X-Men: Days of Future Past

X-Men: Days of Future Past is the sequel to both The Wolverine and X-Men: First Class that is currently filming. It is the seventh film in the X-Men film franchise.

Plot
"The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.  The beloved characters from the original 'X-Men' film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from 'X-Men: First Class,' in an epic battle that must change the past - to save our future."

Future

 * Patrick Stewart as older Charles Xavier
 * Ian McKellen as older Erik Lehnsherr
 * Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine
 * Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm
 * Ellen Page as Kitty Pryde
 * Shawn Ashmore as Bobby Drake/Iceman
 * Anna Paquin as Rogue
 * Daniel Cudmore as Peter Rasputin/Colossus
 * Omar Sy as Lucas Bishop
 * Booboo Stewart as James Proudstar/Warpath
 * Fan Bingbing as Clarice Ferguson/Blink
 * Adan Canto as Roberto DaCosta/Sunspot

Past

 * James McAvoy as Charles Xavier/Professor X
 * Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
 * Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique
 * Nicholas Hoult as Henry McCoy/Beast
 * Peter Dinklage as Bolivar Trask
 * Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver
 * Josh Helman as William Stryker, Jr.
 * Lucas Till as Alex Summers/Havok

Production History
In 2010, 20th Century Fox announced that it envisioned X-Men: First Class as the first leg of a second X-Men trilogy.

In 2011, X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn speculated that a sequel could be set "in the latter part of the [1960s] where you’ve got The Stones, The Beatles, Flower Power."

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner has said that the sequel may be set in the 1970s.

Writer and executive producer Bryan Singer has stated that it could be set around the Civil rights movement or the Vietnam War, and that Wolverine could once again be featured.

Actor James McAvoy expressed interest in seeing Charles Xavier get “really messed up” in the sequel and speculated that a third film could show his transition into a character closer to the one played by Patrick Stewart in the original trilogy.

Actor Michael Fassbender has said that he is "very excited" about the possibility of playing Magneto in a sequel.

Actress Jennifer Lawrence expressed interest in reprising her role as Mystique in a sequel.

Actress Rose Byrne revealed that she had signed on to play Moira MacTaggert in two more films in the X-Men franchise.

Actor Álex González has also said that he has signed on to play Riptide in two more films.

Actress January Jones has said that she would love play Emma Frost in another film.

Actor Lucas Till has said that he would like to reprise the role of Havok.

Actor Jason Flemyng has expressed interest in playing Azazel again, and exploring the origins of Nightcrawler.

Actor Hugh Jackman has said that he would like to return as Wolverine.

On 30 January 2012, Director Matthew Vaughn was confirmed to return along with producer Bryan Singer and writer Simon Kinberg.

In late September Patrick Stewart heavily implied that he would return for this film. In early October actress Famke Janssen expressed the possibility of her return as the Phoenix.

On 13 February 2012, Bryan Singer stated he had yet to decide whether he would include Nightcrawler among the cast. Actor Alan Cumming has gone on record saying he would be open to reprise the character if asked.

