On the Official Avatar Myspace Site, director Bryan Singer (X-Men) dropped a major announcement about one of his next projects. It appears that the director is headed back to the franchise he pioneered...

"I just yesterday signed a deal to do an X-Men: First Class origins picture, which is kind of cool. I'm very excited."

X-Men: First Class is expected to inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series. - The studio has been leaning toward using the younger characters introduced in the previous films in future installments --teenagers with powers taught at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning.

Resulting film would likely draw from elements of the Marvel Comic of the same name, launched in 2006, and enlist such characters as Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat, who have appeared prominently or made cameos in prior pics.

This is obviously a groundbreaking turn of events for the franchise and we will be sure to report on it as more information becomes available.