Dark Phoenix was a sad end to Fox's
X-Men franchise and it's now up to Marvel Studios to save the characters. That reboot is coming our way at some point in the next five years, but for now, some new content from the Simon Kinberg helmed release has now found its way online.
Released by some of the VFX houses that worked on
Dark Phoenix (via
AWN), we get to see a number of key moments from the movie, most of which revolve around Jean Grey's transformation.
Along with before and after shots showing just how much work into bringing certain sequences to life on screen, we get to see how Cyclops' optic blasts were added and how Kinberg mixed practical and visual effects in order to bring that epic battle on the train to life. Regardless of whether you loved or loathed the movie, these are all admittedly very cool.
So, to check out these
Dark Phoenix stills, simply click on the "View List" button below!
Jessica Chastain's forgettable shape-shifter tried to take the Phoenix Force for herself and here we get to see the power being transferred from Jean so the alien can use it to reshape Earth.
The visuals in Dark Phoenix were definitely impressive but this cloud of cosmic energy doesn't exactly resemble the Phoenix Force from the comics...perhaps it's somehow related to Galactus?
Special effects were used to enhance this sequence (which is understandable) but it's still surprising to see just how basic the set looked before it was added to and imrpoved with visual effects.
It's hardly a surprise that Cyclops' octip blasts were brought to life with VFX and here we get to see a before and after shot. These movies never fully explored the extent of his powers, though!
This is a very clever use of VFX as we see a practical helicopter which was then spruced up with VFX to make it appear as if Jean had used her powers to bring it to the ground and crash land.
The train sequence was the result of reshoots but actually the best sequence in the entire movie! Here, we see the impact Jean's incredible powers have had on her surroundings.
Storm didn't really get a huge amount to do in Dark Phoenix and is nowhere near as powerful as her comic book counterpart. However, it's great seeing her unleash the lightning in this shot.
It's hardly a surprise that this train sequence was shot with green screen as it's not like it could be done for real. Here, we see that both Storm and the helicopters were added after the fact.
The Cerebro effects in
Dark Phoenix were pretty unique but it didn't really factor into the story all that much. Will Marvel Studios avoid using it? That definitely seems likely but time will tell.
It doesn't really make sense how the Phoenix Force came to Jean in outer space when she actually tapped into it to defeat Apocalypse around a decade ago but this is Fox we're talking about.
Jean's powers first showed themselves when she was a child and Kinberg certainly wasn't afraid to retread old ground after he had already delved into the character's history in
X-Men: The Last Stand.