It appears there are some changes afoot for the X-Men series, with words like “soft reboot” surfacing in regards to the films. A combination of factors have merged making the continuation of the series in its current format potentially somewhat difficult, but that doesn’t mean of course that 20th Century Fox are without options.
Leading stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence have all fulfilled their contractual obligations to the series so bringing them back for a fourth film would require signing a new deal, additionally Bryan Singer has reportedly indicated he doesn’t wish to return to the series, despite previous comments that he had plans on where to go next with it. Furthermore, the underperforming recent release X-Men: Apocalypse won’t have helped matters, coupled with the fact that Hugh Jackman’s final outing as Wolverine is about to be realised in the upcoming Logan film, meaning that he’s unlikely to lend his star power to another film.
With all that in mind, a new X-Men film is reportedly still being written as a follow-up to Apocalypse, but it seems quite unlikely that this version of the next film will come to fruition. It’s more likely that it’ll undergo some significant changes.
If the X-Men series is anything however it is flexible, and if the current central series of Magneto, and Professor X isn’t to continue there are a number of directions the series could take. There have been previous rumours of Task Force X or New Mutant films being worked on, while the recent Apocalypse film had a number of supporting characters who could be picked up and thrust onto centre stage for a new film.
As for Singer’s departure from the series, he’s obviously been a massive contributor to the series since it started, X-Men 2 remains one of the best in the series, and his creative input since then has been excellent. However, maybe it’s time for him to take a break from the series, as Apocalypse was underwhelming in comparison to his previous efforts. But here’s hoping someone else with as much passion for the setting, and as good a film maker can step up to take the series on its next step.
