Fox’s Fantastic Four reboot, directed by Chronicle’s Josh Trank, doesn’t come out for another month yet, but already rumors are swirling about where the franchise could go next. A sequel to Fantastic Four is already set to come out in just two years, and Trank is almost certainly not coming back. This of course means that Fox is going to be making announcements soon in regards to where that franchise is headed, and who will direct the inevitable sequel.

Well, the current rumor of the moment is that X-Men helmer Bryan Singer is being looked at to take the reins of Fantastic Four 2, leading to an X-Men/Fantastic Four crossover film in 2018. Although recent rumors had X-Men: Apocalypse as Singer’s last mutant film, that might have been a wee bit premature. After all, money talks.

There are some reasons to believe that this rumor is, at least partially, based on truth. We know that Fox has some kind of X-Men movie slated for summer 2018, and without Hugh Jackman as Wolverine starring in it (2017’s third Wolverine movie will be his last time popping the adamantium claws), a new X-Men film would need something major to draw in audiences. It also wouldn’t likely star Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique or Michael Fassbender as Magneto either; both actors’ X-Men movie contracts are officially up with next year’s X-Men: Apocalypse. A crossover film with the FF could be just the ticket to make that particular X-Men movie an event, especially with those big name actors likely staying out of it.

Of course, just because Singer might be involved with a Fantastic Four 2 doesn’t mean he’ll direct it; I have a hard time imagining he’d take the sequel to someone else’s franchise, especially so soon after X-Men: Apocalypse. It’s far more likely that he, along with X-Men series producer Simon Kinberg, would co-produce an FF sequel, setting up a potential X-Men/Fantastic Four crossover movie, which then I could see Singer directing himself.

Of course, this could all be preparation for an even bigger movie. Take this with a truckload of salt, but another rumor floating around this week is that Fox and Marvel are secretly patching things up, in preparation for an Avengers/X-Men movie in 2020. Although it has been said for years that Fox and Disney/Marvel aren’t exactly cozy (to say the least), as I said above, money talks, and just what could be big enough to follow Avengers: Infinity War? If it is true (and again, take it with a huge grain of salt here, folks), then an X-Men/FF crossover would have to happen before that, or it’s just going to seem like small potatoes after an AvX movie. Food for thought. In the meantime, let’s all cross our fingers that Fantastic Four is good enought to even warrant a sequel, much less a crossover with the X-Men.

[HT: This Is Infamous &  Comic Planet Culture]