Dark Phoenix (film)

Dark Phoenix (marketed internationally and released on home media as X-Men: Dark Phoenix) is a 2019 American superhero film based on Marvel Comics featuring the superhero team the X-Men. It is a sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), the twelfth installment in the X-Men film series, and the fourth and final installment of the prequel films. It marks the first main X-Men film without the involvement of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and the last to be produced by Bad Hat Harry Productions, though the company was uncredited due to sexual assault allegations made against Bryan Singer in 2019. Written and directed by Simon Kinberg, it stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Jessica Chastain.

Dark Phoenix tells the origin story about how Jean Grey becomes the Phoenix. The story revolves around Jean struggling with mental illness after a cosmic force enhances her psychic powers. It follows Jean as she tries to avoid hurting the people she loves, while other parties seek to control or kill her.

After X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) erased the events of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) from the series' timeline, Kinberg expressed interest in a new adaptation of Chris Claremont and John Byrne's "The Dark Phoenix Saga" in a future film that would be more faithful than his previous attempt with X-Men: The Last Stand, which was met with a mixed reception, with even Kinberg and co-writer Zak Penn ultimately unimpressed with the film. The new adaptation was confirmed as a follow-up to Apocalypse in 2016. Kinberg signed on as director in June 2017, with the majority of the cast set to return from X-Men: Apocalypse. Filming began later that month in Montreal and was completed in October 2017; the entire third act was reshot in late 2018 after test screenings yielded poor responses. The film is dedicated to the memory of X-Men co-creator Stan Lee, who died on November 12, 2018.

Dark Phoenix was theatrically released in the United States by 20th Century Fox on June 7, 2019, to a critical and commercial failure. Deadline Hollywood estimated the film lost $133 million after marketing and distribution costs, making it one of the biggest box-office bombs of all time.

Plot

In 1975, eight-year-old Jean Grey is orphaned in a car crash when her telekinetic powers manifest. Professor Charles Xavier brings her to his School for Gifted Youngsters, promising to teach her to control her mutant abilities.

In 1992, during the Space Shuttle Endeavour’s first mission, the shuttle is damaged by solar flare-like energy, and the president calls upon the X-Men to save the astronauts. Rescuing the crew, Jean is struck by the energy; her psychic powers become amplified, but harder to control as her emotional state deteriorates. Xavier reveals to the other X-Men that he suppressed Jean's memory of causing the car crash as a child to keep the psychological trauma from making her unstable, but her enhanced power is destroying the mental blocks and she is now experiencing PTSD symptoms. This all results in her powers going out of control.

Jean travels to her hometown after seeing visions of her father and finds him alive, having survived the car crash and forsaken her. She recovers her memory and realizes that her powers, uncontrollable at the time, caused the crash and killed her mother. The X-Men arrive, and after a skirmish in which Peter Maximoff is injured, Xavier mentally freezes everyone to allow Raven Darkhölme to persuade Jean to come home, but Jean accidentally kills Raven during a violent telekinetic episode.

Fleeing to the island of Genosha, a mutant refuge run by Erik Lehnsherr, Jean asks him for help controlling her rage, but military helicopters arrive, demanding Jean's surrender; she attacks them, and Lehnsherr angrily banishes her. She is found by Vuk (after killing Jean's father) leader of a shape-shifting alien race known as the D'Bari, who explains that the cosmic force Jean absorbed had wiped out the D'Bari planet, consuming everything in its path until it was drawn to Jean. She offers to help Jean learn to use the force safely.

Hank McCoy, blaming Xavier for Raven's death, leaves the school and allies with Lehnsherr and his faction of mutants in a plan to kill Jean in New York City. Learning of Lehnsherr's plan, Kurt Wagner teleports the X-Men to New York to save her. While the two factions battle, Lehnsherr confronts Jean and Vuk but is defeated by Jean's amplified powers. Xavier convinces Jean to read his memories, helping her former personality resurface. Remorseful, she attempts to let Vuk take the Phoenix Force from her, but Scott Summers stops her when Vuk reveals the D'Bari's intent is to use the force to conquer Earth. Government troops subdue both mutant factions while Vuk escapes.

