios: X-Men 4 and Wolverine 2.
Before we get started, take a look at part one of our Bryan Singer/X-Men discussion where he and producer Lauren Shuler Donner talk about the franchise, its future and X-Men: First Class.
X-Men 4
The LA Times article references at least two points during the interview where they went off the record to discuss the future of the franchise and its this information I wish I was privy to most. But for the part where they talked X-Men 4, director Bryan Singer made no effort to hold back his desire to take on that project as well.
"Hold that one off for just a little, I'm fixated on the other one right now."
To which X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner acknowledged and replied;
"I will, I will ... I'm holding it open with high hopes. It's totally different [from 'First Class'] and it will be so interesting for you."
After he does First Class and once Hugh Jackman finishes shooting his solo sequel, wouldn't be epic to see them working together again on X-Men 4? Singer would then be doing the 'before' and the 'after' of the main series of the franchise and could help introduce some very cool storylines into the franchise, notably the time-traveling character of Cable who I can personally confirm has been a frequent topic in the Fox meetings for the franchise.
X-Crossovers
We all know that Marvel Studios is working to have all of their upcoming superhero flicks cross-over, leading to the epic team-up flick we know as The Avengers. And with Warner Bros. headmaster Alan Horn saying today at ShoWest that DC Comics movies will be the next major franchise to take the place of Harry Potter, combined with the news of Christopher Nolan working on not only Batman 3, but the Superman reboot as well, this essentially confirms they will cross-over leading to the Justice League. Needless to say, Fox will need to keep up with the major superhero franchise they own to play with the big boys.
The obvious difference is that the X-Men started as a team and is now going the other direction with prequels and solo character spin-offs. However, if those movies take advantage of some of X-Men's most popular time-travel tales from the decades of comics, we can see them all work together and perhaps get to see more than expected in X-Men 4.
On the topic of Cable, we also know Donner has a New Mutants project in early development so fans of the character and the X-Men books will know how Cable can play a part in that, in the Deadpool movie as well as the X-Men prequel and sequel that Singer could find himself directing.
I have an idea. Since the end if the trilogy was titled X-Men: The Last Stand, let's call the next installment X-Men 3 instead... for obvious reasons.
Excited about the future of the X-Men on screen? If you're a fan, check out our piece on What We Need From X-Men 4 and on What X-Men 3 Could Have Been.
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Source: LA Times