'X-Men: First Class' Sequel Will Be 'Days Of Future Past'

First Class was pretty great in my humble opinion, especially in comparison with The Last Stand and... shudder... Origins. While I think the Wolverine sequel has some potential, I'm definitely looking forward to the new First Class (Second Class?) more. That goes double now that we've learned that the new film will be based on one of the most revered X-Men storylines, Days of Future Past.

The title was revealed by producer Bryan Singer, who added this vital bit of information, "It deals with aspects of that comic, but also some very new things." Some new things indeed! Exciting stuff.

Sarcasm aside, Days of Future Past is a great place to begin building. The 1981 story arc featured an alternate future where mutants came under public fire after the assassination of a senator. Giant robots called Sentinels were built to hunt down mutants, while Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) mentally travels back in time to warn the X-Men.

It seems unlikely that Ellen Page will be reprising her X-Men: The Last Stand role as Shadowcat, or even that the film will feature time travel at all. Instead, I'm guessing it will have to do more with mutant persecution, and perhaps if we're lucky, a little Sentinel action.

Although, now that First Class has sort of established its own canon, separate from the original trilogy plus Wolverine, it doesn't seem to farfetched that the film could take some crazy directions.

We'll find out more when the film goes into production in January 2013, when Jennifer Lawrence finishes shooting the Hunger Games sequel. Days of Future Past is tentatively scheduled for a July 18, 2014 release.