X-Men: Days of Future Past Brings Back Paquin, Page, Ashmore

Earlier today, X-Men: Days of Future Past director Bryan Singer tweeted a hearty "welcome back" to actors Ellen Page, Anna Paquin and Shawn R. Ashmore--who played Rogue, Kitty Pryde and Iceman, respectively, in X-Men: The Last Stand. The actors will reprise those roles in X-Men: Days of Future Past, starring alongside already-confirmed co-stars Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. Rumors have been circulating for a while that at least Famke Janssen, and possibly more, stars from the first three X-Men films might return for the sequel. Well, don't get too excited yet. Singer had a little bit of a joke lined up for the filmmaker who succeeded him and didn't shepherd all of his characters safely through to the other side. "Very excited to welcome #annapaquin, @ellenpage &@shawnrashmore to #XMen #DaysofFuturePast - thank you @BrettRatner for letting them live!" Singer tweeted, referring to the director who took on X-Men: The Last Stand while Singer was away doing Superman Returns. Yeah, that worked out well for all involved. The story, which is based on a dystopian future tale written during the Chris Claremont-John Byrne era of Uncanny X-Men, will see both versions of the team--the one from the original trilogy and the one from X-Men: First Class--sharing screen time. The rumor is that it will bridge the two continuities and bring the stories to the present day so that the X-Men franchise can better coexist with Fox's other Marvel Comics properties, which Mark Millar is hoping to make into a little cinematic universe all their own.