Back in 2006, 20th Century FOX tried to somewhat tell the story of the Phoenix, a powerful alien spirit/being that takes possession of Jean Grey, during X-Men: The Last Stand. To a lot of fans this was a waste of not only one of the best stories in X-Men history, but one of the best characters in the series too in Jean Grey. Well FOX seems to be interested in second chances since they have taken X-Men series writer Simon Kinberg and put him into the directing chair to give Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s comic book story “The Dark Phoenix Saga” life on the silver screen in X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
Thanks to the Film Magazine EMPIRE, we have one of the first official stills of X-Men: Dark Phoenix involving a character who didn’t have much to do with the original story: Magneto. The Master of Magnatism is seen in the screenshot below being held down by a mysterious group that seems to have captured him.
This strikes as playing into the First Class universe that has recently been the focus of the X-Men films to more acclaim than the previous universe featuring the likes of Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, etc. Other images show more of the First Class crew interacting with other characters from that franchise and a new addition to the movie which a lot of people are calling Lilandra. Also released by FOX was the outline of the film.
After the team is dispatched to space for a rescue mission, a solar flare hits the X-Jet and the surge of energy ignites a malevolent, power-hungry new force within Jean – played by Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner – the Phoenix. While Jean is both the hero and villain, Dark Phoenix also introduces an other-worldly (and for now, top secret) shape-shifter (Jessica Chastain), who attempts to manipulate Phoenix for her own agenda.
You can see the rest of the images released about X-Men: Dark Phoenix in the gallery below. X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be released on Nov. 2, 2018.
