The next instalment in the X-Men franchise will hit our screens here in the UK on May 19 – and a week later in the US – and it’s shaping up to the biggest and baddest of the bunch so far. To help promote X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer and the huge cast have been doing a ton of interviews and as part of latest issue of Empire Magazine, Singer elaborated on his future with the franchise and what villain he might want to see next.

Singer’s next project is the big screen adaptation of the classic Jules Verne novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but the director was asked if this would be his last foray into the mutant franchise:

“Abondoning the franchise is not something I think about. But I could not roll into another X-Men movie tomorrow. And I hope not to. I hope to take a break.”

He was then asked about Wolverine’s involvement and where would he go after battling a villain as huge as Apocalypse:

“As a central character, [Wolverine] didn’t fit into this particular story…I’d love to use Proteus somehow…There’s a lot visually you could do with a character like that.”

SEE ALSO: X-Men: Apocalypse promo images featuring Jean Grey, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Storm, Psylocke and Angel

Interesting comments from Singer. He confirms Wolverine isn’t a central character – which we already knew – but doesn’t rule out a cameo. What’s even more interesting is that he admits that he wants to continue making more X-Men movies and has already been thinking about using Proteus as a villain.

Proteus is Kevin McTaggert – the mutant son of Moira McTaggert – whose powers consist of possession and reality warping. He was first introduced in Uncanny X-Men in 1979 and also made an appearance in the 90’s animated TV show.

What are thoughts on this? Do you want Singer to keep making X-Men movies? What villains would you like tackled next?

SEE ALSO: Follow all of our X-Men coverage here

X-Men: Apocalypse is set for release on May 18th, 2016 in the UK and May 27th, 2016 in the States. The cast includes X-Men veterans James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Evan Peters (Quicksilver), Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert) and Lucas Till (Havok) along with newcomers Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Apocalypse, Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan (Mud) as Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp (House of Anubis) as Storm, Kodi Smit-McPhee (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as Nightcrawler, Ben Hardy (EastEnders) as Angel, Olivia Munn (Magic Mike) as Psylocke and newcomer Lana Condor as Jubilee.

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via CBM