Matthew Vaughn Out Of 'X-Men' Sequel; Bryan Singer May Replace Him

Twentieth Century Fox re-launched two franchises in the summer of 2011: "X-Men: First Class" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." Both films will receive sequels in the summer of 2014, and both of those sequels will have new directors. According to Deadline.com, "First Class" director Matthew Vaughn has stepped away from the sequel, "X-Men: First Class - Days of Future Past," this just a month after Rupert Wyatt departed "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."

Per Deadline, Bryan Singer could replace Vaughn in the director's chair. It would be a coming home of sorts for the director, who was responsible for "X-Men" and "X-Men 2."

Vaughn was rehired for the "X-Men: First Class" sequel in January of this year. The film's lengthy title comes from a popular storyline in the "X-Men" comic series which dealt with time travel, alternate realities and mutant internment camps. From EW.com's explanation of the plot back in August:

Most of the X-Men are dead; the ones that are still alive are on the run. In the original story, the future version of Kitty Pryde time-travels back in time into her young self’s brain and works with the present-day X-Men to prevent the atrocity that kickstarts the whole miserable future.

The idea is that perhaps characters from Singer's "X-Men" films -- like Patrick Stewart's Professor X, for instance -- could appear alongside characters from Vaughn's reboot. For his part, Stewart all but confirmed involvement in "X-Men: First Class - Days of Future Past" during a panel at Montreal Comic-Con last month.

Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy will reprise their roles in the sequel.

For more on Vaughn leaving, and why Singer could take over, head to Deadline.com.

[via Deadline.com]