The X-Men franchise is in trouble. Actually, let me rephrase that. The main series is in trouble. The franchise itself is doing just fine, in fact. Deadpool is laughing all the way to the bank, and perhaps even the Academy Awards stage, and Josh Boone’s New Mutants is shaping up quite nicely. Then there’s also that proposed television show that has people excited. But what about the next film starring the core cast of characters? Well, right now we really don’t know what’s going on there.
20th Century Fox is apparently looking to reboot things given the poor critical and commercial performance of X-Men: Apocalypse, and they may use The Dark Phoenix storyline to do so. But that’s all speculation at this point because as of yet, the studio hasn’t indicated what route they’ll be taking, stating that they’re still figuring things out. Could they be holding back on us, though? Quite possibly.
A recent production listing has been spotted this week and it points to not one, but two X-Men films in the works, set to be shot this spring in Montreal. Said projects are the aforementioned New Mutants and the mysterious X-Men: Supernova. Cue the speculation train.
No further details were revealed, and this very well could be some kind of mistake, but let’s assume for a moment that it’s not. We already know that Sophie Turner, Alexandra Shipp and Tye Sheridan will be back for more mutant shenanigans due to their multi-picture contracts, and while some of the other cast members might not be returning, those three aforementioned actors are definitely a start.
Plus, Simon Kinberg has been working on the script to the sequel for a while now and is said to be quite far along with it, from what we’ve heard. So, all things considered, Supernova (or whatever it’s ultimately titled), could be ready to go before cameras this spring.
Again, this could just all be one big misunderstanding, or perhaps the listing is referring to some other film set in the X-Men universe, like an unannounced spinoff? Either way, it’s definitely intriguing and with production gearing up to begin in just a few months, we should find out one way or another just what Supernova is all about quite soon.