Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen Back For 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past'

Prepare for a double dose of mutant powers: The X-Men of the past and future will collide in Bryan Singer's forthcoming sequel X-Men: Days of Future Past, which will bring Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Ian McKellen's Magneto together with their X-Men: First Class counterparts James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender in the same film, Singer announced today.

I'd like to officially welcome back James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, & Nicholas Hoult to #XMEN for #DaysOfFuturePast

— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) November 27, 2012

Thrilled to announce @ianmckellen118 & @sirpatstew are joining the cast of #XMEN #DaysOfFuturePast #magneto #professorX More to come...

— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) November 27, 2012

This should be exciting for X-Men fans, who've seen the comic book franchise flit around timelines and younger/older versions of the same characters since Singer's X-Men spawned a film universe of spin-offs and standalone superhero pics. This synopsis for X-Men: Days of Future Past explains how two Professor Xs and Magnetos can co-exist in the same film (via The Film Stage):

The storyline alternates between present day, in which the X-Men fight Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and a future timeline caused by the X-Men’s failure to prevent the Brotherhood from assassinating Senator Robert Kelly. In this future universe, Sentinels rule the United States, and mutants live in internment camps. The present-day X-Men are forewarned of the possible future by a future version of their teammate Kitty Pryde, whose mind traveled back in time and possessed her younger self to warn the X-Men.

It's a familiar tale to fans of the X-Men comic; the dystopian alternate future saga of Days of Future Past was a hugely popular storyline, adapted memorably in the animated X-Men series in episodes featuring the time-traveling Bishop. The original comic storyline featured Kitty Pryde in the pivotal time-traveling role; is it too much to hope for Ellen Page reprising her X3 character to bring the entire X-Men film franchise full circle? (Probably.)

X-Men: Days of Future Past is being scripted by Simon Kinberg, aiming for a July 18, 2014 release — excited, X-fans?

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