Long time X-Men writer and producer Simon Kinberg is set to bring the classic X-Men storyline The Dark Phoenix Saga to the big screen next year in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, having already taken one crack at the source material as screenwriter on X-Men: The Last Stand.
The 2006 film was widely criticised by fans, particularly for putting the emphasis on a mutant cure and relegating the Dark Phoenix storyline to a subplot – something that Kinberg has apologised for during a panel at the New York Comic Con this weekend.
“I’m sorry for X-Men 3,” said Kinberg (via EW). “We tried to tell the Dark Phoenix story and we didn’t do it properly. So, with this Dark Phoenix story there is no ‘cure’ plot, there is no other plot. It is the Dark Phoenix story, as told in comics, as told in the cartoons. Sophie [Turner] is the center of the film, that’s why she’s the one person that’s in the teaser poster. The entire movie revolves around her. It’s a movie that goes into space and is cosmic, very much inspired actually by what [Taika Waititi] did with Thor: Ragnarok— even though the tone is totally different — but just the ability to make a character movie that still feels grounded, and fun, but is in whole other universes. Jessica Chastain’s character plays an alien, and that’s all I can tell you about that. But, yeah, it’s the Dark Phoenix story and if you’ve read that comic I think you’re going to like the movie a lot.”
Whether X-Men: Dark Phoenix will remain faithful to the source material remains to be seen, but it certainly didn’t seem anything like a direct adaptation based upon what we saw in the first trailer.
SEE ALSO: Simon Kinberg explains the X-Men: Dark Phoenix reshoots and delays
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.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix sees Simon Kinberg directing a cast that includes franchise veterans Michael Fassbender (Magneto), James McAvoy (Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler), Evan Peters (Quicksilver) and Olivia Munn (Psylocke) alongside new additions Kota Eberhardt (The Persian Connection) as Selene, Andrew Stehlin (Hacksaw Ridge) as Red Lotus, and Jessica Chastain (Molly’s Game) and Lamar Johnson (Kings). It is set for release on June 7th 2019.
