by: S. Scott Stanikmas – Senior Staff Writer

Even though X-Men: Apocalypse still has a few weeks until it hits theaters nothing is stopping FOX from looking forward to the future. Producer Simon Kinberg has already told us that the fourth film in the new timeline will follow suit and jump forward at least a decade and take place in the 90s. And now there are rumblings regarding just where the film might take place.

Director Bryan Singer recently talked with Fandango regarding where the series is heading after Apocalypse and he wasn’t shy about what direction he sees the franchise going (think UP):

Another thing that’s been introduced in the comics is a big alien, interstellar tenant within the X-Men universe that hasn’t been explored. And to me, that might be kind of fun because I’m a huge Star Wars and Star Trek fan, and exploring the X-Men universe and being able to utilize that would be exciting, visually.

To many this says that Singer wants to introduce the alien empire known as the Shi’ar, who were prominently displayed in the epic Dark Phoenix Saga from Chris Claremont and John Byrne. To go further into that I’m actually going to be talking about Apocalypse so I’ll tag this as SPOILERS for those who don’t want anything ruined…

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Still here? Alright!

So at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse we see Jean Grey unleash what could be her full potential in a psychic battle with Apocalypse himself. In the end she manifests what looks to be a giant fiery bird behind her as she unleashes a powerful attack. Astute comic book fans will recognize this as the Phoenix Force, which she attains in outer space.

This could just be a teasing for the Dark Phoenix storyline, as it seems too early to progress to that. We’ve only just been introduced to Jean (and a slew of other classic characters) in this film. We need a chance to let them grow on us before you throw something like the Dark Phoenix at us.

If they introduced space travel and another interstellar threat – say, The Brood (a parasitic alien race) – and THEN did Dark Phoenix for the next film I would definitely be behind that.

But before we get to that point we’ve got X-Men:Apocalypse to look forward to. The film comes out May 27 and my review will be up on the site later this week.