I don't see how you can do the x-men without the most popular character. Actually, what could be kind of interesting is do a first class esque movie to introduce the original team, and then have it end with them going to Krakoa, then movie 2 opens with them having been defeated, and we get a new team including wolverine to go save them. (I'd probably do Wolverine, Shadowcat, Storm, Sunfire, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Thunderbird, no he doesn't die at the end), and then make a new team with probably jean grey, cyclops, Shadowcat,storm, sunfire, Colosus, and thunderbird, for the third movie. Maybe make that the good dark phoenix movie.