海角大神

听isn鈥檛 even in theaters yet, but the team over at Fox鈥檚 division have been talking up some ambitious future plans. With people like Bryan Singer (X-Men), Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class), X-Men movie producer Lauren Shuler Donner and comic book creator Mark Millar (Kick-Ass) all acting as Marvel-style shepherds, the plans for Fox鈥檚 X-Men movie universe include more franchise sequels (and ), big team-up films (X-Force), and of course, another crack at solo character spinoffs (still waiting on you, Deadpool鈥�).

In a new report, Kinberg and Donner are opening up about some of the goals they have in mind 鈥� particularly for the solo film spinoffs. has been the biggest name fans have been clamouring for, but recently we鈥檝e heard that a starring could be in the design. Today we can add another character being discussed for a solo project: Jennifer Lawrence鈥檚 Mystique. Said Kinberg: 鈥�I love what Jen Lawrence has done with her, and I feel like because she is in such a crowded ensemble, there鈥檚 so much more opportunity if you were to follow her solo.鈥�

In X-Men: First Class, the backstory of shape-shifting mutant Mystique was given way more depth and importance to the X-Men franchise. In Singer鈥檚 first two films, the blue-skinned vixen (played by beige-skinned vixen Rebecca Romijn) was little more than Magneto鈥檚 henchwoman (and implied concubine). She had some impressive espionage and combat sequences, but there was little of the complex character from X-Men comics to be found. First Class admittedly bucked comic book canon in order to position Mystique as a surrogate sister to Charles Xavier 鈥� a girl whose own identity issues formed one of the better character arcs of that film. In听Days of Future Past, it seems that Mystique has stepped out of the shadows of both Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender), in order to carry out a mutant agenda of her own 鈥� one that could forever alter the course of the future, leading to the extinction of mutantkind.

While we have little idea where the events of will ultimately leave Mystique, based on early speculation about the nature of this new X-Men movie universe, the filmmakers could in fact position the character for an interesting solo film.

In the comics, Mystique鈥檚 origin revolves around her lover Destiny (Irene Adler), a mutant with the ability to see the future. Mystique and Destiny鈥檚 mission for most of the 20th century was deciphering the vague prophecies in Destiny鈥檚 diary while attempting to prevent those futures that would be the most devastating to mutantkind or the world in general. From what we鈥檝e seen of Days of Future Past, JLaw鈥檚 Mystique is on a mission whose dire ramifications she is seemingly oblivious to. Maybe by the end of the movie her motivations haven鈥檛 changed 鈥� only her method of approach? With the simple introduction of the Destiny character, there鈥檚 definitely room for a Mystique movie to explore an interesting sci-fi hook like trying to shape the future (see: recent examples like Looper or the upcoming ). Add in mutant powers and some key appearances from other X-Men universe characters, and you have even more clay from which to mold a compelling solo movie.

Furthermore, Mystique has led her own teams in the comics, including The Brotherhood of Mutants and Freedom Force. She鈥檚 also been a member of the government鈥檚 X-Factor mutant squad, discovered and raised Rogue, and has run covert missions for Charles Xavier 鈥� all in addition to furthering her own future-pruning ends. Any one of those story threads would be ripe enough to sustain a solo film 鈥� let alone a combination of several of them.

Even though an shows that Mystique is one of the top characters fans would like to see in a solo film听 鈥� after Deadpool, , Storm and 鈥� it鈥檚 safe to say that the hardcore fanbase hasn鈥檛 exactly been fighting for this project tooth and nail. It stands to reason that it is Fox that needs some kind of incentive to lock down Oscar-winner and franchise icon Jennifer Lawrence in their X-Men universe 鈥� because supporting roles in these crowded ensemble films are not likely to lure her back many more times. So, while the incentive could be motivated by offscreen politics, the opportunity is nonetheless there to embrace the source material and offer a compelling Mystique movie to fans.

Of course, to hear Lauren Shuler Donner tell it, new creative opportunities are the studio鈥檚 only focus in this new era:

鈥淭here was a regime [at the studio] that didn鈥檛 see the worth in [spin-offs],听and the current people who run Fox understand, embrace it, and we鈥檙e going to do right by it. I鈥檇 like to do Gambit. I鈥檇 like to do Deadpool. We鈥檒l see. There鈥檚 a lot of really great characters.鈥�

While this all sounds interesting (and potentially fun), we can鈥檛 escape the nagging reality that X-Men: Days of Future Past still has a big hill to climb before ANY of these plans for the X-Men cinematic universe move forward. DoFP is arguably , and the X-Men brand is not nearly as strong at the box office as competitors like Marvel Studios or Sony鈥檚 Spider-Man franchise. have been okay, but tie-in marketing has not done much to inspire the hardcore fanbase.

Kofi Outlaw blogs at .