UPDATE: Three Familiar Mutants Join Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past

UPDATE: Empire has an interview with director Bryan Singer in their new issue and has released some blurbs from the article. Some of the things that are covered include how how giant in scope X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST may be, as well as the complexities of the actual comic and his conversation with James Cameron. I’ll leave you with this nugget to speculate on:

“We’ve cracked it in a way that it makes sense. I had a two-hour conversation with James Cameron about time travel, string theory, multiverses and all that. You have to create your rules and stick with them. That’s why Terminator and Back To The Future work so well. And there are certain mechanisms in X-Men, certain powers, perceptions and characters, that make this possible.”

Original Article:

In order for X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST to work (for me anyways) is retaining cast members from the previous films. I’d love to see Nightcrawler again, but if it’s not Alan Cumming it may not be the same. Granted he’s completely covered in make up so visually it will look about the same, but if they’re really going hard with this “original/reboot team up” they have to get as many from the originals as possible. So far they’ve done a good job, but if you’ve read the “Days of Future Past” storyline from the comics, you’ve been waiting to see if a certain original member will be back.

Over the weekend Bryan Singer announced through his Twitter that Ellen Page, Anna Paquin, and Shawn Ashmore have been added to DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. Kitty Pryde plays a significant role in the story, and I’m glad Ellen Page is returning instead of it being re-cast.

Even if you didn’t like THE AVENGERS, you can’t deny its financial success. The critical acclaim for the film is all well and good, but the box office numbers are what really stand out especially to studio head honchos. THE DARK KNIGHT inspired films to chase after “Gritty Realism Money” and now THE AVENGERS has opened the doors to “Ensemble Film Money.” Some films may have already been in the works (JUSTICE LEAGUE, the possible Jack Ryan/Sam Fisher team up) but I guarantee you that they’ve gained traction recently because of those mind blowing numbers.

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST could turn out to be something special though, since it’ll be based on a pre-existing story arc with time travel elements. That means it’s less likely we’ll get characters or subplots that are forced into the film just for the sake of “Hey, remember Toad? He’s back! Isn’t that awesome nerds?”

X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST isn’t set for release for well over a year from now (July 18th, 2014)