It was easy to be all about **Thor **and Captain America this summer, in the lead-up to The Avengers. But lest we forget, there was another, separate Marvel property that did rather well in 2011, and a sequel to X-Men: First Class is now officially underway, with Simon Kinberg penning his first draft as we speak.
Who he? Well most immediately relevant is that he was one of several writers on X3: The Last Stand, Brett Ratner's appropriation of the reigns from Bryan Singer. He's also got writing credits on Mr and Mrs Smith, Jumper and Sherlock Holmes, and is a writer and producer on the forthcoming This Means War and Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
There's no solid intel on what shape the further adventures of Charles Xavier, Erik Lensherr and the Junior Mutants will take. First Class director Matthew Vaughn told HItfix earlier this year that "I thought it would be fun to open with the Kennedy Assassination, and reveal that the 'magic bullet' was controlled by Magneto. That would explain the physics of it, and we see that he's pissed off because Kennedy took all the credit for saving the world and mutants weren't even mentioned..."
Bryan Singer meanwhile (still a producer on the series) has said he'd like to see more about the Civil Rights Movement and Vietnam.
All just musing at the moment though, with no confirmed crew or returning cast, and no start date. We'll keep you posted.