Simon Kinberg

Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was teased in the second trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse, but given that his part was more of a glorified cameo, that little teaser may have felt like a spoiler to some — even though Wolverine appearing in a new X-Men movie is hardly surprising. Hardly. As it turns out, Jackman almost had a bigger role to play in the new sequel, but it was ultimately reduced to avoid detracting from Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique.

It’s been a bit of a bumpy road for Gambit, the X-Men spinoff starring Channing Tatum as the eponymous mutant. After losing director Rupert Wyatt and replacing him with Doug Liman, Fox removed nixed the film’s release date with little explanation, leaving fans to wonder if Gambit would still happen at all. In a new interview, producer Simon Kinberg confirms that the project is still moving forward and offers a bit of optimism while explaining the delay.

You may recall a rumor from a few weeks back that suggested several members of the lineup for Josh Boone’s New Mutants movie, and although that rumor was predictably denied by Fox, Boone seemingly confirmed those characters for his X-Men spinoff just last week. We can add another rumored character to the confirmed pile, as producer Simon Kinberg has revealed that Professor X does indeed have a role in New Mutants, which could begin filming early next year.

Hugh Jackman has been playing Wolverine for over 15 years. He’s appeared on screen as the iconic X-Men character in seven films, including his uncredited cameo in X-Men: First Class, and by the time The Wolverine 2 rolls around, we can round that number up to eight (and that’s not including the potential for cameos in X-Men: Apocalypse, which he’s denied, as well as Gambit). Fans have been wondering if Wolverine will be recast once Jackman exits the franchise, but according to Bryan Singer and producer Simon Kinberg, that’s not likely to happen.

The Merc With a Mouth really earns that nickname in the latest red band trailer for Deadpool, the profane, balls-out and very violent new superhero-adjacent film that sees Ryan Reynolds reprising his role — albeit far more faithfully — for director Tim Miller in the first X-Men spinoff that doesn’t feature Wolverine. The new red band trailer offered plenty of previously unseen footage and raised a few questions — questions that Miller and producer Simon Kinberg are happy to answer in their official breakdown of the trailer.

With the X-Men timeline effectively reset following the events in Days of Future Past, and with Gambit and Deadpool movies on the way, 20th Century Fox’s version of the MCU is now open to more interesting possibilities. Writer and producer Simon Kinberg has previously hinted at crossover possibilities within the mutant cinematic universe, but his latest statements suggest that the idea has moved from hypothetical to legitimate plan.

The new Fantastic Four reboot comes with a lot of built-in baggage — fans were so disappointed in the 2005 film and the subsequent sequel in 2007 (perhaps more so with the latter), that they’re naturally skeptical of another go-round with the super-powered quartet. Producer Simon Kinberg is aware of this and acknowledges it in a new interview, while remaining in director Josh Trank’s corner regardless of the rumors that continue to swirl about his behavior on set.

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Mark Millar, who serves as a creative consultant to Twentieth Century Fox's Fantastic Four and X-Men movie franchises, already hinted at a potential shared universe this summer. Now, the studio is one step closer to making it a full-on reality. Fox just signed a three-year, first-look deal with Simon Kinberg, a writer and producer on X-Men: Days of Future Past and the upcoming Fantastic Four movie