Bryan Singer is moving fast with the "X-Men: Days of Future Past" project shortly after he's tapped as the new helmer for the sequel. The "Valkyrie" director has announced some casting news from the upcoming film, confirming that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have officially joined the follow-up to "X-Men: First Class".
Stewart and McKellen are set to reprise their roles as Professor X and Magneto respectively after they both tackled the characters in the original 2000's "X-Men" and 2003's "X2", which both were directed by Singer himself. "Thrilled to announce @ianmckellen118 & @SirPatStew are joining the cast of #XMEN #DaysOfFuturePast #magneto #professorX More to come...," so Singer tweeted upon announcing the news.
The filmmaker additionally confirmed, "I'd like to officially welcome back James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, & Nicholas Hoult to #XMEN for #DaysOfFuturePast." Those actors will return as Professor X, Mystique, Magneto and Beast respectively.
With McAvoy and Fassbender playing the younger versions of Professor X and Magneto, Stewart and McKellen's return as the same characters will stir interesting speculations on the plot. So far, it is only known that "Days of Future Past" is based on Uncanny X-Men #141 and 142 back in 1981 during Chris Claremont and John Byrne's run.
The story introduced the idea of an alternate future for the Marvel mutants that grew out of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants killing an important senator, leading to a future where all mutants are hunted by Sentinels.
The movie is scheduled to arrive in cinemas Stateside on July 18, 2014.
