First The Wolverine 2 Production Details Announced

Could James Mangold's high-octane sequel feature Hugh Jackman's final performance as Wolverine?
Director James Mangold has today revealed the first details on the production schedule of 20th Century Fox's upcoming superhero film The Wolverine 2. The sequel to 2013's The Wolverine will pick up in the aftermath of this Summer's X-Men: Days of Future Past's continuity-bending storyline, as Hugh Jackman's Wolverine faces a deadly new international challenge and responds with an assertion that's sure to send shivers down the spines of villains everywhere- he's got absolutely nothing to lose this time.

Until now, you may not have realised that rumours are abound regarding Jackman's future in the X-Men franchise, and it seems pretty likely that his turn as the iconic immortal mutant in The Wolverine 2 will mark his final contribution to the film series overall. Could he be replaced by another actor? One thing's for sure, we wouldn't envy his successor in the slightest, and a good length of time may well pass before the role officially changes hands to allow fans to come to terms with Jackman's departure. Either way, here's the tweet which Mangold posted over the weekend:

@R__E__D_R__U__M @20centuryfox @ShuDonner We are figuring it all out. At the moment, I'm shooting The next #Wolverine after #XmenApocalypse.
— Mangold (@mang0ld) March 15, 2014

From this comment, then, the production schedule for the next three X-Men films appears pretty clear: Days of Future Past will wrap up on post-production in time for its release in two months' time, at which point director Bryan Singer and his writing team will get to work on X-Men: Apocalypse ahead of its May 2016 release, after which Mangold will pick up the baton and start filming his Wolverine follow-up. Jackman probably won't be involved in Apocalypse (bar perhaps a brief First Class-esque cameo), so we'd best make the most of his headline appearance in this Summer's time-travelling in-between-quel and his final solo venture five years (or so) from now.

X-Men: Days of Future Past claws its way into UK cinemas nationwide on May 22nd, while X-Men: Apocalypse rises from its tomb on May 27th, 2016.