This summer, the superhero world will face the end of an era one that doesn't have anything
to do with the Avengers.
Fox's X-Men series is finally coming to a close with an adaptation of an iconic Marvel
story: Dark Phoenix.
Here are a few of the things you need to know before you see the last of the X-Men movies.
And there are spoilers ahead!
But it's spoilers from the trailer.
Regardless, be forewarned!
The beginnings of a saga
The Dark Phoenix Saga, as it's come to be known through years of reprints and adaptations,
is perhaps the most famous and widely referenced storyline in the history of X-Men comics though
it has often been taken very loosely when adapted to the screen.
The setup for the story began in Uncanny X-Men #101 in 1976, with the X-Men embarking on
a mission to space, during which Jean Grey encounters what seems to be a deadly solar
flare.
In that moment, instead of dying, she reaches the full potential of her Omega-level mutant
powers, which allow her to transcend her corporeal form.
Jean later returns to her body, though when she reunites with the X-Men she has a new
look, a greatly enhanced set of powers, and the name "Phoenix."
For a while, this became somewhat of a status quo in the X-Men comics, as Phoenix seemed
to be able to hold back her own darker urges and maintain a power level that allowed her
to remain a valuable ally to the X-Men.
But that wouldn't last for long.
Evil
The Dark Phoenix saga proper was kicked off three years later in Uncanny X-Men #129, when
creators Chris Claremont and John Byrne decided it was time to truly activate Jean Grey's
full potential, not just as an incredibly powerful being, but as a supervillain.
This begins with the evil mutant Mastermind dominating Jean's mind, projecting visions
into her head that eventually lead her to assume the evil identity of "The Black Queen"
and rebel against the X-Men.
Jean briefly joins the Hellfire Club before realizing the deception that put her there,
strikes down Mastermind, and then eventually chooses to abandon all ties to her former
identity as "Jean Grey."
Phoenix defeats the X-Men and takes to space, but her journey through the cosmos leaves
her so drained that she consumes an entire solar system to restore her power, inadvertently
causing mass genocide on nearby planets.
A council of cosmic leaders then determine that Phoenix is a threat greater than even
Galactus and must be put down.
Meanwhile, Jean has returned home, where the X-Men work to restore her "Jean Grey" identity.
They seem to succeed, but the universe demands a price be paid.
The last stand
Though the X-Men are able to bring Jean's original personality to the forefront once
again, there had to be consequences for Phoenix's trail of destruction.
The Shi'ar empress Lilandra orders her Imperial Guard a group of the best fighters in the
galaxy to abduct the X-Men and put Phoenix to death.
Charles Xavier instead challenges the Shi'ar to a trial by combat: the X-Men versus the
Imperial Guard, with the fate of the Phoenix at stake.
A lengthy battle ensues on the Blue Area of the Moon, but the Imperial Guard eventually
defeat the X-Men.
In the chaos, Jean struggles to keep control as the Dark Phoenix fights to overwhelm her
body once again.
Before this can happen, she uses a piece of alien machinery to kill herself after professing
her love for Cyclops.
Jean Grey has come back from the dead more than once since this saga ended, but its impact
remains clear among X-Men fans and within X-Men continuity.
Jean Grey's struggle to retain her humanity even while tempted by the godlike powers within
her remains one of the most emotionally satisfying and gripping X-Men stories, and now a real
adaptation of it is finally coming to the big screen.
Where we're at
Dark Phoenix will complete the saga of films that began with X-Men: First Class and continued
through Days of Future Past and Apocalypse.
Each of these films took the team through a different decade of Earth's history, with
Dark Phoenix finally landing the X-Men in the 1990s, at a time when Charles Xavier and
his adoptive sister Mystique are leading a new team of X-Men.
This team includes mainstays such as Cyclops, as well as the star of the movie: Jean Grey.
The chief consequence of Apocalypse that the film will be dealing with is no doubt Jean's
understanding of her own powers, which she finally unleashed at the end of the last film,
as the only way to stop the evil mutant En Sabah Nur.
Jean held nothing back, and although it led to victory for the X-Men, it also released
something frightening.
Dark Phoenix will see those powers enhanced by a mission to space that will bring her
into contact with the film's version of the Phoenix Force, a mysterious cosmic entity
that greatly increases her powers.
Lingering questions
Jean will be the driving force of Dark Phoenix, but she's far from the only major character
left over from Apocalypse.
The team at the X-Mansion now includes a reformed Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm, as well
as the speedster mutant Quicksilver and the teleporter Nightcrawler.
Based on what can be gleaned from the trailers, this team seems to be in relatively stable
shape as the film begins, with Xavier and senior members Mystique and Beast leading
the way for the younger crew.
There's another mutant element at work in the wake of Apocalypse, though, and that's
Magneto.
Erik Lehnsherr allowed himself to be drawn in by En Sabah Nur's power, thinking he could
use it as a means to make the world anew for mutantkind, but he was ultimately repulsed
by the senseless destruction and helped the X-Men to defeat him.
