Brett Ratner tried to bring the sprawling comic book storyline ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga’ to life on the big screen with 2006’s ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’. Unfortunately, this was only the third ‘X-Men’ film and the franchise was still very much grounded in reality, focusing on mutants as an allegory for prejudice and discrimination. It was also one of the earliest superhero movies, arriving before the genre really exploded in both popularity and scope. That means that ‘The Last Stand’ had to jettison most of the cosmic elements for something much more stripped down. ‘The Last Stand’ was actually a huge box office hit, but its reputation was so poor that eight years later, in ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, returning director Bryan Singer wiped the events of this film from continuity.
‘Future Past’ also appeared to close the book on the first generation of X-movies and a new cast, portraying younger versions of existing characters was introduced in the follow-up ‘Apocalypse’. Among those new faces was Alexandra Shipp, taking on the role of Storm (Ororo Munroe), who had previously been played by Halle Berry. Shipp will be back in the cape in about a year, in ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’, but as a lifelong X-Men fan herself, she assures that this adaptation, directed by Simon Kinberg, will please her fellow fans.
“It’s definitely a darker world. A lot more is going on at this point. I can’t say too much, but what I can say is that, as a fan of the X-Men franchise, I know a lot of people are going to be happy with how accurate this one is… Now that [Kinberg] has a little more control, he is able to really allow this X-Men world to flourish.”
Indeed, after ‘Apocalypse’ slightly underperformed, while unconventional entries like ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Logan’ re-energized the brand, 20th Century Fox appears more willing to take bigger chances.
As for Shipp’s affinity for her role as Storm, she states:
“[As a kid] I liked dressing up as her. I liked pretending I had powers. I like pretending I have powers now!… I would really love to control the elements. Are you hot right now? [Waves hand.] Now you’re not, because I just gave you a cool breeze.”
Of course, ‘Dark Phoenix’ actually focuses on another mutant, Jean Grey, played now by Sophie Turner. Joining Shipp and Turner are fellow new recruits Evan Peters as Quicksilver/Peter Maximoff, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops/Scott Summers and Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner, as well as returning vets Michael Fassbender as Magneto/Erik Lehnssher, Nicholas Hoult as Beast/Hank McCoy, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique/Raven Darkholme and James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier. One new face joining them is Jessica Chastain in an undisclosed role.
Are you excited to see a fresh spin on ‘Dark Phoenix’? Or is it still too soon?
The film arrives on November 2, 2018.
Source: SyFy Wire
