With the resurgence of the X-Men films led by Logan and Deadpool, it’s easy to forget that the franchise was in real trouble just a few years ago. In 2011, Matthew Vaughn‘s X-Men: First Class did a lot to reinvigorate the X-Men with a fresh cast and a story set in the ’60s. But if Vaughn had his way, the second entry in the new trilogy would have put the focus back on Wolverine.
While speaking with Collider, Vaughn revealed why he left Days of Future Past even though he co-wrote the script. The first reason was that he wanted to explore his own “sandbox,” which led him to Kingsman. But the other reason was that he disagreed about which film should be next. “I didn’t want to do Days of Future Past next,” said Vaughn. “I felt that one should be in a trilogy and Days of Future Past should be the finale of that story. I would have done a film in-between where you meet the young Wolverine and a new character, and then Days of Future Past became the young Wolverine and the old Wolverine and just really blow it out.â€
In retrospect, Days of Future Past does make a lot more sense as the end of a trilogy, since it gave the original cast a happy ending that they didn’t really get the first time, while resolving most of the redemptive arc for Mystique that made her into a more heroic figure. It’s not clear whether Vaughn meant that he would cast a younger actor to play Wolverine in the distant past or tell a story with Hugh Jackman‘s Wolverine. But we would have definitely been interested either way.
You can read the rest of Vaughn’s remarks at Collider, where he goes on to point out a few changes that Bryan Singer made to the Days of Future Past script, which Vaughn ultimately supported.
Would you still want to see Vaughn’s take on a young Wolverine movie? Pop your claws in the comment section below!
Images: 20th Century Fox
