The sequel to "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is already earmarked for a 2016 release. After the ambitious integration of two timelines, Director Bryan Singer has confirmed that the timeline will be set at the 80s following the "X-Men: First Class" continuity.

We should remember that if it was set in the 80s, it is a time when Cyclops and Jean Grey were still alive. Their deaths were poorly executed in "X3: The Last Stand" and most critics thought it was not the proper send-off for two of the franchise's most important characters.

However, sentimentality is just one reason for their return. If the writers use the storyline of The Twelve, Cyclops and Jean Grey will play an integral part. From What Culture: "Cyclops has battled Apocalypse since the eternal mutant's first appearance in X-Factor #5. The villain was originally created to be a new threat for Cyclops and his team of X-Factor, but he soon grew into an ongoing threat for the X-Men. Cyclops also featured heavily in an Apocalypse storyline known as the Twelve, which saw Apocalypse gathering a powerful group of mutants to power a device that would have allowed him to possess a powerful mutant body."

There's also a story arc where Wolverine becomes one of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. Following the biblical prophetic scriptures, Apocalypse always assembles powerful mutants whom he will bestow with powers related to the horsemen that they represent: War, Famine, Pestilence or Death. For Wolverine, it is obviously Death as he is an indestructible killing machine.

From the Marvel Universe wiki: "For his second team of Horsemen, Apocalypse had Wolverine abducted, replacing him with a Skrull impostor to prevent his absence being noted, and pitched him in battle against Sabretooth. The winner of the battle, Wolverine, became his Horseman of Death. Wolverine as Death, battled the X-Men and killed the impostor Wolverine."

Those would be exciting storylines if Wolverine would do battle with the First Class crew. While these are separate arcs, Singer and his writers have the autonomy to make changes.

Can the original X-Men director pull this off? We need to see "X-Men: Days of Future Past" first, and that's on May 23, 2014.