bryan singerGiven the analogous fortunes of Bryan Singer and the X Men franchise it may come as no surprise to learn that Singer has just signed a deal to get involved with X Men: First Class Origins.

Speaking on the blue carpet of the L.A. premiere of James Cameron’s Avatar Singer told MySpace (via Dark Horizons) that after his rendition of Jack the Giant Killer he will start work on the next X Men film, which is said to focus on early years of our favourite X men and women at Charles Xavier’s academy.

Valkyrie was a great suspense film but it followed the box office disappointment of  Superman Returns, and Singer needs a decent return on his new venture. He has always impressed with solid film making as long as the script is tight enough to take advantage of his strengths as a director. And X2 remains a high point of the last decade’s obsession with comic book movies so a Singer helmed X Men film looks just the ticket.

As long as they don’t digitally rejuvenate Patrick Stewart as they did at the end of X Men Origins: Wolverine…