20th Century Fox’s “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” Gets a Release Date
Round and round it goes, where it stops, nobody knows: Nothing can be more apt an example but 20th Century Fox’s “X-Men” franchise. And while mixed in reception of the various X-Men films under its belt, the series seems far from seeing its end – especially with the just confirmed “X-Men: Dark Phoenix”.
An obvious reiteration of the much-maligned “X-Men: The Last Stand”, reports state that writer-producer, Simon Kinberg is more than interested in directing the film. Initially referred to as “X-Men: Supernova” the project will obviously take cues from the extended “X-Men Comics” 1976 – 1980 storyline, “The Dark Phoenix Saga” written by Chris Claremont. The story focused on an uber-powerful Jean Grey and her apparent corruption due to the almost-irrepressible powers of The Phoenix.
In the comics, Jean Grey, who was returning from a mission in space, was exposed to the deadly radiation of a solar flare. This exposure had invigorated her already potent psychic powers, turning her into a being of pure thought. Disaster ensues after Jean returns to Earth as The Phoenix.
The story had been alluded to in various X-Men media which saw considerable changes in mythos and interpretation. In 2016’s “X-Men: Apocalypse” fans were made to see a young Jean Grey played by Sophie Turner of “Game of Thrones” fame. There, Turner embodies a Jean Grey who, while well-versed in her psychic abilities, is quite unsure of how to bring them to its full potential. Interesting to note though, under the motivation of Professor Xavier, Jean’s momentary unleash of her Phoenix powers, contributed to the vanquish of mutant forefather, Apocalypse.
To date, only little is known of the details to the project, although 20th Century Fox took liberties in disclosing a release date. Following April’s “New Mutants” and June’s “Deadpool 2”, “X-Men: Dark Phoenix” is set to hit theatres on November 2, 2018.
