Josh Schwartz To Write Next Generation ‘X-Men’

“X-Men” fans have something to “Gossip” about.

Josh Schwartz, the creator of “Gossip Girl,” “The O.C.” and “Chuck,” is set to write “X-Men: First Class,” the latest installment in the Twentieth Century Fox comic book franchise, according to Variety.

Following the lead of the recent comic book of the same name, “First Class” will reportedly follow a younger generation of costumed mutants from Xavier’s Institute for Higher Learning — a good fit for the teen-centric scribe.

Characters are reportedly likely to include Iceman, Angel, Collossus, Jubilee, Shadowcat and Rogue, played in previous films by Anna Paquin.

With a trilogy of previous “X-Men” films, including “X-Men: The Last Stand,” notching superheroic box office numbers, the studio is prepping a number of other spin-offs. The Hugh Jackman-starring “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is a tentpole for release in May 2009, and a Magneto origins film, centered on the villainous mutant master of magnetism and his early relationship with Charles Xavier in the 1940s, is in the works at the studio as well.