【Esther Studer】

Here's hoping you love mutants,Esther Studer because you'll be seeing a lotof them next year.

20th Century Fox has just announced 2018 release dates for three Marvel movies: the X-Mensequel Dark Phoenix; the X-Menspinoff New Mutants; and the X-Menspinoff sequel Deadpool 2.

Of the three, New Mutantswill be the first to arrive on April 13, 2018. Directed by Josh Boone (The Fault in Our Stars), it centers on a team of young superheroes.

New Mutantswill be followed a month and a half later by Deadpool 2, due out June 1, 2018. That one will be helmed by David Leitch (John Wick, Atomic Blonde) and bring back Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. New additions to the cast will include Josh Brolin as Cable and Zazie Beetz as Domino.

And rounding out the franchise's big year will be Dark Phoenix, scheduled for November 2, 2018. It'll be an adaptation of the iconic storyline from the Marvel comics, which was previously adapted into X-Men: The Last Stand.

Meanwhile, there's still no word on when the long-in-development Gambitspinoff, ostensibly starring Channing Tatum, might arrive. And, sadly for fans of Logan's Laura, we've not heard a word about a spinoff or sequel for the character.

The 2017 calendar features no fewer than six major superhero movies: Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, and Justice League. (Seven if you count The Lego Batman Movie.)

2018 promises to be even busier for comic book heavyweights Marvel and DC with nine offerings in all. In addition to the three films listed above from 20th Century Fox, we can also look forward to Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, and Ant-Man and the Waspfrom Disney; Venomand an animated Spider-Manmovie from Sony; and Aquamanand a mystery DC movie from Warner Bros.