Trivia

 * Matthew Vaughn was supposed to return to direct this movie but he decided to decline. Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men films and a producer, was hired to direct.
 * Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were performing in a touring production of "Waiting for Godot" when Bryan Singer approached the actors about reprising their respective roles as Professor X and Magneto. McKellen has said both men were utterly shocked, as they thought to have passed the roles on to James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, and would never play the characters again. Both Stewart and McKellen were delighted to return to two of their most popular roles, and to work with the younger actors playing the same characters as well.
 * The "Days of Future Past" storyline was selected as this film's plot in part because it would allow the filmmakers to reconcile the continuity dissonance between "X-Men: First Class" and the original "X-Men" film series. The time travel element also allowed actors from the original series to appear in character once again, and remove certain elements from the original series continuity (in particular, the events of "X-Men: The Last Stand") that would allow the original series to continue in sequel films, as well as the new time line as set in "First Class."
 * The film is influenced by the "X-Men" comics 'Days of Future Past' (1981) and *'All-New X-Men' (2012), both of which involve time-traveling mutants who seek to change history for the better.
 * When Matthew Vaughn was going to direct, he was going to make the film a direct sequel to "X-Men: First Class" and have it set in the 1970s. Early ideas included an opening with the Kennedy assassination being caused by Magneto, and mutant encounters set in the Civil rights movement/the Vietnam War.
 * According to Bryan Singer, he had a two-hour discussion with James Cameron, director of the time-travel films "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", about how to make the time-travel concept feasible and workable within the film.
 * Alan Cumming declined to reprise his role as Nightcrawler from "X2" due to the heavy make-up demands for the character.
 * This is the third film in the X-Men series to be based on one of Chris Claremont's stories from the comic book. "God Loves, Man Kills" was the inspiration for "X2", while "The Dark Phoenix Saga" was included in that film and "X-Men: The Last Stand". Dark Phoenix and Days of Future Past have also both been adapted as episodes of the 'X-Men (1992) (TV)' animated series.
 * Unlike most of the actors who've appeared throughout the X-Men franchise, January Jones was not asked to reprise the role she originated in "X-Men: First Class".
 * Due to Halle Berry's pregnancy, Storm won't fly or have any fighting scenes in the film.
 * Including his cameo in "X-Men: First Class", this will be Hugh Jackman's seventh portrayal of Logan/Wolverine, raising his own record for the most times a comic book character has been played by the same actor in theatrical films. He will also be the only actor to appear in the entire X-Men film series.
 * Jason Flemyng was originally set to reprise his role as Azazel when Matthew Vaughn was still set to direct. When Vaughn left, the storyline was dropped in favor of the time travel/crossover storyline, and Azazel's role cut from the script to accommodate characters from the original "X-Men" film series.
 * John Ottman is the first composer to score more than one movie of the series.
 * The original story on which this film is based involved time travel from the year 2013, the same year in which filming began.
 * Jamie Campbell Bower and Nico Tortorella auditioned for the role of Quicksilver.
 * The addition of Evan Peters as Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver to the cast sparked wide discussion over the direction of the character who is also slated to appear in "Avengers: Age of Ultron". Quicksilver had been discussed previously as a potential character in both "X-Men: The Last Stand" and "The Avengers", but legal complexities over the license to the character resulted in his omission from both films. However, in May 2013 both Marvel and Fox Studios announced a resolution to the previous legal issues, and that Quicksilver would appear in this film as well as an Avengers sequel, though under certain parameters: no reference to Quicksilver's membership in the Avengers can be made in an "X-Men" film, and no allusion to his relations to the X-Men or Magneto (the character's father) can be made in an "Avengers" film; the rights agreement between Fox and Marvel even goes so far as to stipulate the character cannot be referred to as a "mutant" in any Marvel film. Additionally, the day after the announcement of Peters's casting, Marvel and Fox entered into a legal standoff over provisions of the rights agreement for the character, including the issue of whether Peters would be allowed to portray Quicksilver in any other film outside the "X-Men" franchise, possibly necessitating a second actor to play Quicksilver in any Marvel film, resulting in two different versions of the same character appearing in two competing film series. As of May 2013, this dispute which also includes the character Scarlet Witch (Quicksilver's twin sister) has yet to be resolved.
 * Patrick Stewart returns to the role of Professor Charles Xavier despite the character's apparent death in "X-Men: The Last Stand". Director Bryan Singer has said that this discontinuity will be addressed in the film, as well as the absence of Cyclops (James Marsden) and Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), both of whom were thought dead, though Singer has suggested otherwise.
 * Chris Claremont, the writer of the original 'Days of Future Past' comic, was brought on as a consultant.
 * This is the fourth X-Men film to be based on a Chris Claremont "X-Men" comic:"X2" was adapted from 'God Loves, Man Kills'"X-Men: The Last Stand" was based on 'The Dark Phoenix Saga'"The Wolverine" was based on his comic of the same title.
 * Bryan Singer filmed the mutant Quicksilver's scenes in a special format of 3600 frames per second. This was done to showcase Quicksilver's speed ability: 3600 fps is 150 times slower than normal film (which is at 24 fps), so Quicksilver will be seen moving to 150 times as fast as normal.
 * The four main female X-Men in the principal cast (Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Page, and Anna Paquin) are all Academy Award nominees.