DARK PHOENIX Redux

By Marc Butterfield

20th Century Fox has released the first trailer and teaser poster for DARK PHOENIX. Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain, DARK PHOENIX arrives in theaters everywhere February 14, 2019.

In DARK PHOENIX, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.

Tye Sheridan, James McAvoy, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Alexandra Shipp in Twentieth Century Fox’s X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox.

So X-Men: Dark Phoenix comes out in February. Great. I have to say, I love the X-Men, and have enjoyed them in the movies. Even if they are telling tales that are 30 years old, playing mix and match with who was actually where and when. X-Men First Class was a great re-telling of the first X-Men, but as any Marvel fanboy (or girl) knows, most of the ACTUAL first class were not in that movie. But it was a good movie, focusing more on the budding friendship between Charles Xavier and Eric Lensher (Magneto) and so I figured it was forgivable that they threw so much at the audience at once, expecting the action to be a good replacement for character development. And now, they give us yet another re-telling of the Dark Phoenix tale. The same one they told before, in X-Men 3. Different Jean, same tale. It’s a good tale, an important tale, but they told it once already, and in the case of the new version, being told in the same (semi-same?) continuity. My chief complaints are these: 1. Stop telling 30 + year old stories, and if you insist on doing it, 2. Keep the characters that were integral to the storyline IN the story. In this case, Wolverine. Yes, yes, I get it, Jackman was great, but he’s done. Understandably. He did the role justice, he played the character well, despite being a full foot taller than the character is in the comics. But now it’s time to bring in new blood. There a many fine young actors that could fill those shoes, and the studio could take a chance on one closer to the character; small, thick, and really brutal.

Sophie Turner and Jessica Chastain in Twentieth Century Fox’s X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

They won’t, but they could. They won’t because it looks like the new owners, Disney, will take the helm, and probably shake the tree. They will likely keep the parts they like, and try to give new life to this 18 year old franchise. A new Logan, new cast completely in fact. They will hopefully keep a good core team, and introduce some of the really exotic mutants that the team has had through the years. The mutant massacre in the tunnels beneath New York City was a great story line. Throw in Gambit (NOT with Channing Tatum, please), a more believable Sabretooth. Or any of the many storylines that they’ve had in the decades that there’ve been X-Men. One of the defining tales of the X-Men was the introduction of the new members taking over for the old, rescuing them from the giant mutant Krakatoa. This took the team from Cyclops, Jean, Angel, Beast and Iceman, and made it more multicultural, adding color and international flavor bringing in Colossus from Russia, Storm from Africa, Nightcrawler from Germany, Banshee from Ireland opened the door to a much larger world of characters, from that point forward bringing in more women, mutants of color, and enriched the storylines beyond the 2 dimensional comic props of the past.

Disney has a real opportunity here to expand the X-Men universe, grow it, bring in new fans and solidify it’s relationship with the old diehards. If we can just get past another damned Dark Phoenix story.

Sophie Turner stars as Jean Grey in Twentieth Century Fox’s X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Doane Gregory.

L-R: Alexandra Shipp, Andrew Stehlin, Michael Fassbender (seated), Nicholas Hoult, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Kota Eberhardt in Twentieth Century Fox’s X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX. Photo Credit: Courtesy Twentieth Century Fox.

TM & © 2017 Marvel & Subs. TM and © 2017 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.