Wolverine will be returning in another solo movie after the next X-Men ensemble film, it has been confirmed.

James Mangold, who directed last year's successful The Wolverine, broke the news when responding to a question from a fan on Twitter.

A fan asked when it was coming, and Mangold replied: "We are figuring it all out. At the moment, I'm shooting The next #Wolverine after #XmenApocalypse."

However he later removed the post from his Twitter feed, possibly because he'd let the cat out of the bag too early.

But he did replace it with another comment, which appeared to confirm his earlier claim anyway.

He wrote: "With cost of 117M and WW gross of 415M (#2 of all X's), of course there'll be another Wolverine solo. Manufactured internet drama is boring!"

It is not yet clear whether Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as the adamantium-clawed mutant. He recently stated in an interview that he expected to be replaced eventually.

However he was last year reported to be in negotiations for another Wolverine film.

Bryan Singer has also been spilling the beans about X-Men: Apocalypse, which is slated for release in 2016.

X-Men: Days Of Future Past is set to hit the big screen in May.