While Disney is now in charge of promoting
Dark Phoenix, it's far too late for Marvel Studios to make any creative changes and we already know that Kevin Feige is planning to reboot the
X-Men franchise in the not too distant future. Now, it appears as if Simon Kinberg has finally come to terms with that.
"I think we've all made our peace with the idea that we may have had our time with these characters," he revealed during a recent interview. "If this is our last, make it count."
It sounds like Kinberg saw the writing on the wall a long time ago, as he went on to talk about bringing this particular chapter to a close. "I approached this in a way as the culmination of this cycle. It's the ultimate X-Men story. I didn't approach it the way I approached some of the other X-Men movies, thinking, 'What's left to tell after this?' I left it all on the field."
Has he talked to Feige, though? "All we've talked about, because he wasn't allowed to talk about this stuff, was what the Disney marketing machine is like. But the honest answer is, I don't know what they plan to do with the X-Men Universe." While that will be music to the ears of fans, some members of the cast are still a little optimistic about a return. Michael Fassbender says "Never say never" when it comes to returning as Magneto in the MCU somewhere down the line.
To check out some new images from Dark Phoenix, hit the "View List" button down below!
Storm unleashes her powers here and, well, it's not a particularly impressive visual is it? This battle pits the X-Men against Jean Grey and we know from the trailers that her abilities don't have any sort of real impact on the hero's Dark Phoenix persona. Perhaps that's why Cyclops looks so shocked!
It's not a spoiler to say that Mystique dies in
Dark Phoenix because Fox decided to reveal that in one of the earliest trailers. As a result, don't expect the hero (remember, she's not a villain in this rebooted X-Men Universe) to have a lot of screentime here.
Magneto's new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is once again made up of C-List characters from the comics, but the most surprising addition is Beast. He's always hated Magneto, but it appears as if Jean Grey killing Mystique has brought them together as they look to put the Phoenix down once and for all.
Is the X-Mansion in ruins here?
The franchise has often destroyed the team's home, but this could be anywhere. Still, seeing Scott Summers and Professor X together like this is a really cool visual for fans of the comics.
Magneto has been the lead villain in pretty much every single
X-Men movie, so we can probably expect Marvel Studios to give him a break when they reboot the franchise. With any luck, this movie is going to send him out on a high rather than casually killing the sometime hero/sometime villain off.
Beast is still a werewolf-type character in
Dark Phoenix, but Fox has still done a pretty solid job of bringing the character's beastly appearance to life on the big screen. In fact, he looks a lot like the Kelsey Grammer version we saw in
X-Men: The Last Stand here.
Based on what we've seen in the trailers, it seems as if this shot of Jean Grey is her mourning her actions after she killed Mystique in the heat of battle due to her Dark Phoenix persona taking over.
Director Simon Kinberg can be seen on set here alongside Sophie Turner's Jean Grey, and while he's been involved with this franchise for a while now, it appears as if his days working on the X-Men are numbered and nearing their end thanks to the Disney/Fox merger.
Are you guys excited for Dark Phoenix? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.