By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

Matthew Vaughn, who directed the widely successful X-Men: First Class, will not be returning for its sequel, X-Men: Days of the Future Past.

Vaughn has opted not to direct the film, though he will remain on board as a producer. He has instead chosen to pursue The Secret Service, an original treatment he penned with Mark Millar.

Many are speculating could lead to the return of Bryan Singer, who directed X-Men and X2: X-Men United.

Days of the Future Past was a story published in the pages of Uncanny X-Men #141 and 142 in 1981. Written by Chris Claremont and pencilled by John Byrne, it gave readers a look at an alternate future where mutants are hunted and imprisoned in camps. The older Kitty Pryde of this dystopian future transfers her consciousness into the mind of her younger self, so that she and the X-Men can prevent this reality from ever existing.

In other X-Men news, word has surfaced that The Wolverine, which will see Hugh Jackman reprise his role as the title character, is NOT a prequel, as X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: First Class were.

“Where this film sits in the universe of the films is after them all,” director James Mangold revealed in an interview with Empire. ”Jean Grey is gone, most of the X-Men are disbanded or gone, so there’s a tremendous sense of isolation for him.”

Mangold said the film’s placement after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand was important to him from a creative standpoint.

“I wanted to be able to tell the story without the burden of handing it off to a film that already exists and having to conform to it,” he said. “The ideas of immortality reign very heavily in this story and the burden of immortality weighs heavily on Logan. For me that’s such an interesting part of Logan’s character that is nearly impossible to explore if you have a kind of league or team movie.”

The Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada and Hal Yamanouchi, is scheduled for a July 26, 2013 release. X-Men: Days of the Future Past comes out July 18, 2014.

 Source and Image 2: ComingSoon.net.
For more X-Men, check out Avengers vs. X-Men and Wolverine MAX #1.
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