There have been hints over the past few months that Bryan Singer could return to direct an X-Men film. Producer Lauren Shuler Donner said it was “a possibility” and now the director himself was asked whether he would return to the franchise at South Korea’s Pusan International Film Festival:
From THR:
“I’m still looking to possibly return to the ‘X-Men’ franchise. I’ve been talking to Fox about it,” Singer said.
“I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast,” he said, referring to the Australian actor who plays Wolverine.
Singer said he enjoyed making science fiction and fantasy movies because they allowed him to discuss serious issues through entertainment. He said the “X-Men” series, which follows a group of mutants with superpowers who struggle to fit in with humans, is about tolerance and social structures.
He said he likes to “trick audiences into thinking they’re seeing fireworks, but they’re learning about themselves and listening to what I have to say.”
“The excitement about working in science fiction and fantasy is — the stories, if they are good, are about the human condition,” Singer said.
The franchise peaked in 2003 with Singer’s X-Men 2, and it hasn’t reached the same level of greatness since. Sure, it’s still making $300 – 400 million every three years, but X3 and Wolverine could have been so much better.
Out of all the X-films lined up Singer will most likely return for either Wolverine 2 or X-Men: First Class. The second Wolverine film already has a writer, Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote the script for Singer’s The Usual Suspects. Hiring McQuarrie could have been Fox’s way of luring Singer back. First Class would give Singer the chance to go back to the origins of the X-Men, however that would mean he’d have to cast the characters he already cast nearly 10 years ago, and there will be no Hugh Jackman.
There is also a small chance he could direct X-Men Origins: Magneto, although Singer said back June that he’s already “lived in that universe” before having directed Apt Pupil and Valkyrie so he “might need to take a little break before I do something like that.”
