As the Disney/Fox merger comes into effect, it feels like we’re witnessing the end of an era for the X-Men franchise, making it all too appropriate that the first official Dark Phoenix image released in 2019 shows us a funeral.
We’ve witnessed excerpts from this scene before in the film’s various trailers, but this new photo allows us to get a better look at who exactly’s in attendance, and by process of elimination, who might’ve passed away. Once more we see James McAvoy in the role of Charles Xavier, who appears opposite Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Tye Sheridan as Storm, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops, respectively. As for who they might be mourning, the most obvious guess would surely be Jean Grey herself, in that her seeming demise and rebirth would fit perfectly with the ‘Phoenix’ imagery, but only time will tell.
Speaking of deaths and resurrections, many fans are regarding Dark Phoenix as the last we see of Charles Xavier and his peers before the property is rebooted as part of the MCU. Director Simon Kinberg, on the other hand, made the curious comment a few weeks ago that he regards the film as just the start of a new chapter for the saga, saying that the movie is “taking the franchise in a different direction tonally.”
It’s true that the X-Men series has shown itself to be highly adaptable over the years, branching out in the new directions and even retconning its own timeline in order to keep up with the times. In the wake of X-Men: Apocalypse, however, many fans are starting to feel like this mutant franchise is overdue for the fresh start that Disney likely has in mind. Nonetheless, we’ll find out if Dark Phoenix can make like its titular bird and rejuvenate this nineteen-year-old saga when the film hits theaters on June 7th, 2019.
