Wolverine & Magneto: The X-men spin-offs

If the third X-men film was supposed to, in some sense, round off the trilogy of sorts, it hasn't stopped the Fox production line from oiling assorted spin-offs. We'd still wager hard cash on an X-men 4, too.

First up then is the Magneto movie. Writing the script and also set to be behind the camera for this one is long-time comic book fan David S Goyer. Goyer has an interesting CV. His written work on the Blade films and Batman Begins has generally been widely praised. But his directorial project, Blade: Trinity, was widely panned. Could it be that Goyer is a great writer, piss-poor director? Maybe Magneto will help answer the question. Don't expect any Ian KcKellen though - this is the early years of the character, and Gandalf ain't likely to be on the call sheet.

The higher profile spin-off, however, is Hugh Jackman's Wolverine movie, and this one has started to move too. According to reports, there are two names in line for the director's seat on the film: D J Caruso and Len Wiseman.

Caruso has helmed one of the surprise hits in the States this year, Disturbia, and was previously responsible for Angelina Jolie movie Taking Lives, and directing episodes of The Shield. An interesting choice.

Wiseman, however, is an oddity. By wide consensus, his two Underworld movies weren't great, and yet he's landed the Die Hard 4.0 gig. Somehow. He's also attached to a third Underworld flick. Yet he's not - and we've not seen the new Die Hard, granted - proven himself as a director of any merit.

Still, Fox are the studio who gave Brett Ratner the X-men 3 job, so anything's possible...