Could the X-Men movie universe, as started by Bryan Singer back in 2000 with the original X-Men movie and extends into next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse and 2017’s third Wolverine movie, be coming to an end? King of the moviescoopers El Mayimbe is hearing that may very well be the case, and posted this to his Instagram:
So could this really be the end? Right now I’d say it’s a 50/50 proposition, with good arguments for and against it happening anytime soon.
Reasons for a Reboot:
By the time Wolverine 3 comes out in 2017, that’ll be nine movies set in the Singer mutant-verse. That’s quite a lot, and the continuity with these movies is all kinds of screwy now, thanks to the events of Days of Future Past. Also, the big stars behind this franchise, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and most especially Hugh Jackman, who has been the face of this series throughout, are said to be very done after the next two movies. While you can arguably continue the X-Men franchise without a Magneto or a Mystique, Wolverine is the star of the show (as awesome as First Class was, it was the lowest grossing in the series, and that’s no doubt to not having Wolverine in the mix for more than a cameo).
A full-on X-Men reboot also might be the opportunity for Fox to do what Sony is doing with Spider-Man, and use a new film to tie into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While relations between Marvel and Fox are said to be not so cozy at the moment, if Fox sees that the Spidey reboot within the MCU is successful, they might look at that as an opportunity to give an X-Men reboot added interest to moviegoers who, by this point, will have been through nine X-Men movies. People might be more interested in a new actor as Wolverine if they know they might see him fight the Hulk for example, or meet up with the Avengers.
Reasons Against A Reboot:
Last year’s X-Men: Days of Future Past essentially was a reboot already; the events of X-Men. X2, X-Men: The Last Stand and (thank God) X-Men: Origins Wolverine no longer happened, even if Wolverine remembers them. X-Men: Apocalypse is therefore, for all intents and purposes, already the reboot you’ve been waiting for, even if we’re locked into a future where we know that Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, and Charles Xavier are all alive and well, as seen by the end tag of Days of Future Past. Everything that happens from now on is more or less a blank slate for filmmakers to play in. Also, Fox is starting up both a Deadpool and a Gambit franchise, both of which are said to tie into the newly altered X-Men timeline. If you reboot the whole X-Men franchise yet again, what becomes of those two?
In my opinion, this is all up in the air depending on just how well the various X-movies that come out next year do at the box office. If they do gangbusters business, then I think a full on X-Men reboot is further down the line. And if they don’t? Well, we all might be waiting in line to see The Uncanny X-Men in 2019.
HT: El Mayimbe