The mutants are confined on a train, and Vuk and her D'Bari forces attack, overpowering the soldiers while the mutants are freed. Xavier and Scott convince McCoy, Lehnsherr, and their allies that Jean is not beyond help, and they unite to fend off the D'Bari attackers before Vuk arrives. Xavier confers with Jean within his mind, and she forgives him, saving the mutants from the ensuing train wreck and disintegrating the remaining D'Bari. Vuk again attempts to drain the force from Jean, who flies them into space to unleash all of her power and kill Vuk. Jean then transforms into a phoenix-shaped being of energy.

Xavier's school is renamed the "Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters" and Xavier retires as dean, with McCoy taking his place. While sitting at a café on Rue de la Paix, Paris, Xavier is surprised by Lehnsherr, who invites him to a game of chess and they reconcile, while a flaming phoenix appears high in the sky.

Cast

• James McAvoy as Professor Charles Xavier:
  A mutant pacifist, he founded Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Many of the characters in the film turn against Xavier as some of his decisions regarding Jean Grey's abilities are revealed. Director Simon Kinberg felt that the character always acts out of concern for the "greater good", though he may make some "misguided" choices at times. Kinberg hoped that each character would come across as having "a valid point of view" in the film.
• Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto:
  A powerful mutant who can control magnetic fields and manipulate metal, he is Xavier's former best friend and often rival, as well as Peter's father (though he does not know this). Magneto has formed a community of mutant refugees on the island of Genosha, which Kinberg compared to Israel, in that it is a homeland where mutants can feel safe.
• Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme / Mystique:
  A shapeshifting mutant and Xavier's adopted sister. Lawrence described her role in the film as more maternal than before, as she leads the younger X-Men. The film continues growing the schism between Mystique and Xavier, with Mystique not approving of some of Xavier's methods, though Kinberg hoped that this would be more subtle in Dark Phoenix than in the previous X-Men films.
• Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy / Beast: A mutant with a beastly appearance and superhuman physical abilities. He is a teacher at Xavier's School and helps lead the younger X-Men. He continues to have feelings for Mystique.
• Sophie Turner as Jean Grey / Phoenix:
  An extremely powerful mutant scared of her telepathic and telekinetic powers, who is one of Xavier's most prized students. The Phoenix entity is unleashed in the film, leading her to grow more and more unstable as her two personalities fight for control. The film also explores her past. Turner studied dissociative identity disorder and schizophrenia for the role, particularly for scenes where she has to change from the vulnerable Jean to the confident Phoenix. Kinberg said Turner has the lead role in the film, a first for the actress. Summer Fontana portrays an 8-year-old Jean.
• Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers / Cyclops:
  A mutant who fires concussive optic beams. The film develops his relationship with Jean Grey, which Kinberg called "a huge part of the emotional core of the movie." This forces the character to become a leader in the film, as he is the most prominent character who holds on to hope as Jean grows more unstable.
• Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe / Storm: A Kenyan mutant who can control the weather.
• Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff / Quicksilver:
  Erik's mutant son who can move at superhuman speed. Peters described the character as more mature and subdued in the film, being focused on using his abilities for good as a member of the X-Men.
• Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler: A German mutant who can teleport.
• Jessica Chastain as Vuk / Margaret Smith:
  The leader of a shapeshifting alien race known as the D'Bari, who seeks to capture the Phoenix so she can use it to conquer Earth. Kinberg described her as "the devil on Jean's shoulder", while Chastain called her character "clinical". Chastain also plays Margaret Smith, the woman Vuk impersonates. Chastain was unaware about her character’s name until after the film is released.

Other cast members include Scott Shepherd as John Grey, Jean's father; Ato Essandoh as Jones, Vuk's second in command; and Brian d'Arcy James as the President of the United States.