The following story will contain spoilers for Bryan Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse, so STOP reading now if you haven't seen it yet.
At the very end of this summer's X-Men: Apocalypse, the timeline that was fractured with Days of Future Past seemed to finally put the young team of mutant warriors on a path that would lead them to some version of 2001's X-Men... also directed by Bryan Singer. The final scene was closing a loop, while also opening a door to a world of possibilities -- all of which remain on the table, even though no real news has broken yet (but more on that in a moment). Even Kodi Smit-McPhee, who stepped into the role of Nightcrawler for this soft franchise reboot, sees what that final shot means for the future of the X-Men series, saying:
They kind of mended some things that didn't make sense with this timeline, but also they've completely left it to us, very obviously. We're in the Danger Room and the door opens up and we're all in our comic book-accurate costumes. I think it's kind of teasing the audience to be a little excited for something to come. I only have the same judgment as the audience does. I'm hoping.
This wasn't a complete slate wipe, but it did essentially reset what is possible in the X-Men timeline, meaning that with this new team -- led by Mystique and Beast, and consisting of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Quicksilver -- doesn't have to skip a storyline because it already has been covered by a previous X-Men film. This means Juggernaut's back on the table. It means Sentinels (which are shown in that Danger Room sequence) are back on the table. And it's a big reason why the Dark Phoenix saga is being rumored as the next storyline for a 1990s based X-Men movie in the near future.
Now, here's where things get complicated. At the moment, Fox does NOT have a tradition X-Men sequel with this cast on its release schedule... which explains why Kodi Smit-McPhee speaks of "hope" at the end of the quote that he gave to THR. The studio wants to make Deadpool 2, and they are done filming on Wolverine 3. There's a New Mutants movie on the horizon, and Gambit has been delayed, but is still a possibility.
But the next X-Men adventure? Right now, it's anyone's guess. The earliest we think it could be in theaters would be 2018, and that's if production starts now. Seeing as how there's no director in place (Singer's moving on to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) and no script that we're aware of, 2019 seems like more of a reality for the next X-Men movie.
Still, as Kodi Smit-McPhee points out, having the new team in the final shot of X-Men: Apocalypse points to where the team can go in the future. Now, we just need to find out when.
