The new X-Men movie "Days of Future Past" has yet to be shown, but since the studio's success is built on foresight, the plot for the confirmed sequel "X-Men: Apocalypse" is already being developed.

Total Film caught up with "Days of Future Past" director Bryan Singer and talked about the central themes of "Apocalypse." The transcript was provided by Collider:

"We're going to deal with the notion of ancient mutants - the fact they were born and existed thousands of years ago. But it'll be a contemporary movie - well, it'll take place in the '80s... The '80s is a period now - it's hard for me to believe that!

Apocalypse will have more of the mass destruction that X-Men films, to date, have not relied upon. There's definitely now a character and a story that allow room for that kind of spectacle... I don't want to get too specific, but we'll introduce familiar characters in a younger time. That'll be fun to show the audience. I call these movies in-between-quels. It's a mind-fuck sometimes in terms of where things fall in the timeline!"

The introduction of the element of time travel will definitely be utilized. The key word there is 'younger.' It is probably safe to presume that most of the cast from the original trilogy, even those who are appearing in "Days of Future Past" will not return for "Apocalypse." Singer may also be leaving some leeway to use younger actors.

"Apocalypse" is still more than two years away (Target Release Date: May 27, 2016) so the 'trending actors' may be different from the ones they have now.

This early, Singer is already hinting that some backstories/origins will not be the same as the ones in the comics (a la "First Class").

"Yeah, there actually are [more stories I want to tell]. It all stems back to when I did [the first] X-Men. You always want to know where a character's going to go, what their future's going be like. You can always 'sequelise' (sic). But on that film I also had actors asking 'Who am I? Where did my character come from?' So as a director you always need a backstory to give your actors. It may not be the right backstory, but it's one you can give the actor to help them understand their character. These prequels are really exciting for me because they give me a chance to explore ideas I came up with more than a decade ago."

Singer has been granted that much artistic license by Fox. Being the pioneer director of the X-Men movies, he seems to deserve that. However, a lot of scrutiny will be placed on his execution of the two timelines in "Days of Future Past."

In our timeline, May 23, 2014 is when we deal the verdict on Bryan Singer.