With DoFP we know the timeline has changed and that has brought a whole new set of possibilities for future films.
And with that, the future for the franchise can be rewritten, starting with the new confirmed upcoming film, Age of Apocalypse. In the teaser at the end of DoFP we saw a young Apocalypse with four shadowy figures in the background representing his infamous four horsemen. Speculating who they could be in the present timeline in the films has led to many combinations and protrayals. One of them beng Wolverine. Here is why i think that would be a good idea and where it could lead.
First, I would like to post a screen cap of the comment that led me to all this ideas you are about to read.
It has also be speculated that since Singer and Kinberg do not want to fully discredit the previous X-Men trilogy, some of the next films will have some type of connection or some sort of similarities with the original trilogy for one way or another.
Now bear with me, because this is going to sound eerily familiar to a previous majority agreed disaster of a movie.. X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Instead of having the wolverine two, they could retcon The Wolverine and have Wolverine(Logan) join weapon x, along with Maverick(Christop Nord), Silver Fox and Sabretooth(Victor Creed). Just the four of them to flesh out the characters a bit more. (This could also be used to give wolverine his costume, since he is being a covert agent for the cia.. same could be done for sabretooth and at least maverick's face mask.)
The weapon x program could give wolverine his adamantium back after magneto ripped it off of him in AoA.
While at the same time extract samples of his DNA to make X-23.
Since we kind of already know the deal with wolverine and silver fox from origins the whole set up to their relationship could be somewhat skipped, or just incorporate some "lover banter" within missions to kind of flesh out their relationship. Sabretooth's animosity towards Wolverine would stem from Wolverine being top dog, given that he "is the best there is at what he does" , and Sabretooth doesn't like being second best. Like in origins he is also trying to get adamantium. During a mission to retrieve an "important package", sabretooth's anger and jealousy comes to a boiling point over differences on how to go about with the mission and has to stand down and follow wolverine's lead. (trying to stick closer to source material but at the same time make up plot lines.) Wolverine orders Sabretooth to stay behind with Silver Fox and follow her orders while he and Maverick take charge and advance towards their target.
They reach a laboratory and find a briefcase that matches the description they were given.
Sabretooth and Silver Fox get attacked by a bunch of mercenaries/foot soldiers. They get rushed and are able to dispatch some of them. Then we get a shadow walking towards the fight and it turns out to be Omega Red.
Omega Red jumps in and starts beating up on Sabretooth who takes advantage of Silver Fox being distracted fighting off the mercenaries and atacks and then throws her towards Omega Red giving him time to run away. Omega catches her with his tentacles and slams her hard against the floor, knocking her out. He follows and catches up to Sabretooth who runs into Wolverine and Maverick, there they get into a fight and Omega Red is able to get the upper hand. Maverick gets heavily wounded while the other two engage Omega Red once again. Wolverine distraught by not seing Silver Fox cannot concentrate fully in the fight and gets beat up. Sabretooth wants to once again run away and tells Logan that they should abort the mission. not wanting to leave without Silver Fox, he finally complies after Creed lies and tells him she had left for backup. they finally retreat, the mission fails and back at base, the team, minus Silver Fox who happens to be held hostage by Omega Red, meet and things get heated.
They then get sent back to retrieve the "rest of the package" they were supposed to get during the previous failed mission. Wolverine's sole purpose for going back is to rescue Silver Fox, while Creed goes because he is told that the package is the final "piece of the puzzle" and it will allow him to get adamantium like Wolverine. Not knowing they are being lied to they set out on the mission.
When they arrive, Omega Red is there already waiting for them. Omega Red turns out to be a creation of Weapon X created to eliminate the team whenever they would start to get out of hand. Wolverine learns Silver Fox is dead and he attacks Omega Red, while Sabretooth waits and picks his spot as to when to jump in. Sensing defeat, Omega Red lies to sabretooth and tells him that he can help give him the adamantium he so desperately wants and they team up against Wolverine. Not being able to withstand the simultanious attack from the two of them, Wolverine goes down. With victory within reach, Omega Red stands over Wolverine and gloats over killing Silver Fox wich makes Wolverine gather some strenth and attacks them again. Sabretooth mad that Omega Red didnt finished him off starts berating him, and Omega Red attacks Sabretooth which turns the fight into a free-for-all.
Logan fights them because they killed the woman he loved, Sabretooth bacause of his hatred towards Wolverine and mad that Omega Red didn't take out Logan when he had the chance, and Omega Red fights becuase he was ordered to kill them and he wants the package they took which turns out to be the Carbonadium Synthesizer.
The fight is a brutal slugfest, with Omega Red getting the upper hand. With Logan very weak Omega Red turns his attention to Sabretooth and pummels him really bad.
