While you were distracted by a certain web-slinger dropping a new trailer this morning, another X-Men movie was creeping up on you all along.  Director Bryan Singer tweeted earlier today that X-Men: Apocalypse would be coming, with a follow-up tweet from another account saying that the X-Men: Days of Future Past sequel would be opening on May 27, 2016.  That's all the details we have at the moment, but there is so much possibility in that one word.  Hit the jump for more.

apocalypse-x-men

Here are the tweets in question:

Bryan Singer ‏@BryanSinger

#Xmen #Apocalypse 2016!

Exhibitor Relations ‏@ERCboxoffice

No stopping the X-Men franchise. Fox's X-MEN: APOCALYPSE will drop May 27, 2016.

While the above is certainly not an official confirmation that X-Men: Apocalypse will be the theatrical sequel to next year's X-Men: Days of Future Past, let's just assume that it is for the moment.  For those of you who aren't fans of the comic (or even the 90s series that made the all-powerful villain a household name), Apocalypse is one name of an immortal mutant, perhaps the first ever, who has his roots in ancient Egypt.  He possesses superhuman strength and mental powers, the ability to teleport and control energy, and a genius-level intellect, in addition to his use of alien technology and armor.

Apocalypse has clashed with the X-Men in a number of storylines across a variety of timelines.  In one, Apocalypse studies and recruits powerful mutants as his Four Horsemen.  In another named "Age of Apocalypse", Apocalypse has already conquered most of the world.  He's most often featured in stories where time travel is prevalent, and has run across the time-jumping mutants Cable and Bishop on numerous occasions.

Since X-Men: Days of Future Past is already introducing a parallel/alternate timeline into the movie universe (along with Bishop, played by Omar Sy), it's conceivable that the events of the next film might cause a ripple in time that leads to the events of X-Men: Apocalypse.  Time will tell, but for now, this is certainly an exciting announcement!

Here's a bit of Apocalypse from the 90s series, X-Men: