The word on a possible X-Men 4 went back and forth even before X-Men 3 (which I thought was the weakest of the 3 films, but still kinda fun… and had the best battle scene of all 3) even hit the theaters. The word was that after X-Men 3 Fox was going to be finished with the X-Men. Then, after it made over $100 million on it’s opening weekend, we started to heard Fox execs talking about how there WOULD be an X-Men 4.
So is there or is there not going to be an X-Men 4 in the near future? Well… the answer is yes and no.
No, there probably won’t be an actual movie with the title “X-Men 4” anytime soon. As a matter of fact, actor Shawn Ashmore (Iceman) just talked with ShockTillYouDrop and basically said he’s heard nothing about a possible fourth installment:
I would love to do another film, but I think they’re doing these spin-offs and origin stories, so I can’t see in the near future there being an “X-Men 4” but I have no idea to tell you the truth, it’s really hard to say. I’m holding my breath, waiting for it to happen, but I’m not sure if it will or not.
But here’s the thing… it really all is just a matter of semantics. When the whispers of an X-Men 4 started coming up, it was pretty much understood that it would focus much more on Wolverine (an obvious decision since he is the most popular character in the X-Men universe). And now we have that movie already filming. Oh it’s not called “X-Men 4”, but it does have the same guy as Wolverine back again, with other characters from the X-Men universe in the film with him. We also have a Magneto movie coming… all in the same universe in the same timeline as the X-Men movies.
So yes, there is an X-Men 4… they just called it “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” instead.
So will there be an actual X-Men 4 film anytime soon? I wouldn’t hold my breath, but anything is possible. To me Wolverine is X-Men 4, so either way is doesn’t really matter to me.