X-Men: Apocalypse is ready to explode into theaters on May 27, representing the conclusion of a trilogy that has redefined the X-Men cinematic universe. After that, the third X-Men spin-off movie starring Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is scheduled for March 3, 2017. Then what?

In May 2015, Fox hired Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars) to start an X-Men spin-off franchise revolving around The New Mutants, inspired by the Marvel comics about a group of teenaged mutants in training. Boone and Knate Gwaltney completed the first draft of the script in October.

Now we're hearing a bit more about The New Mutants. Producer Simon Kinberg stated: "Deadpool was so different from the mainline X-Men movies, New Mutants… It’s maybe not as different as Deadpool, but it has its own unique, original voice to it…. That’s the fun for me, working in the X-Men universe, creating these sort of stand-alone movies that have a different vibe to them. And New Mutants has more of a YA [young adult] vibe to it."

As to who might be featured in the movie, Kinberg stated: "There’s a long, long list of names, and I’ll tell you some of the names on that list I don’t even know. That’s how deep it goes.” He also teased that "some familiar faces" might appear in the movie.

HitFix later reported that Maisie Williams (top), best known for Game of Thrones, is attached to portray Wolfsbane (see above), also known as Rahne Sinclair, a shape-shifting Scottish werewolf.

Reportedly, she will be joined by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, above) as Magik, also known as Illya Rasputin, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, reprising her role from the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse, and James McAvoy as the well-established Professor X.

The report also claims that the mutants Cannonball, Sunspot and Mirage will be cast. Sunspot, played by Adan Canto, already made a brief appearance in X-Men: Days of Future Past (above) but we don't know if the actor will be returning in the role. The report concludes with a suggestion that The New Mutants will aim for release in 2018. We've already heard that Fox is planning to release a Marvel project on January 12, 2018, though no other details have been announced.

In brief, it sounds like The New Mutants is getting ready to roll, so we look forward to an official announcement from Fox with great anticipation.