X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX Goes Cosmic As Jessica Chastain Enters Talks To Play Shi'ar Empire Leader Lilandra
We recently heard that Angelina Jolie and Jessica Chastain were being eyed for the same role in X-Men: Dark Phoenix but we now know that the latter is in talks to play the movie's lead villain...
With X-Men: Dark Phoenix set to be released next November, the movie's cast appears to be coming together very quickly. Now, The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Jessica Chastain is in talks to join the X-Men: Apocalypse follow-up as Lilandra, "the empress of an alien empire called the Shi’ar, who leads the quest to imprison and execute Dark Phoenix, leading her into conflict with the X-Men."
Interestingly, the trade describes the character as the movie's lead villain, so we can clearly expect to see the X-Men come to blows with Lilandra and her Imperial Guard. This promises to change the X-Men franchise in a big way as it appears as if the movie is going to now be a cosmic tale along the lines of Guardians of the Galaxy. However, with an inexperienced filmmaker like Simon Kinberg reportedly at the helm, it remains to be seen whether this new take on the Dark Phoenix story will come together.
It certainly has the potential to be something special, anyway, and it appears as if this instalment of the long-running series is going to embrace the source material in a way that previous movies haven't.
What do you guys think of this casting news? As always, share your thoughts in the comments section.
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A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.
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