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Wolverine 3: Main villain for X-Men film finally confirmed

Producer Simon Kinberg and X-Men: Apocalypse director Bryan Singer revealed the news on the film's audio commentary

Clarisse Loughrey
Monday 12 September 2016 10:10 BST
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In the furor of the battle between Warner Bros.' DC slate and Disney's Marvel branch, Fox's X-Men universe has been somewhat lost in the fog of war.

However, the studio's far from backing out of the superhero race, with work steadily continuing in a triple-pronged cinematic approach: with the highly-anticipated Deadpool 2, YA take New Mutants, and Wolverine's last outing in a third (as yet untitled) installment.

The latter is certainly hoping to bring the big bucks; marking not only Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart's last appearances in the X-men universe, but wheeling out a major Marvel villain in the process.

One already teased by the mysterious post-credits sequence featured at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse; in which a man is seen to retrieve a vial of Wolverine's blood, labelled Weapon X, before it placing inside of a briefcase alongside other, differently coloured vials of blood. The briefcase is then closed, to reveal the ominous words, 'ESSEX CORP.'

Essex what? The name refers to one Nathaniel Essex, or Mister Sinister, one of the most formidable villains of the X-Men universe. In the comics, Essex is the one responsible for awakening Apocalypse; a geneticist, he believes the mutant had the potential to unlock the secret of perfecting the evolution of the human race, and is granted agelessness from Apocalypse himself.

However, the post-credits sequence gave no indication as to when Mister Sinister may pop up; something that's only now been confirmed as Wolverine 3 by producer Simon Kinberg and director Bryan Singer on the audio commentary attached to X-Men: Apocalypse's digital release (via CinemaBlend).

X-Men: Apocalypse Featurette - To Fight

The pair revealed nothing as to what Sinister's role would be in Wolverine 3, but an official link being formed between the post-credits sequence and Wolverine's future adds weight to one very interesting rumour about the film; specifically the introduction of the character's female clone, X-23. If Sinister has his hands on Wolverine's blood, could he be attempting to create a second version of the clawed mutant?

Wolverine 3 is set to hit UK cinemas 2 March 2017.

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