First came X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand, each chronicling the battle for the future of mutants, between Professor X and Magneto. Then came the forgettable X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which served as a sloppy prequel. Next came the more carefully constructed prequel X-Men: First Class, which gave background to the trilogy's key adversaries, and origins to some of its other memorable mutants. Now, The Wolverine, which seems to be set between X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men, is shooting in Australia, and X-Men: Days of Future Past is being developed for a 2014 release.
Where will this last X-Men movie play in the series' chronology? Well, that gets tricky. The original comic arc for which Days of Future Past is named focuses on Kitty Pryde, who appeared as a teen (Ellen Page) in The Last Stand. But this film reportedly has Fassbender and McAvoy, who played young 1960s-era Magneto and Prof. X, attached, suggesting it will fall between First Class and X-Men. Recently appointed Marvel creative consultant Mark Millar (who wrote the Kick-Ass comics) makes things even more perplexing by dropping some details about X-Men: Days of Future Past, confirming to SFX (via digital spy) that the film will go into an apocalyptic future, adding:
"You've got robots, you've got time travel, you've got superheroes - it's got everything in one film."
Those familiar with the Days of Future Past arc won't be surprised by this reveal, but for the rest of you let me break it down. What this means in short is that the film will probably involve cast members of the first trilogy and First Class--something Patrick Stewart recently alluded to—and yes, there will be Sentinels, massive monstrous robots tasked with mutant capture. So basically, this is going to be one epic superhero flick. Or as Millar puts it, "Cost-wise it's going to go up, and ambitious-wise it's gone up. But Vaughn can handle it. Vaughn made Kick-Ass for $28 million."
