While it's been long known that "The Wolverine" director James Mangold was slated to return for a follow-up to Hugh Jackman's previous solo film as Fox's main mutant hero, fans only had a vague idea of when they could begin to scour the Internet for glimpses of their hero's next incarnation.

Nearly a year ago, the sequel was given a release date of March 3, 2017 -- along with a screenwriter in David James Kelly (who also wrote the screenplay adaptation of Matt Kindt's "Mind MGMT") -- but when asked for a timeframe when production would start on the movie, Mangold's answer was a vague "after 'X-Men: Apocalypse.'"

Today, however, the director revealed that things are set to start moving forward in 2016, responding to a fan's inquiry on Twitter with a time frame of "early next year."

@R_0_B_89 early next year.- Mangold (@mang0ld) March 5, 2015

"X-Men: Apocalypse," the next film slated to feature Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, has a scheduled release date of May 27, 2016.