Now, after helping to rebuild in the wake of Apocalypse, he's started his own little
mutant community.
There are bigger questions hanging over all of this, of course, beyond the allegiances
of individual mutant characters.
How has the world changed since Apocalypse?
Who is still feeling the trauma of the events of that film?
And how will they bring those emotions into this new conflict?
The end of an era
If Dark Phoenix had stuck to its original release date of fall 2018, there might have
been room to speculate on exactly how the team will continue after the events of the
film.
But things are a little bit different now.
After Dark Phoenix entered production in the fall of 2017, the Walt Disney Company made
a move to merge with 21st Century Fox, the media corporation which includes 20th Century
Fox the film studio which produced the X-Men series, among many other movies and TV shows.
The merger process was completed in March 2019.
As a result, Disney has taken now over ownership of most of Fox's media properties including
the X-Men.
Now, Dark Phoenix is one of two mutant films left as holdovers from the old Fox regime.
With that in mind, speculation has been rampant over just what will become of these X-Men.
Is it over for them, or will they find new life one day in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
According to Fox executive Emma Watts, Dark Phoenix will be a, quote, "perfect send-off"
to the X-Men team Fox has built for the last two decades, signaling to fans everywhere
that this will indeed be their last ride.
In that sense, it really is the end of an era.
Early days
Though fans are now getting a film that not only bears the title Dark Phoenix, but seems
fully intent on adapting the story for the screen, it's not the first time filmmakers
have turned their eyes toward such a project.
The first trilogy of X-Men films actually carried out its own version of the Dark Phoenix
story, though in a much different way, with Jean Grey seemingly perishing at the end of
X2: X-Men United and returning as a force of destruction in X-Men: The Last Stand.
But screenwriter Zak Penn, who has a story credit on X2, has told The Hollywood Reporter
that what fans almost got was a direct Dark Phoenix Saga adaptation for X2, which he pushed
against for fear that the film was going too far, too early in the franchise.
Penn explained:
"It was too soon to go into the Phoenix story and it was too soon to get cosmic.
I would say that's probably the biggest contribution I made was pushing it in that direction."
Instead, X2 ended up merely hinting at Dark Phoenix, and ended up doing its own version
of the classic X-Men comics story God Loves, Man Kills, in which the team must stop a plot
by William Stryker to eradicate mutants from the Earth.
Delays
Dark Phoenix was originally set to be released in November of 2018 before that release date
was dropped in favor of Valentine's Day, 2019.
In September of last year, Fox announced that they'd moved the release date again, this
time setting the film for its current date of June 7.
So, what happened with the delays?
According to director Simon Kinberg, a number of different factors led to the film's pushed-back
release.
The final delay came when visual effects delays on Dark Phoenix coincided with the Gambit
movie sliding out of its summer spot.
Kinberg explained:
"We looked at that date versus the February 14th date, the studio did and we did, we felt
like that June date was a bigger opportunity for us globally.
More screens, more IMAX screens, a better chance to play in China…
Specific for us, it is an opportunity to be a bigger movie day-and-date globally."
Genosha
In the Dark Phoenix trailers, it's possible to see glimpses of Magneto and Jean spending
time in what looks like a kind of jungle commune, with makeshift structures and sparse signs
of civilization.
According to Kinberg, this is an early version of Genosha, one of the most important locations
in the X-Men comics, and a key part of Magneto's history.
Originally introduced as a kind of mutant apartheid state, the nation eventually becomes
Magneto's domain, and in the film it will serve as a place where he can attempt to create
a promised land for mutantkind.
Kinberg explains:
"Jean finds him there because what's happening to her is making her do destructive things,
and she doesn't know why…
She feels he alone can give her answers because he's lived both sides.
He's lost control and killed and hurt people, some of whom he even loved, and yet he's also
found a measure of peace and that's what she's searching for."
A major death
The character of Mystique has been a part of X-Men franchise lore since the very beginning.
In the first film trilogy, she was played by Rebecca Romijn, and was firmly on the side
of Magneto.
But X-Men: First Class took the character in a different direction, and drafted in Jennifer
Lawrence to play her.
"I prefer the real Raven."
Instead of starting off as a villain, this new Mystique was established as a young woman
who grew up with Charles Xavier as his adoptive sister.
Throughout the ensuing films in the new series, her loyalties have shifted, but by the end
of Apocalypse she was back on Xavier's side, helping to train young recruits like Cyclops
and Jean Grey.
Now, with Dark Phoenix, it's time for her to go.
Mystique's death in the Dark Phoenix was revealed early in the film's trailers, as a way of
making it clear that Phoenix means business.
Writer and director Simon Kinberg has said of Mystique's death:
"It's a movie where shocking things happen, where intense, dramatic things happen.
People don't just fall off buildings and dust themselves off and walk away.
There's a reality to this movie and a consequence to this movie.
Even more than that, it was to show that Jean/Dark Phoenix is genuinely a threat to everyone,
including the X-Men."
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