There has been some talk this weekend regarding the future of the X-Men franchise. We already know Deadpool will be getting a sequel, New Mutants will be brought to film, and Hugh Jackman’s last go at the Wolverine will debut some time next year. Where does this leave the X-Men?

Since the beginning of production for the third and final installment in the current trilogy, we’ve known that Apocalypse is meant to conclude the stories of the principal characters while opening the door for the new students to take on a more major role. We’re talking about the newly cast Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler and (maybe?) Angel and Psylocke.

There are so many questions regarding where the story could go and what famous arc from the comics they could tackle. Well, it seems we’re finally getting a clue…

In a recent interview, director Bryan Singer left little room for doubt when he spoke on Jean Grey. He said that in this film she would not only be dealing with the mutant menace Apocalypse, but would be struggling to deal with something dark and powerful within herself… Do we need to play twenty-one questions to guess what that could possibly be?

It fits right? The plot of Apocalypse focuses on the idea of survival of the fittest. Apocalypse wants the strongest of both human and mutant in his new world. What greater prize is there than the cataclysmic force that is the Phoenix?

As we head into the 80’s there is one line from Beast in Days of Future Past that continues to haunt me… He says that time is perhaps a moving stream. You can throw a stone and create ripples but eventually the current will correct itself.

In the latest trailer for Apocalypse we get a famous exchange between Xavier and Magneto from the very first movie sixteen years ago. This of course could just be a tip of the hat to the origins of the film franchise but a part of me feels it is also a reminder of Hank’s comment. Though the original trilogy is now erased from existence, there could be events from that timeline that will happen again regardless of the shift in history. In other words, another round at the Dark Phoenix saga seems inevitable.

(Also, in all fairness, what we got in 2006 was no Dark Phoenix saga so we’re really still waiting for the first showing of that story).

Now, the X-Men films have since become a unique branch in the comic book cinematic world with each being its own brilliant period piece. We have visited the 60s, the 70s, and now the 80s. In my opinion…there is more than enough room for one more decade.

The 90’s.

Singer has been able to tell some of the most iconic X-Men stories in his decade pieces and the Dark Phoenix will hopefully be no different.

Coincidentally, as the X-Men comics were less than stellar in the 90’s, the franchise was making its mark in the animated world when it premiered in 1992 (the potential exact year the following film could take place).

It’s also worth noting that as the franchise digs deeper into faithful representation of the comics, we could have the majority of the players that took part in the original telling of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix sagas with us in the 90’s film.