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X-Men Dark Phoenix was the 12th film in Fox’s long-running mutant-inspired franchise, and it’s the fourth film in the colloquially termed “First Class” era. Though after the success of almost a dozen X-Men films the franchise was starting to lose steam fast. But how exactly did the X-Men franchise fall from grace so hard? Was X-Men Dark Phoenix set up to fail?
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Did you hear what the kids are calling
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Do I want to know? Yeah. Phoenix. You know, bird that rises from the dead
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Out of the ashes of any great tragedy, it's important to attempt to find a rebirth
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to soldier forth into the great unknown. Unfortunately, some tragedies are easier to move past than others
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and in the case of the final live-action Fox X-Men movie, it's very difficult to metaphorically embrace the Phoenix mentality
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In fact, you could say that Marvel went out of their way to ruin the Dark Phoenix
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We're taking bigger and bigger risks. And for what? Tell me it's not your ego
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As you are no doubt aware, Dark Phoenix was the 12th film in Fox's long-running and highly
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lucrative mutant-inspired franchise. It's the fourth film in the colloquially termed First Class era
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First Class and Days of Future Past were solid entries into the franchise and positively received
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by both critics and audiences. However, when 2016's X-Men Apocalypse debuted, the momentum was all but lost
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A rare stilted and miscalculated performance from Oscar Isaac as the titular in Sub-An-Or
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phoned in action sequences and a complete squandering of the four horsemen left the film a disappointment
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Wherever he ruled, it would end in disaster. Apocalypse. The end of the world
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And despite everyone involved seeming to be asleep at the wheel, Fox wanted to keep the lukewarm times going
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But who would be the new spiritual headmaster for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters
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Simon Kinberg. Kinberg had been involved in the happenings of the Fox X universe since way back in 2006
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when he was one of the credited screenwriters on X-Men The Last Stand
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For those who don't remember, X3 is a hybrid adaptation of the Joss Whedon and John Cassidy's astonishing X-Men arc, Gifted
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as well as the classic Byrne and Claremont story, The Dark Phoenix Saga
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In fact Bryan Singer had been pushing for an adaptation of the Dark Phoenix saga since the development of X2 X United However screenwriter Zach Penn convinced the director that it was too early in the life cycle of the franchise to adapt the cosmic classic
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Thus, it was partially mined for the third film in the franchise, much to everyone's disappointment
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You know he thinks your power is too great for you to control
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Stay out of my head. When Kinberg was finally given the director's chair, he had a singular goal in mind
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to return to the events of Dark Phoenix and this time, adapt the work correctly
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In fact, the plan for the project was for Dark Phoenix to initially be created as two films
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shot back to back, and serve as the first two parts of a new trilogy
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Tragically, this optimistic version of Xavier's dream would not become a reality for Fox
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who just wanted to make it a singular film, not focus on past elements that had been featured in the franchise
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and attempt to generate a new trajectory for the series. Something's happening to her, Raven. She's changing
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And what? I don't know. Kinberg wanted to push darker interpersonal storylines
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so Jean Grey was centered in the story, and the initial few drafts of the script featured the Hellfire Club as the central antagonists
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this time led by a new version of Emma Frost. However, the scale of these antagonists was deemed by Fox executives to be too small and
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too referential to first class. They were replaced by the longtime Marvel baddies, the Skrulls
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The inclusion of these aliens, who had originally first appeared in the Fantastic Four, would
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be a ticking time bomb for Fox. However, no one knew that at the time
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You are just one victim of the Skrull expansion that has threatened our civilization for centuries
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Filming began for the project on June 28, 2017. Kinberg's goals of making a more grounded picture manifested by characters wearing coats and jeans for much of the runtime
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This was Kinberg attempt to visually downplay some of the more outlandish ideas within the script The fact that they were 12 films into the franchise and still worried about people taking the X seriously kinda underscores everything wrong with this film approach
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I looked a lot at the original comic, and I wanted this movie to be more grounded and real
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than we've done in the X-Men franchise before. Dark Phoenix entered a lengthy post-production cycle
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due to the massive amounts of visual effects that needed to be created. However, most of these effects shots would never see the light of day because 20th Century Fox was bought by Disney
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So why is this such a big deal for this film specifically? Well, the central antagonists for the whole back half of the film are the Skrulls, remember
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And who else were using the Skrulls as the main villains of their film
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Skrulls? Shapeshifters? They can transform into any life form down to the DNA
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2019's Captain Marvel was to heavily feature the MCU's version of the Skrulls, Kree, and their ongoing cosmic conflict
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So the call came down, Dark Phoenix had to be reshot, and any mention of everyone's favorite shape-shifting extraterrestrials must be excised
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The Skrulls were replaced by the Dabari. Their motivation was also dramatically different from the finished film
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According to test screenings, they were initially on Earth, attempting to start a war with humanity
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and mutants specifically because the manifestation of the Phoenix entity had affected their world as well, and they wanted revenge
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If we can control that power, we can resurrect our race. Begin again
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But it is reportedly not just the Skrulls that hit the cutting room floor in the final edit
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The film's second and third acts were completely reconstructed from scratch. The lengthy train fight? That was originally an epic space battle
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The New York fight? That was originally an attack on the UN. Jean's arc is supposedly missing large swaths of character development, and her relationship
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with Cyclops has largely been removed from the film as well. Apparently, there was a scene film
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that was directly adapted from the Byrne and Claremont classic where Jean uses her telekinesis to allow Scott Summers to take his ruby quartz visor off This promotional still image showcases what many have assumed is that scene
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Ultimately, Dark Phoenix's release date was pushed multiple times, with it finally premiering on June
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4th, 2019. The film was a disaster. It grossed only $65 million domestically opening weekend
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with a total worldwide gross of roughly $253 million. This was a massive loss for the studio
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and the film didn't fare much better critically. The theatrically released version is considered
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one of the worst films in the franchise, and almost everyone involved has distanced themselves
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from it. Jessica Chastain has repeatedly expressed frustration with the project, and she even admitted
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I didn't know what my character's name was until I saw the film. What's happening
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It's understandable why Marvel wanted to not have to deal with Fox's version of the Skrulls
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They wanted to protect their investment and keep Captain Marvel's version as the one and only to exist
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But at this stage, everyone who's a fan of these franchises knows the difference between who owns what characters and why
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Days of Future Past and Age of Ultron both showcased different versions of Quicksilver
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and most people didn't even bat an eye. Why not try your best to send the Fox era out on a high note
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Instead, we got the one-two punches of Dark Phoenix and the New Mutants
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That thing will kill you! He's right, it's Matic. So am I
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Here's hoping that when the Fox version of the X-Men are eventually reintroduced into the MCU
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things go much smoother and the creatives involved learn from the lessons of Dark Phoenix
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The opportunity to have Hugh Jackman, the original cast of X-Men, and the young X-Men from the first class era
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all running around the MCU during Secret Wars is quite an enticing prospect
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Fingers crossed the new final send-off that these characters are going to get before being rebooted will be an actual goodbye worthy of their status
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