(Authorâs note: Spencerâs Soapbox is a weekly column here on SHH where yours truly tries to spur a conversation on specific topics. Dive in to the latest installment below and check out the previous ones by clicking here.)
The past few weeks have been filled with big news regarding 20th Century Foxâs X-Men films. Hugh Jackman revealed that heâll take on the role of Wolverine âone last timeâ for Wolverine 3, production has begun on Deadpool, and X-Men: Apocalypse has added Jubilee. 2016 is the year of the X-Men as far as Fox is concerned, because theyâve got three films planned for release. So what is it theyâre planning? Marvel Studios and Warner Bros. have revealed they have a plan with movies dated off into 2019 and 2020 and one would assume that with this much riding on the future of the franchises, Fox has something up their sleeve for its future, but what is it? Letâs examine the films in development/production and see if we can figure it out. For the record, all of this is speculation and not based on information I actually have.
Deadpool is the first release, coming in February 2016. After the clean slate that X-Men: Days of Future Past provided, Deadpool wonât be acknowledging the events of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which is for the best. What gets me interested in this movie is the collection of characters theyâve included. The Merc with a Mouth would have been enough, but Colossus, Angel Dust, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Copycat will all be in for the ride. What this says is that Fox has finally embraced doing the truly outlandish and wacky characters from the X-Men pantheon. Most of the other films are filled to the brim with vanilla mutants who weâve seen countless times, finally we have at least some variety. Should Deadpool not be well received though, expect more of the same.
Following Deadpool is X-Men: Apocalypse, which is the closing chapter on the âFirst Classâ crew, but the film has assembled a team of new younger mutants. Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Beast and Quicksilver are all set to return with Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Angel, and Jubilee all getting in on the action. Those six young cast members? Theyâre your X-Men moving forward. As contracts wrap up for the likes of Fassbender, Lawrence, and McAvoy (Nicholas Hoult has previously expressed interest in returning), they wonât be around, so Singer is stacking the deck in favor of future X-Men movies with an all-star roster of characters played by young actors. The big lingering question in my mind, not only about the future but this film in particular, is how do you get bigger than âDays of Future Past?â The titular villain no doubt will lead to buildings toppling and the like, but once you do that, how do you get bigger? Iâd guess space since many X-Men story lines hinge on the mutants traversing in the stars, and after the success of Guardians of the Galaxy itâs a no brainer.
Hereâs another big question mark, a solo Gambit film, an X-Man whose popularity almost eclipses that of Wolverine for some reason, is set for October of 2016. Thereâs no writer or director attached to the film at the time, but Channing Tatum has been cast in the role and he clearly wanted it for some time. What is this movie? Is putting a flag on a date and saying, âHere comes the Gambit movie,â Foxâs way of letting us know that theyâre gonna at least attempt the âMarvel Methodâ with solo films leading up to event movies? Or they could be going the opposite route as rumors suggest Tatum will appear in âApocalypse,â so will his solo movie be set in the â80s like that one? Beats me, but it seems like thereâs a puzzle here that the instructions have been lost to.
After that comes another solo movie in Wolverine 3Â in 2017. Jackman is back, James Mangold is back, and theyâre busting at the seams to get started on this one. We all know the reputation that âOriginsâ has, and âThe Wolverineâ definitely won back some faith from the fans, but whatâs next? As cool as âOld Man Loganâ would be, itâs not exactly possible in its purest form without tons of other Marvel characters as the plot hinges on the inclusion of Red Skull, Mysterio, Hawkeye, Iron Man, The Hulk, Venom, and others, though arguably none of the âX-Menâ movies have adapted their stories in the purest form. Also for years Jackman was singing the praises of the Chris Claremont/Frank Miller âJapanâ storyline which he was finally able to adapt, but now what? Patrick Stewart recently said that the film could be a team-up movie pitting Professor X and Wolverine together, which would be interesting since it could actually offer us a sequel to âDays of Future Past.â Whatever Wolverine 3 becomes, itâs seemingly the curtain call for Jackman, and Iâd wager theyâre banking on Gambit and Deadpool to be the cornerstone of the franchise going forward.
A non-film question to consider is the proposed âX-Menâ TV series. Thereâs still no word on whether this will actually happen though, as Fox is still in negotiations with Marvel to make it a reality, but itâs in the cards. With all of the other successful comic-based shows on television itâs a no brainer to put X-Men on TV, but how is it tied to the movies? Or is it? Itâs possible that this show could be based on a more focused concept in the X-world like âX-Factor,â because I canât imagine them expanding the stories from the films on TV. If anything this will serve like âAgentâs of S.H.I.E.L.D.â a weekly jaunt for the fans that want it which will tie-in to the larger picture, but isnât required viewing. Donât expect it until 2016 at the very earliest though, provided it actually gets made.Â
There are two more question marks on the calendar, one with a release date and one without, but perhaps theyâre the same thing. Fox has a release date for an âUntitled Marvel Movieâ set for July 13, 2018. The guessing game tells us this is another X-Men movie since that keeps up the two-year pattern of release that âDOFPâ and âApocalypseâ have maintained, but what if itâs something else? A question long thrown at writer/producer Simon Kinberg, due to his involvement in both, is whether or not the new âFantastic Fourâ films will crossover with the âX-Men.â To me this seems like wanting the âRoboCopâ and âTerminatorâ franchise to crossover. Sure it sounds cool, and itâs worked before in other mediums, but one of them has so much going on that adding another string of continuity would be dangerous. Another reason being a frequent question from comic book fans â why are the likes of the Fantastic Four praised by the public yet the X-Men are hated? Maybe theyâll answer that question in a movie one day, but I donât think itâs this one.
The final question, which could in fact be that âUntitled Marvel Movie,â is X-Force. Thereâs a script for it out there, penned by Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow, and Iâm sure multiple drafts of it at that. I imagine that since the X-Men were already turned into this bizarre militaristic group in the Singer movies, that X-Force seems redundant, except that it (like Deadpool) allows the studio and filmmakers to introduce more characters and broaden the world of the X-Men. We know that many of the cast members in Deadpool had to sign a âthree series option,â not sequel, series, so are some characters in Deadpool being groomed for a future appearance in other movies? Perhaps X-Force? Weâll see.
I like the X-Men a lot, and I enjoy most of the movies, I just donât want Fox to bite off more than they can chew with the franchise. The whole thing seemed dead in the water after the one, two punch of âLast Standâ and âOrigins,â but they brought it back to life. Filmmakers came in and turned the series around, expanded its horizons, and made us realize why we care about these characters again. Iâve got faith that Singer, Kinberg, and Lauren Shuler Donner can keep this ship afloat. I just want to make sure theyâre keeping their eyes open for icebergs and not assuming it canât sink.