When it comes to 20th Century Fox’s X-Men franchise, now that plans in place for three all-star blockbusters in 2018, there’s a nervy excitement echoing around the four corners of the Internet.
For all of the success of First Class and its time-hopping sequel, Days of Future Past, the core X-Men series suffered a blow in the form of Bryan Singer’s disappointing Apocalypse, which left the immediate future of Fox’s flagship in a somewhat precarious position.
What followed was an admittedly frustrating spiel involving actor contracts and conflicting reports, but thankfully, the studio cut through the white noise last week to confirm that all of the key players would be returning for X-Men: Dark Phoenix, the 2018 sequel to be directed by Simon Kinberg. There’s also the possible addition of Jessica Chastain to consider, who’s negotiating to play the villainous part of Lilandra, the “empress of an alien empire called the Shi’ar, who leads the quest to imprison and execute Dark Phoenix, leading her into conflict with the X-Men.”
Still nothing to report on that front just yet, but thanks to Twitter, we now have what appears to be the first Dark Phoenix set photo (seen below) featuring the famous Danger Room. Last seen in the grand finale of X-Men: Apocalypse, this photo was reportedly taken from the film’s Montreal set, and will surely be the first in a long series of production snaps as the film begins to coalesce.
Expect Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey to be thrust front and center when X-Men: Dark Phoenix looms over theaters on November 2nd, 2018. As we alluded to before, it’s one of three major mutant-related blockbusters slated for next year, what with New Mutants and Deadpool 2 set to bow on April 13th and June 1st, respectively. The latter is already shooting scenes outside X-Mansion, and make no mistake, the Merc With a Mouth hasn’t lost his sharp tongue and cheeky sense of humor.
