James Franco Is Joining the X-Men Universe

According to Deadline, Fox has found a new A-lister to build a superhero franchise around. And, though it's a pretty obscure hero, they can still probably pencil it in to bank a few hundred million when it eventually hits theaters.

That film vehicle will star James Franco as Jamie Madrox (a.k.a. "Multiple Man"), in a script that will be penned by Wonder Woman writer Allan Heinberg. The character is part of the X-Men universe which, as you probably know, is controlled by Fox.

While nobody could really blame anyone but the most avid comic nerds for not knowing who the hell Multiple Man is, he's a character who began to display his powers at birth when he was slapped by the doctor (who was trying to get him to breathe) and an identical second version instantly popped out. During his childhood he wore a special suit, given to him by Professor X, which was intended to help him control his powers. However, as is the norm in comics, it went wonky one day, some crazy stuff happened, and he ended up teaming up with both the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. Of course, for anyone who's ever seen movies featuring those two groups, it's obvious why they're pairing Franco with the latter.

The announcement of this flick is just the most recent bit of evidence of the super-aggressive push that Fox is making to profit off the X-Men universe. Next April the horror thriller The New Mutants, will make its way to theaters. Deadpool 2 will follow on June 1, as will X-Men: Dark Phoenix on November 2. Additionally an X-Force movie starring Ryan Reynolds (as Deadpool) and Josh Brolin (as Cable) is in development. Oh, and also don't forget about the also developing Gambit spin-off starring Channing Tatum.

Go for broke.