Bryan Singer confirms Hugh Jackman’s return as Wolverine in ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

Snikt! It wouldn't be an "X-Men" movie without ol' Logan, bub.

A bit of news that should come as no surprise to any man or mutant is Bryan Singer's confirmation that Hugh Jackman will be reprising his role as everyone's favorite "art teacher" (as he described himself at one point in "X2") in the "X-Men: First Class" sequel, "X-Men: Days of Future Past."

"I would officially like to welcome @RealHughJackman to the cast of #Xmen Days of Future Past," Singer announced via his Twitter account. "Very excited! More to come ..."

Jackman's involvement with the film had been rumored ever since Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen signed on to reprise their respective roles as Professor X and Magneto, but apparently it wasn't the real deal until today. Jackman and Singer might be channeling one of Wolverine's vices and celebrating with a cigar right now.

Well, of course Hugh Jackman is in the new "X-Men" movie. He's been in every "X-Men" movie so far (his cameo in "First Class" was one of that film's highlights), so why not this one? It would appear that it's not "X-Men" without Wolverine, a call that was probably made by nervous 20th Century Fox executives easily swayed by focus groups rather than any of the series' screenwriters ... but hey, we're certainly not complaining.

"X-Men: Days of Future Past" will mark Hugh Jackman's seventh (!) appearance as Wolverine over what will be the 14-year span of the feature film "X-Men" series, which is a record (by far) for big-screen comic book characters being played by the same actor (though Robert Downey Jr. may give Jackman a run for his money before Marvel throws in the towel on the whole "Avengers" thing -- which will be, like, never).

It would appear that Bryan Singer, who's returning to the "X-Men" director's chair for the first time since 2003's "X2," is keen on bringing a lot of his old pals back to the series with him. Might there be any other mutant alums set to return for another semester at Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters? It'd be fun to see Ray Park do another round as Toad or see Rebecca Romijn take on Jennifer Lawrence in some sort of time-wrap bizarro existential cat fight.

Before Jackman heads into the "Future Past," he'll be brooding and slashing his way through Japan in "The Wolverine," opening July 26, 2013. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is currently scheduled to hit theaters on July 18, 2014.