Fans of X-Men: First Class can let out a collective sigh: 20th Century Fox will be moving forward with a sequel to last summer’s superhero prequel hit. And you know a studio is serious about it when they hire the director of the first film, Matthew Vaughn, to reprise his duties.
The news is great for fans of “First Class,” which received positive word of mouth from critics and audiences alike but failed to generate the “holy crap” box-office numbers of past “X-Men” installments. No doubt the less remarkable reactions (opinion-wise, at least) to X-Men Origins: Wolverine and "The Brett Ratner Movie We Don’t Talk About" didn’t help pave the way for “First Class” to be a smashing success, but it was a success all the same.
Fox is looking to capitalize on the wave of love that has been building since last summer brought the mutants back to fighting form. Not only will Vaughn return to direct, but also Bryan Singer—director of the first two films in the series and producer of “First Class”—is back to produce. Most if not all of the principal players from "First Class" will return for the sequel.
Several months back, Singer toyed with some ideas for a sequel, which was no guarantee at the time. More recently, Vaughn chimed in with the idea that the sequel could take the crew into the '70s, potentially starting with the JFK Assassination, the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Of course, none of this is official (a script is still needed), but given the richness of the era and how well it bonds with the "X-Men" mythos, it is fun to think of the possibilities now that all systems are go on a follow-up.
