After months of constant news about Deadpool 2 and The New Mutants, loads of new details are finally dropping in regards to Fox’s next core franchise outing, X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Slated to arrive in theaters late next year, Dark Phoenix will see the X-Men going further into science fiction territory than ever before. Are you ready for a mutant-filled space opera? Because that’s what we’re getting!
Before we dive into story, let’s take a look at the latest talent developments. Rumored for awhile not, it was finally confirmed today that franchise writer/producer Simon Kinberg will be sitting in the director’s chair this time around. This will be his first-time, but he already knows the ins and outs of the series, so the worries are lessened.
Casting-wise, Fox has rounded up the core gang from the last couple films. I’m not going to prattle off the full roster here, as I have listed it below. The only notable absences at this time are Evan Peters (Quicksilver) and Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert), but both could easily be confirmed at a later date. On the newcomer front, it’s been that Jessica Chastain is in talks to play Shi’ar Empress Lilandra. THR points to her as the villain of the piece, but those who know the source material know this isn’t quite the case. Lilandra is likely to be an antagonist, but not a malevolent one.
In addition to Chastain, the likes of Angelina Jolie, Wil Traval and Rain have all been linked to undisclosed new characters, although all remain rumors for the time being. Normally it’s not too hard to figure out such parts, but when it comes to the Phoenix Saga, the possibilities are endless. Those three performers could be up for any number of characters that make up the Shi’ar Imperial Guard of the Starjammers, an infamous band of space pirates. Regardless of who is playing who, it looks like we’re going to be in for another massive X-Men adventure on scale that could surpass even 2014’s Days of Future Past. More as it comes.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the twelfth film in Fox’s on-going X-Men franchise. The film is written and directed by Simon Kinberg. The picture is produced by Lauren Shuler-Donner, Simon Kinberg, and Hutch Parker. It stars James McAvoy as ‘Charles Xavier/Professor X’, Michael Fassbender as ‘Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto’, Jennifer Lawrence as ‘Raven Darkholme/Mystique’, Nicholas Hoult as ‘Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast’, Sophie Turner as ‘Jean Grey’, Tye Sheridan as ‘Scott Summers/Cyclops’, Alexandra Shipp as ‘Ororo Munroe/Storm’, and Kodi Smit-McPhee as ‘Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler’.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is currently slated to arrive in theaters on November 2nd, 2018.
