Dark Phoenix finally hit cinemas last week and proved to be a, well, pretty dismal end for Fox’s X-Men franchise. The writing had been on the wall for the movie for a while now, as negative buzz had been surrounding it for ages after all those delays to the release date and the fact that it came after 2016’s mediocre Apocalypse.
The Disney-Fox merger back in March also completely overshadowed the film as fans were already getting excited over how Marvel Studios would handle the X-Men now that they have the rights back. Kevin Feige had warned us though that he doesn’t plan to do anything with these character for a “very long time” yet and the latest word on the subject is that the failure of Dark Phoenix has only reinforced this view.
In a detailed report on exactly what went wrong with DP, The Hollywood Reporter write that they were told by an anonymous producer that there’s “no rush” to do more with the property now that Dark Phoenix has proven to be such a bomb. However, Marvel hasn’t lost faith in the overall popularity of the X-Men, as the producer says the brand will add another decade to the MCU’s lifespan.
“There is no rush to bring the X-Men to the marketplace after this. And when they come back, it’s going to extend Marvel’s run another 10 years.”
Dark Phoenix not only earned the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of the whole franchise, but it also has the dishonor of grossing the lowest opening weekend of the X-Men series at the box office, too. All told, Fox is expected to lose over $100 million on the movie. As such, maybe leaving Professor X and his progeny to recharge for five years or so really is the best plan of action?
