Say what you will about the X-Men films, but the franchise is still here after more than 18 years, having soldiered on through some major changes in the superhero genre, and a key reason for this has been the saga’s willingness to adapt to the times. Back in 2000, for example, when comic book movies were still ashamed to be comic book movies, the idea of seeing our heroes in bright yellow outfits was a suggestion worthy of an in-jokey punchline in the first X-Men, but as this new photo from the upcoming Dark Phoenix indicates, the series is pretty happy these days to follow the designs of the source material.
The image shows Sophie Turner in an outfit that hews closely to the costumes seen in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men series, and it’s not a bad look for what’s likely to be Jean Grey’s final screen outing before a Marvel Studios reboot.
Speaking of faithfulness to the text, Simon Kinberg’s upcoming film looks to be offering a much more loyal take on the Dark Phoenix saga than the version offered in the overcrowded X-Men: The Last Stand, with the director repeatedly going on record to insist that he’s learned from the mistakes of that narratively messy movie and will be keeping the focus on Jean’s story.
Nonetheless, plenty of fans remain skeptical towards the project, and the feature’s multiple delays haven’t exactly allayed their fears. While Kinberg has described the film as a new chapter in the franchise, others see it as the end of an era, and what’s more, a lot of viewers are thinking that the change is overdue. Regardless, we’ll find out if Dark Phoenix can get audiences excited all over again about these long familiar mutants when the film hits theaters on June 7th, 2019.
