X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX - Everything We Learned In The LEAKED First Teaser Trailer
Yesterday, the first trailer for X-Men: Dark Phoenix leaked online but it was gone again in the blink of an eye. Now, we're breaking down everything new it revealed about what to expect in the movie...
X-Men: Dark Phoenix was supposed to be released this month but negative test screenings reportedly resulted in reshoots being ordered and the busy schedules of all those involved has meant that the movie now won't reach the big screen until next February. While the first trailer is set to be with us any week now, a low-res Russian version popped up online yesterday before being removed by Fox.
While it was tricky to garner too much information from it, we've watched it again and again in order to bring you a breakdown of everything it's revealed, including plot points which haven't been known up until now. For a teaser, it showed off a surprising amount, including a funeral and some very surprising character interactions. So, to take a look, simply click on the "View List" button below for details.
"I'm Scared"
The trailer kicks off with what appears to be a conversation between Jean Grey and Magneto in which she can be seen telling the Master of Magnetism that she's scared. That's undoubtedly a reference to the way her abilities are developing and a throwback to a similar conversation these two had in X-Men: The Last Stand. That, however, ended with the villain recruiting her to his Brotherhood of Mutants.
Jean Grey's Childhood
It seems that just like the older version of Jean in X-Men: The Last Stand (aren't you just loving all these throwbacks to that terrible movie?), this one will also have lost her parents at a young age in a car accident which awakens her mutant abilities. The question is, will this moment just be a memory that Charles Xavier has planted in her head or is she instead remembering things he willed her to forget?
Arriving At The X-Mansion
Another pivotal moment in Jean's life, it appears as if we'll learn more about her arrival at the X-Mansion and presumably a lot more about her relationship with Professor X at the same time. When we met her for the first time in X-Men: Apocalypse, she had clearly been there for a while so this scene will likely place before the events of that movie and sometime after X-Men: Days of Future Past.
The Pheonix Awakens
It seems as if the X-Men are well aware of Jean's growing power levels as both Charles and Mystique appear to be somewhat concerned about what's happening to her, another plot point which has been touched on in the past (well, minus the latter, of course, as she used to be a villain). During the course of these tests, we'll no doubt start to see Jean struggle to come to terms with what's happening.
Agent Smith
While it's previously been reported that Jessica Chastain's character could end up being a shape-shifting Skrull, all we see here is a pretty normal looking government agent who seems intent on stopping Jean. In fact, it looks like she ends up going on the run at some point because police cars are flipped in the air and the authorities seem intent on stopping her despite mutants being accepted now.
Run Scott, Run!
We see a few random glimpses of different characters at this point in the trailer, including Storm and Cyclops. The latter will reportedly have a larger role in proceedings this time around but we get a rehash of another X-Men: The Last Stand scene here as Jean removes Scott's visor, presumably using her newfound Phoenix abilities to hold back his optic blasts. Now, just don't kill him, Jean. Please!
Professor X Is Scared
It appears as if Charles has some sort of devastating glimpse into the future as he learns just how destructive the powerful Phoenix Force has the potential to be. We still don't really know what direction this movie will be taking us in but the driving force could be the X-Men attempting to remove that from Jean before it's too late. Perhaps the Skrulls believe they can harness it for their own means?
Genosha
At one point in the trailer, we see a helicopter flying toward an island which is covered in trees. This is presumably Genosha as it's been widely reported that Magneto has decided to set up camp there with his fellow mutants. However, this version really doesn't have much in common with the comic books and it just looks like your typical island so we can probably forget seeing any mutant architecture!
Outer Space
There are lots of random shots which follow that, with most of them too hard to make out or just not that important. However, we do get to see the Blackbird flying above the atmosphere in what has to be a scene taken from the rescue mission in outer space which kicks off the events of this movie. While attempting to save a group of astronauts, the power of the Phoenix will reportedly be unleashed.
Magneto
Based on what happened in both X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse, Magneto will be living peacefully in this movie before once again donning that familiar helmet. In this trailer, we see the former villain doing just that but is he going to be on the side of the X-Men or working against them? It could go either way as there is a shot shortly before this of Charles Xavier meeting with his old friend.
Funeral For A Friend
The X-Men are clearly going to suffer some sort of loss in this movie as we see them standing around a grave at one point in this trailer with Beast looking particularly sad. Now, rumours have swirled that Mystique will meet her maker fairly early on as Jennifer Lawrence wants out of this franchise and seeing as the two of them seemingly embrace later on this teaser, Beast mourning her makes sense.
Costumes
The X-Men donned some pretty hideous looking costumes at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse but those have been redesigned here and are a clear throwback to the yellow and blue outfits we saw in X-Men: First Class. While it's a shame to see the heroes all basically wearing the same thing, there is precedent for that in the comic books and at least they finally have something like comic book outfits on screen.
Luna
Kota Eberhardt has been cast as a character called "Luna" in X-Men: Dark Phoenix but it's been widely reported that that's just a codename so we don't actually know who from the comic books she's suiting up as. Here, she can be seen alongside Magneto and a number of other mutants, including Magneto, so chances are she's either one of his Acolytes or part of the Brotherhood of (maybe) Evil Mutants.
Action Shots
As the trailer comes to a close, there are a number of action shots but nothing worth writing home about. That's not a dig at the movie as they are just pretty generic shots of the heroes in action, none of which really tell us much about what to expect. However, with extensive reshoots currently taking place, Fox was probably limited with just how much they could show from this X-Men adventure.
Dark Phoenix
The final shot is Jean Grey presumably going Dark Phoenix as power radiates throughout her body and her skin starts to crack with the toll that's seemingly taking. This would be one hell of a reveal if it wasn't for the fact that Fox already showed Jean going "Dark" on the cover of EW last December when our first look at the movie was finally revealed (it was supposed to be released this year, remember).
"This Is The End"
The trailer is accompanied by the song "This is the End" and that's appropriate on a number of levels. For starters, this really is the end of the X-Men franchise as Kevin Feige will be rebooting the characters for the Marvel Cinematic Universe shortly after it's released. Perhaps Fox is embracing that and the ending has been changed in order to bid farewell to this take on the characters in style. We'll see...