Since the first X-Men movie all the way back in 2000, the architects of the franchise have
been dropping in small nods and references to the comics that inspired the films.
Dark Phoenix continues the tradition with some big and not-so-big Easter eggs for the
eagle eyed and comics versed.
Here are some you may have blinked and missed on your first watch.
And if you haven't seen the movie, here's your warning: Spoilers are ahead.
Dark Phoenix opens with a tragic scene set in 1975, a pivotal year for the X-Men with
the release of Giant-Size X-Men #1, an issue that single-handedly revitalized a flagging
Marvel franchise by bringing on characters including Nightcrawler, Colossus and Wolverine,
a guy you might have heard of.
"Who are you?"
"You know who I am."
Before the scene turns tragic and the Greys crash their car, an argument over what's on
the radio leads to two significant songs being played as Jean telekinetically turns the dial.
The first is the 1967 Glen Campbell version of "By the Time I Get To Phoenix," which,
uh, should be pretty self-explanatory.
The other is a little deeper in its meaning.
It's "Werewolves of London" by Warren Zevon, which was released three years later in 1978
making it an anachronism .
It'd seem to be a reference to the first issue of Excalibur, titled "Warwolves of London."
That series saw a ragtag team of former X-Men, including the Rachel Summers version of Phoenix
and Nightcrawler, carrying on in the United Kingdom after they believed the rest of the
team to be dead.
Excalibur also stars Kitty Pryde, who seemingly makes a very quick cameo phasing through a
wall late in the movie.
The movie's "present day" setting, as it were, is 1992, the year the popular X-Men cartoon
series started.
But while the early '90s weren't exactly associated with disco, we still get an appearance from
the disco-dancing mutant, Dazzler.
Dazzler belts out some dance tunes at the outdoor party celebrating the mission to save
the NASA astronauts from certain doom on the space shuttle Endeavour, which notably did
have its first mission in May 1992.
Though she's a superhero herself in the comics, Dazzler doesn't seem to be much more than
the X-Men's personal party singer here.
Speaking of very specific jobs, the party scene also includes a quick appearance by
recent X-Men recruit Match, who lights a fire.
Like Phoenix, he's got a bit of a temper.
It wouldn't be too surprising if you missed the name of the alien race that served as
Dark Phoenix's ultimate antagonists, since it's only mentioned once in the whole movie.
They're the D'Bari, a race of aliens who, in the comics, look kind of like asparagus.
They've appeared in a number of comics stories over the years, first in Avengers #4, and
sometimes as villains.
But for the purposes of Dark Phoenix, their most important appearance was in Uncanny X-Men
#135, in which a Phoenix-possessed Jean Grey destroys their home planet.
That association with the Phoenix Force is basically where the movie D'Bari's similarities
to the comic characters end.
Their shapeshifting powers in the film are much more like Skrulls.
Jessica Chastain plays the D'Bari leader, who is also very different in the comics.
"They can't begin to comprehend what you are.
Even your X-men."
Instead of desiring the Phoenix Force for the purposes of creating new worlds, the D'Bari
leader in comics, Vuk, simply wants to attack Jean Grey and get revenge for the destruction
of his home planet.
He gets a pretty sweet suit of armor and adopts the name Starhammer in one attempt, but is
not successful.
Time traveler, professional rebel, part-time sleuth and all-around cool guy Lucas Bishop
actually appeared in one X-Men movie: 2014's Days of Future Past.
He died in that movie, but then his death got erased when the timeline changed at the
end of that movie.
He only manages to return in Dark Phoenix in the name of the Red Hook-area electrical
utility.
In the scene where the X-Men arrive to confront Jean in the neighborhood where she grew up
after she discovers her father is still alive, a truck emblazoned with the words "Bishop
Power" is visible in the background of several shots.
That may be a nod to Bishop's mutant abilities.
While they're not specifically electrical in nature, he can absorb and release various
forms of energy.
Or who knows?
Maybe the movie version of Lucas Bishop's family decided to found a public utility,
and the future version of him will just run that.
It's good work if you can get it.
The Magneto of Dark Phoenix is more or less retired.
He tells Jean that he has essentially decided that hurting people won't do him any good
anymore, so he's stopped with all that, giving up his violent ways from the previous films
and opting to live on a secluded island that's a haven for mutants who just want to get away
from it all.
It's a simple community built from old shipping containers and other junk Magneto has likely
pulled out of the ocean with his powers.
"This land was given to us by the U.S. government."
"We have no intention of taking it back.
We're not here for you."
Magneto's new homeland isn't given a name in the movie, but it seems to be a version
of Genosha, the island mutant homeland from the comics.
The comics version, however, is a much more imposing place.
Initially, it was a nation where mutants were enslaved, but the X-Men toppled its regime
while saving allies imprisoned there.
Later, the United Nations gave control of the country to Magneto, who made it a mutants-only
nation.
It's been the site of numerous conflicts since then.
There are not many jokes in Dark Phoenix.
There are almost zero comedic moments, despite earlier movies in the franchise having a good
bit of comic relief.
Remember when Wolverine verified that he wasn't Mystique when Cyclops asked him about it in
the first movie?
"Hey, hey!
It's me."
"Prove it."
"You're a d---."
"Okay."
Dark Phoenix totally plays it straight, but there's one thing you could definitely call
a sort of meta-joke in the new universe where Disney has merged 20th Century Fox.
As some viewers noticed in the trailers, the paramilitary group that apprehends the X-Men
near the end of the movie goes by the initials "MCU," according to the patches on their sleeves.
It likely stands for something like "Mutant Control Unit."
In the cartoon, this organization is called the Mutant Control Agency, but it's clear
the filmmakers wanted to change that one letter to have a little fun.
A heavily militarized group using futuristic weapons and going by the initials MCU take
these 20th Century Fox versions of mutants away to reprogram and bend them to their will.
That sure seems like some kind of metaphor for something.
But also, they're not all bad.
When the real bad guys attack, they team up with the X-Men.
So that's nice.
Following Jean's sacrifice at the end of the climactic battle, we see that Charles Xavier
has moved on to live a life of playing chess outside of cafes.
Hank McCoy, now staying in his Beast form, has taken over as headmaster of the school,
and he's given it a new name: The Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters.
It's his tribute to her for choosing the path of light, and a not-so-subtle jab at his old
mentor.
The school has borne Jean's name in the comics, too.
In the series Wolverine and the X-Men, new headmasters Wolverine and Kitty Pryde rename
the school The Jean Grey School of Higher Learning after Professor X's death, one of
many he has endured.
In that instance, it's less a slight toward Xavier and more of an indication of a new
generation of students at the school, which would, of course, bear Xavier's name again
a few years later.
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