Regardless of your thoughts on “The Last Stand,” it’s undeniable that the movie continued the X-Men’s financial winning streak, so why stop there? That was executive producer Lauren Shuler Donner’s mindset as she began negotiations with the cast to return for a fourth film. However, production on the next X-Men films — what became “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and the later-scrapped Magneto prequel (we’ll get to that) — was bound to delay things. It was difficult to foresee if Donner would be able to rope her star-studded cast together for another installment, let alone pay for them.
It took her a few years but, in 2011, Donner confirmed with Empire (via WhatCulture!) that she had submitted a treatment for “X-Men 4,” which directly tied into “X-Men 5,” and Fox was very receptive. So what happened? No exact reason has ever been said by anyone involved, however, history speaks for itself. Bryan Singer was tapped to produce “X-Men: The Last Stand,” directed by Matthew Vaughn, who was pitched to direct “X-Men 4” after that.
“X-Men 4” would have used the “Days of Future Past” comic arc as a jumping off point to incorporate both the old and new casts, sparking a new trilogy of movies. When creative differences involving a plan to deceive franchise star Halle Berry led to Vaughn’s departure on “The Last Stand,” ol’ reliable Singer was the obvious replacement, even though he also left “The Last Stand.” Of course, Vaughn ended up directing “X-Men: First Class” anyway, and whatever Fox wanted out of a potential fourth and fifth movies in the “X-Men” franchise, they got it out of the eventual “Days of Future Past” adaptation directed by Singer.
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