He then turns to Wolverine and prepares to strike him with his tenticles, while at the same time telling him that killing Silver Fox was easy, mainly because Sabretooth attacked her first and basically gave her to him for the coup de grâce. This makes Wolverine go berserk and viciously attacks him nearly killing him.
He then goes to retrieve the body of Silver Fox and rigs the place with explosives before he leaves. The movie ends with Logan standing over the grave of silver fox and he turns and starts walking away alone once more.
An after-credits teaser-scene can be used to introduce Alpha Flight.
The scene would consist of the Head of Department H talking to the camera and explaining that there have been activities involving super-powered individuals and those activities have managed to spill to Canadian territory. Then the camera rotates and reveals Alpha Flight listening and Guardian adjusting his gloves getting ready to set out on the search.
(I had preciously mentioned how giving Wolverine his costume could work on the "previous film"*, but i thnk it would fit better and not feel so out of place in the "Alpha Flight movie"*.)
This ending could work and would benefit the franchise for a few reasons.
1. It would help state that Logan is and has been a loner for most of his life and doesnt team up with the X-men until well after he has had a lot of solo adventures.
Wolverine can have a couple more solo movies (or at least one), the first one being the one mentioned above set after AoA. the movies would span somewhere between a decade or two before meeting Prof. Xavier and joining the team. Since AoA is set in the 80s and Wolverine doesn't meet the X-men again until the late 90s.
2. With Wolverine out of the X-Men team, it can help to introduce Cyclops. That in turn would work to flesh him out and make him the team leader that everyone has been wanting for the longest.
That can also give time for the audience to get attached to the Cyclops character and therefore have more than one reason to go see an X-Men film without Wolverine taking center stage.
It can help to sort of give/start up Fox Studios' own "cinematic universe" without having to include the fantastic four right away. After AoA there could be the next Wolverine movie (which i tried to make a case for in this article), followed by an X-Men film with cyclops establishing himself as team leader while fighting of Mr. Sinister.
(Which would be followed by Wolverine being rescued/recruited into the Alpha Flight team, which was hinted at the end of the Wolverine movie idea from before.)
3. Having Wolverine separated or not being a part of the X-men on screen for three films (which could equal to 6 -8 years depending on how long they take to release the films) could bring the opportunity to have a "crossover" of wolverine/X-men films.
(The fourth film in line, second X-men based, would still focus mainly on the team and Cyclops' skill as team leader while at the same time clashing with Wolverine for the first half of the film over how to lead the team.
(Villain still to be decided.)
It will have the Legacy Virus as a sub-plot infecting a couple of the X-Men and therefore justifying Wolverine's presence and need to help/join the team.
At the end of the film we see Logan coming to terms with Cyclops being the leader leader after in Wolverine's eyes, proving himself.
This works for the franchise because it would keep the spotlight on Cyclops where Wolverine is making a sort of extended cameo and since Hugh jackman will be older he will not have to carry the movie in turn letting him rest and be fresh for his next film.
After-credits teaser-scene:
Professor Xavier keeping an eye on things notices that Wolverine's way is efficient but at the same time brutal and makes a plan for him. The next Wolverine film will be set up at the end of the crossover with Xavier telling Logan that he has a project for him, a group of mutants with a lot of potential but who are very headstrong and want to do things their own way, and needs him to polish them and be their leader, which would turn out to be the rumoured X-Force film, making this the fifth film after DoFP. This could help to expand the X-men cinematic universe further.
)
4. X-Force can be used to introduce Domino, Thunderbird, Psylocke, Deadpool (if by any chance he still hasn't gotten his own film yet), and bring in X-23 (who could be the antagonist on the Alpha Flight movie trying to capture Logan by any means necessary).
There could be small references of the Fantastic Four peppered throughout the films to set up a crossover that would focus on the Onslaught event.
*(wishful thinking)
**(wishful thinking/not necessary interaction)
After Days of Future Past (released) we could have:
Fantastic Four: Reboot (confirmed)
Age of Apocalypse (confirmed)
Wolverine: Rebirth*
X-Men: Sinister Ways*
Wolverine: Alpha*
X-Men/Wolverine reunion/crossover: Legacy* (alluding to the legacy virus)
X-Force*
X-Men: Magneto's War*
Onslaught: X-Men/X-Factor*
Fantastic Four: 2** (set between "Sinister Ways" and "Wolverine: Alpha")
Onsaulght: Fantastic Four** (could be a third F4 film, not necessary as it could be skipped in favor of):
Onslaught: X-Men/X-Force/Fantastic Four: crossover**
Now, I am no screenwriter so help me out a bit.
What do you guys think? Is there a way this could work out this way? What would you change? How would you set up the expansion of Fox's Cinematic Universe?