Last week, the internet went wild when ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ director Bryan Singer tweeted out a teaser announcing the next chapter in the X-Men film franchise, ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’. Later on in the day, the studio confirmed that it would be released in May 2016. Other than that, there were no other details available when the news dropped. However, it looks like a few outlets may have stumbled upon some juicy bits of information.

According to Bleeding Cool, the announcement from the filmmaker and 20th Century Fox confirmed some intel that they received a while back that they only treated as rumors until Singer revealed the title of the next X-film. Their sources say that ‘Apocalypse’ will be a direct continuation of ‘DOFP’ and there will be a “clear narrative thread that will string the two pictures together, and the character of Apocalypse is a good part of how this will work”. Their report also says that nearly the entire cast from both the “past” and “present” timelines are meant to be brought back for the next movie, but another outlet seems to have some varying information.

Age of Apocalypse Cyclops

While the filmmaker was the one who announced the news of the next X-Men film, it was never really established that he would be directing. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time that he stepped aside and only produced one of these movies. So to set the record straight, Vulture learned later that Singer is indeed directing the follow-up to ‘DOFP’, marking the first time the director has done back to back X-Men films since he began the franchise back in 2000. Their report also says that the 2016 film will be a direct continuation of the upcoming summer 2014 blockbuster, however, they say that ‘Apocalypse’ will focus strictly on the ‘First Class’ group of characters featuring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult.

Considering the dueling nature of this news, it’s likely that the script is still in the early stages and has gone through a few drafts that people have laid eyes on, so it’s probably best to take these reports lightly for now. Plus, with alternate timelines in play, who knows what could end up appearing at any moment in a film based on the acclaimed 90s X-Men storyline.

If it were up to me, I would say that Singer should use this opportunity to bring back Cyclops and Jean Grey. Both of them were in the original ‘Age of Apocalypse’ story and they didn’t really get a fair shake from Brett Ratner’s ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, so I think they deserve a second chance on the big screen.

Which cast do you think should be in the spotlight of ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’? Do you see the story working out better with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan’s cast or are you in favor of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy’s team? Share your picks in the comments below.

‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ is scheduled for release on July 18, 2014, while ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ comes out on May 27, 2016.