Matthew Vaughn’s X-Men: First Class breathed new life into a franchise in dire need of resuscitation after the fiasco that was Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand. By going back to where it all started, Vaughn was able to flesh out the stories of the series’ two cornerstone characters: Charles Xavier and Magneto. What resulted was a very satisfying film that focused a lot on character.
Strangely, after the success of X-Men: First Class, Matthew Vaughn opted out of any further sequels. One of the biggest reasons, of course, is that Bryan Singer wanted to take back control of the franchise. However, speaking to Uproxx, Vaughn reveals another surprising reason:
“The reason I haven’t done sequels in the past is they just weren’t exciting me. And on Days of Future Past, even though I co-wrote the bloody thing, the reason I bailed out of it is two things: First, I respect Bryan Singer hugely and X-Men is Bryan’s world and I feel he let me play in his sandbox. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my sandbox. I wanted my own sandbox. And, second, I didn’t want to do Days of Future Past next. I felt that one should be in a trilogy and Days of Future Past should be the finale of that story. I would have done a film in-between where you meet the young Wolverine and a new character, and then Days of Future Past became the young Wolverine and the old Wolverine and just really blow it out.”
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UPDATE: Vaughn has elaborated on his Young Wolverine idea during an interview with Deadline, stating that: “When we finished [the Days of Future Past screenplay], I remember saying to Simon Kinberg and Emma Watts; guys, this feels like it should be the third of the trilogy. It’s such a big concept. Why don’t we do another, one set in the ’70s, because of Young Wolverine, and then the third one is Days of Future Past, where you’re seeing the Young Wolverine with, let’s say it’s Tom Hardy and Hugh Jackman and all the other characters were together. For me, that’s the end of a trilogy. How do you beat that? And I got told no, and when I’m in my sandpit, I don’t like hearing no if I think it’s a good idea. I adore Bryan, and I thought, you know what, I’m going to hand the baton to him. Bryan was nice enough to give me the baton to run with. And I ran with it, and didn’t fall over, and I handed it back.”
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We’ve already gotten a prequel, of sorts, with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but most people agree that the film was probably just a collective hallucination. What would a younger Logan be like? Would they de-age Hugh, or go for a new actor entirely? Who knows? Maybe we will see a young Wolverine in the near future. After all, Hugh Jackman has hung up the claws, although 20th Century Fox is reportedly not keen on recasting him yet. However, in true comic-book fashion, he’s sure to make a return at some point.
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Originally published September 22, 2017. Updated December 18, 2019.
