According to “X-Men: Apocalypse” writer and producer Simon Kinberg, the 2016 Twentieth Century Fox installment is currently considered the ending of the 60s-and-70s arc following younger versions of characters Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) that began with 2011’s “X-Men: First Class.”

“There will be familiar characters and new characters that we haven’t seen…ever…but it’ll be the completion of what we began in First Class,” Kinberg told Yahoo! UK during a Fan Q&A.

The goal appears to be to provide a resolution for the characters that have been incarnated twice in the movies by different actors, wrote Eric Eisenberg of Cinemablend, which begs the question of where the franchise will go after ostensibly retiring these vital members of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters.

Hugh Jackman, whose portrayal of Wolverine linked the two movie time periods in 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” has also expressed reluctance to continue the role after the standalone Wolverine movie, as he told Moviefone in April.

“I’m excited to see what we can come up with, but I haven’t signed on. I’m genuinely at that point where unless it’s better than the last one I’m not going to do it,” he said.

Without these integral members of the X-Men team, though, an obvious  question is raised: Who are they going to make movies about now?

Eisenberg posits that the easiest answer would be to focus on the origins of the in-between characters like Cyclops, Jean Gray and Storm, whose younger years have not received any screen time so far.

Eisenberg mentions the possibility of an X-Force movie, although without Wolverine, that could also become problematic eventually, or Alpha Flight, which involves distinctly Canadian superheroes and could be interesting to pitch to American audiences.

Twentieth Century Fox could also send the franchise the opposite direction in time, focusing on Cable, the son of Cyclops whose young life is a tangle of cloning attempts and time travel, but who spends his adult life as a mercenary leader and freedom fighter – plenty of material to spring for another movie or two set in the later 20th century.

Twentieth Century Fox has announced a Deadpool movie to be released in 2016, which is a peripheral part of the X-Men universe. Although the production company could choose to focus on standalone movies until they can justify another X-Men reboot, my hope is that they will branch out into the occasionally weird, generally interesting teams and characters of the X-Men world.

[email protected]