Fox Schedules 'The Wolverine' and 'Fantastic Four' Sequels for 2017, Mystery Marvel Movie for 2018

Fox may only have the rights to two Marvel properties, but the studio is going to squeeze every dollar possible out of those franchises. Fox announced three more sequels on Friday, scheduling The Wolverine 2 for March 3, 2017, and Fantastic Four 2 for July 14, 2017, along with an unnamed Marvel movie for July 13, 2018.

The studio already has X-Men: Days of Future Past slotted for May 23, Fantastic Four set for June 19, 2015, and X-Men: Apocalypse scheduled for May 27, 2016. Considering that Fox only has rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four, that mystery Marvel movie could either be another installment of one of those franchises ... or the rumored mashup between the X-Men and Fantastic Four.

It's not surprising that Fox has announced a sequel to The Wolverine. The X-Men movies have long been cash cows for the studio. The announcement of a Fantastic Four sequel does show that Fox has faith in what director Josh Trank and his cast are doing, which should disprove those rumors from last week that the studio was looking to ditch Trank and the cast.