The first trailer for the latest installment of the X-Men series Dark Phoenix has been released and the mutants are up against one of their own this time around!
In Dark Phoenix, the fourth installment of the latest rebooted ensemble X-Men series, the gifted youngsters are up against a foe that they know better than most: their friend and fellow mutant Jean Grey. In the comics, Dark Phoenix is an evil cosmic entity that takes over Jean Grey. Jean’s Phoenix powers were last seen in the final fight scene of X-Men: Apocalypse.
There is some criticism in the X-Men fandom that it’s way too soon to introduce Dark Phoenix into the X-Men world when we only got one scene with Jean Grey as Phoenix in Apocalypse a few years ago. Others say a well-done Dark Phoenix movie is way overdue given the last time Dark Phoenix was in an X-Men movie, the highly-regrettable X-Men: The Last Stand by director Brett Ratner.
Check out the trailer below.
Interestingly, you can see that some of the X-Men are being forced to take sides. At one point in the trailer you can see Megneto standing with Beast and two other unnamed mutants, while Charles, Cyclops, Storm and Nightcrawler look on.
The X-Men and Marvel fandoms are buzzing about Dark Phoenix recently following Disney’s game-changing acquisition of 20th Century Fox Studios. Previously, no X-Men have ever appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe due to rights restrictions between the two studios (though you could make a point that Avengers Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch came from the mutant world). With the recent acquisition, fans are left wondering what will happen with the current X-Men franchise. Will we see a Marvel character cameo in Dark Phoenix? Will Dark Phoenix be the transition film for mutants entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Will the X-Men be recast for future Marvel Studios projects?
Related: Watch the Captain Marvel trailer starring Brie Larson now!
Another interesting note surrounding Dark Phoenix is that both this film and Marvel’s Captain Marvel movie will be set in the ’90s. Will Captain Marvel herself, an intergalactic character, find her way into Dark Phoenix? The potentials are literally endless!
Dark Phoenix will be released to theaters February 14, 2019 and is directed by first-time director Simon Kinberg, a long-time Producer in the X-Men movie franchise.