I, like many, had assumed that X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST would be the final sendoff for most of the original X-MEN cast, including (and maybe particularly) Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. However, while promoting his role in MATCH, Stewart made some comments to Oregon Live that would suggest otherwise:
”I understand that it seems to be very unlikely that I will be in the next X-MEN movie, which is almost getting ready to start shooting in Montreal…But Magneto, Ian McKellen, is certainly going to be in it. And what I'm very excited about is that we have been talking about a Wolverine movie, which would team Hugh Jackman and myself together. Wolverine and Professor Xavier. That would be a very different sort of X-MEN from the four movies that I've already done…I'd just like to get to drive his motorbike, I think.”
Note that he specifically mentions that McKellen will be returning as Magneto, presumably alongside Michael Fassbender as his younger incarnation. No idea how they’d get that to work; even if the future events of DOFP have been completely undone, I haven’t the foggiest on how they’d tie in Old Magneto into the ‘80s-set events of APOCALYPSE. Maybe as a vision reminding young(er) Wolverine of the shape of things to come?
As for the third WOLVERINE spinoff w/ Jackman and Stewart, the latter’s comments certainly hint that it’d be set during the time that the original cast, such as Famke Jannsen, James Marsden, and Halle Berry, would still be roaming the halls of Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters. Then there was this quote Jackman gave to SFX magazine (via ScreenRant) when asked if the story would feature the Old Man Logan storyline from the comics:
”“I think that would be fascinating, and I think that I can’t really answer that question because you’re onto something.”
So it’s also possible the third (and probably final) WOLVERINE solo outing will take place in the distant future, with a mostly new cast of characters. Save for apparently Xavier, who’s willing to come along just for a shot on Wolvie’s bike.
Now these are just offhand comments Stewart made to a local paper, and may be only partially (if at all) accurate, but it certainly gets the ol’ cracker barrel working, doesn’t it?
Whatever happens, it doesn't seem that we can look forward to further interactions between Stewart and McKellen as their respective characters. Shame, given that their dynamic was one of the strongest achievements of the X-MEN series, but after the epic sci-fi drama of DOFP (and their touching final moments), I suppose even a little more of either of them is plenty good enough.
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE brings forth the Four Horsemen on May 27th, 2016, while WOLVERINE: THIRD TIME’S A CHARM berserkers across the screen on March 3, 2017.
