WithX-Men: Dark Phoenix starting productionlast month, there haven’t been a ton of updates thus far, aside from a few new cast members that have been confirmed. But now writer-director Simon Kinberg has offered a brief update on the story. During a recent interview, the director revealed that the previous sixX-Menmovies were known for being “human” and emotional, adding that he hopes to “ground” the story ofX-Men: Dark Phoenix. Here’s what he had to say in a new interview.
“[We must] find a way to ground it so it’s not too intergalactic.”
The director’s statement to Total Film (courtesy ofX-Men Films) is quite interesting, since producer Bryan Singer hinted in a May 2016 interview thatX-Men 7 may head to outer space, with that aspect of theX-Mencomic book universe never explored before on the big screen. Still, while we know the story will follow the Dark Phoenix saga from the comics, there hasn’t been many specifics about how this story will differ from both the comics, and the first Dark Phoenix saga portrayal in the divisive 2006 movieX-Men: The Last Stand.
Regardless, it has also been confirmed that thisX-Men movie is set in the 1990s, following the trend set in theX-Menprequel trilogy. 2011’sX-Men: First Classwas set in the 1960s, withX-Men: Days of Future Past, which introduced time travel and essentially eradicated the timeline from the originalX-Mentrilogy, set in the 1970s, and last year’sX-Men: Apocalypseset in the 1980s. It hasn’t been revealed yet what specific year in the 1990s this film will be set in, butX-Men: Days of Future Pastwiping out the original timeline makes it possible for this iconic story to be told once again, with a brand new cast and from a much different perspective.
TheX-Menprequel trilogy stars such as James McAvoy (Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence, (Mystique), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler), Evan Peters (Quicksilver) and Alexandra Shipp (Storm) are all returning forX-Men: Dark Phoenix, with several new characters coming aboard as well. After months of rumors, it was recently confirmed that Jessica Chastain will play the primary villain, Shi’ar Empress Lilandra, with Summer Fontana coming aboard to play the younger version of Jean Grey, Halston Sage coming aboard as Dazzler and Lamar Johnson signing on for an unspecified role.
Olivia Munnhas also been spotted on the Montreal set recently, which means she will most likely reprise her role as Psylocke fromX-Men: Apocalypse, but as of now, her casting has yet to be confirmed.X-Men: Dark Phoenixmarks the feature directorial debut for Simon Kinberg, who has had a hand in writingX-Men: Days of Future PastandX-Men: Apocalypse, while also writing and producing theFantastic Fourreboot, creatingStar Wars Rebelsand much more. 20th Century Fox has set a August 07, 2025 release date forX-Men: Dark Phoenix, putting it up against Disney’s live-actionMulanand Disney’sNutcracker and the Four Realms. Hopefully we’ll have more onX-Men: Dark Phoenixas production continues.
