2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine was commercially successful, but critics and audiences didn't exactly fall in love with the film and there was a general sense that the X-Men franchise might be running out of steam.  Then last summer, X-Men: First Class pulled a Batman Begins, basically rebooting the series and setting it in a promising new direction.  20th Century Fox has indicated it would continue with a sequel to the prequel and even hired a writer to do some work, but its been an open question whether or not Matthew Vaughn would return for another round. 

Over the summer, the prequel X-Men: First Class pulled a Batman Begins, performing well, but not phenomenally, and establishing a new direction for a franchise that was probably running out of creative momentum.  It was something of a palate cleanser, a well-reviewed adventure with solid word of mouth to hook wayward fans back into the world of Marvel's mutants.  It also ended with a promise of continued adventures for Michael Fassbender's Magneto and James McAvoy's Professor Xavier, we've seen precious little indication that 20th Century Fox would continue the series.  An as-yet unconfirmed rumor suggests that a continuation of X-Men: First Class is in the works, with a writer familiar to the Merry Mutants at work on a sequel to the prequel.