‘The Dark Phoenix’ Trailer: Goddamn, thank goodness Marvel Studios is taking the X-Men back
Just…lol.
The Verge:
20th Century Fox debuted a second trailer for the long-awaited next (and presumably final) installment its X-Men franchise, Dark Phoenix.
Directed by Simon Kinberg, the film reunites James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, and others to adapt the Dark Phoenix storyline from the X-Men comics. The story is one of the best-known from the X-Men comics franchise, in which mutant Jean Grey is exposed to radiation, which boost her powers. The studio released its first trailer last fall, showing off the danger that Jean Grey’s powers pose to the world, and the complicity that Professor Xavier (player by McAvoy) has in her formation.
We see a bit of this in the trailer: the X-Men head to space and are hit by a “mysterious cosmic force.” Jean vanishes and reappears on Earth, and we see her speaking with someone (played by Jessica Chastain), who tells her that “if you stop fighting that force inside you, if you embrace it, we will possess the very power of a god.” That spells trouble for the rest of the X-Men, who have to find a way to contain that power and save their friend.
The film is the sequel to 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, The Dark Phoenix storyline was originally covered in Brett Ratner’s 2006 film X-Men: Last Stand, but when the franchise’s timeline was reset with 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, Fox had an opportunity to give the story another chance. The studio released its first trailer last fall, showing off the danger that Jean Grey’s powers pose to the world, and the complicity that Professor Xavier (player by McAvoy) has in her formation.
Dark Phoenix has had a long road to get to theaters. Filming began in 2017, the film was originally supposed to be in theaters in March 2018, only to get pushed back to February 2019, and again to June 2019, after test screenings prompted numerous reshoots. With Disney’s impending acquisition of 21st Century Fox, this film will also likely be the last installment of this particular franchise, as it seems likely that characters will be folded into Disney’s larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.