So Wolverine's mind returns to the future.  Everyone is in a brand new timeline that has no recollection of the battle at Alcatraz (a hypothetical), or the war in the OT which was now prevented back in 1973, but the OT is valid since Wolverine still remembers it? 

Just seems like a gimmick.  What's the point, so Famke and James show up for a one minute cameo and maybe another X-Men movie down the line?  The latter being a huge IF. 

Well they could announce like a month after DOFP comes out that everyone is signed for more... I doubt they'd do it just for a cameo and not to tease a new movie. 

Alan Cumming WAS offered a role as NC in X3 but didnt want to come back as he hated the make-up process.  This was well documented at the time and even stated by Simon Kinberg when he was answering fan questions on another forum I was part of, cant remember the name of the web-site but plenty on here were on it as well. 

They wrote him out of the movie once they knew he wasnt returning as the role wasnt very big and they didnt want to re-cast.  Also, they stated there would have been too many blue people in the movie. 

With the responses from Marvel Robbins and Angamb, I really think you're wrong with that. 

__________________

FANTASTIC FOUR"This is our chance to make a difference" - Sue Storm - The Invisible Woman"He's stronger than any of us but he's not stronger than all of us" - Reed Richards - Mr. Fantastic"We could these powers to help people" - Johnny Storm - The Human Torch"You can't fix this, nobody can" - Ben Grimm - The Thing

Alan hated the makeup process, and didn't -want- to come back, but he was going to come back if asked.  He even cleared a bunch of his schedule for X-Men 3, then didn't get called.  Reason being, they didn't have a role big enough to warrant spending all the money on him. 

So both things are true.  He didn't want to come back, and he wasn't asked to come back due to money.  But he would have come back. 

So Wolverine's mind returns to the future.  Everyone is in a brand new timeline that has no recollection of the battle at Alcatraz (a hypothetical), or the war in the OT which was now prevented back in 1973, but the OT is valid since Wolverine still remembers it? 

Just seems like a gimmick.  What's the point, so Famke and James show up for a one minute cameo and maybe another X-Men movie down the line?  The latter being a huge IF. 

Depends on how it's handled.  This idea can play out very effectively if Logan knowingly sacrifices his past and his time with Jean and the X-Men to save lives.  There's something poetic about a character defined by his memory loss to come out of this story as the only one who truly remembers everything. 

They started this franchise with them, IMO they should end this series with them.  Not with the younger versions or with a different cast. 

__________________

FANTASTIC FOUR"This is our chance to make a difference" - Sue Storm - The Invisible Woman"He's stronger than any of us but he's not stronger than all of us" - Reed Richards - Mr. Fantastic"We could these powers to help people" - Johnny Storm - The Human Torch"You can't fix this, nobody can" - Ben Grimm - The Thing

But I will disagree that they should keep the series set in the past/previous decades. 

__________________

FANTASTIC FOUR"This is our chance to make a difference" - Sue Storm - The Invisible Woman"He's stronger than any of us but he's not stronger than all of us" - Reed Richards - Mr. Fantastic"We could these powers to help people" - Johnny Storm - The Human Torch"You can't fix this, nobody can" - Ben Grimm - The Thing

FANTASTIC FOUR"This is our chance to make a difference" - Sue Storm - The Invisible Woman"He's stronger than any of us but he's not stronger than all of us" - Reed Richards - Mr. Fantastic"We could these powers to help people" - Johnny Storm - The Human Torch"You can't fix this, nobody can" - Ben Grimm - The Thing