The first trailer for X-Men: Dark Phoenix has been released - let's break it down. The next (and likely final) Fox X-Men film has been a questionable prospect for a while now following a release date delay to accommodate third-act reshoots, but after much erroneous speculation of its status and a lot of anticipation, we finally have a proper look at Simon Kinberg's movie.
Dark Phoenix adapts seminal comic arc The Dark Phoenix Saga, telling the tale of telekinetic Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) gaining near-ultimate power and becoming a cosmic supervillain. The movie take (actually the second after the misfire of X-Men: The Last Stand) will place the action in the 1990s, taking the First Class and Apocalypse generations of the X-Men and pitting them against one of their own - and potentially an alien threat.
Related: Why Dark Phoenix Has Dropped "X-Men" From Its Title
That much we already knew. However, the Dark Phoenix trailer brings a lot more. Here's everything we've learned, from a retooled origin for Jean Grey, the mutant haven of Genosha, and some seriously weird goings on for Magneto.
12. Professor X Is Hiding Phoenix From Jean (Again)
The Dark Phoenix trailer opens showing Jean's arrival at Xavier's school - and teasing something much darker inside her. Professor X has hidden a dark truth from her that is coming to surface. This is the Phoenix Force, Jean's immense power she displayed once and, due to a cosmic blast, is doing so again.
In X-Men: The Last Stand, the Phoenix Force was something that lay dormant in Jean Grey from a child, hidden deep by Charles Xavier before awakening upon her sacrifice at the end of X-Men 2. This was a change from the comics where the force was something external, and based on X-Men: Apocalypse, which had Jean use the powers to defeat En Sabah Nur, the same is true of the new timeline. We can see some parts of this narrative being brought over to the "remake".
11. The Car Crash
Next in the Dark Phoenix trailer is a car crash involving Jean and her parents. We see her powers activate outside of her control, sending the car spinning and presumably killing her mother and father. This is the emergence of her mutant abilities, and starts her on the path to Xavier's school. You can see a slight orange glow coming from her in one shot, hinting at the Phoenix's part in all this.
Read More: What Is The Song In The Dark Phoenix Trailer?
This is a twist on a key part of Jean's backstory from the comics. There, Jean was the witness to the death of a close friend in a car accident, the trauma from which awakened her abilities. The movie has put her and those powers at the center of the accident, shifting her from suffering survivor to unwilling attacker, and leaving scars ready to be uncovered.
10. Jessica Chastain's Character
One of the long-standing mysteries of Dark Phoenix has been Jessica Chastain's character. We know she's the villain of the film, a shapeshifter, and will attempt to manipulate Jean's force for her own ends, while set photos have hinted that won't end well. Her identity, however, is unknown. It's assumed she's a key Skrull from the comics, but who has been out of reach (not helped by confusing Fox/Marvel ownership of the species).
Read More: Captain Marvel & Dark Phoenix Will Have Very Different Skrulls
The trailer doesn't reveal much more, instead having her a menacing background presence trying to tempt Jean away from her friends. Whether this means her role is secondary or just indicative of the trailer wanting to focus on Jean is unclear.
9. Genosha
One of the key locations in the trailer is the island of Genosha, a haven for mutants ruled by Magneto where Jean runs to after the Phoenix power emerges - bringing trouble with her.
In Marvel comics, Genosha is an island on Madagascar, first an Apartheid allegory, then the subject of a long-running war, and finally a safe place for mutants under the rule of Magneto (and later Professor X). It appears the latter stage is what Dark Phoenix will adapt, using the benevolent Erik built up over the X-Men prequels as a savior figure. Of course, in print he still had dominating plans; it's unclear if he'll have similar nefarious goals here. What we can see, though, is that this looks to be a pretty faithful adaptation of Genosha's ideology.
8. The X-Men Follow Corner Jean (Not On Genosha)
A lot of the Dark Phoenix trailer centers on Jean Grey going to Magneto on Genosha with "questions" about her newfound power (but really a justification for embracing it). It's made to look like she's tailed by the active X-Men team, who confront her in a bid to bring her back. This includes Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X, Cyclops, Storm and Mystique. However, this is more tricksy trailer editing, with the police cars betraying it on the mainland away from Magneto.
Related: Why The X-Men Movies' Poor Continuity Is A Good Thing
Still, this all likely goes down around the midpoint, bringing Magneto into the story and setting up Phoenix as the prime threat.
7. The X-Men Costumes
As already teased by set photos and theater merchandise, in Dark Phoenix the X-Men will get yellow costumes! These yellow-and-black suits are much more in line with the black leather that's populated the majority of the big screen X-Men films (barring First Class), nodding towards Grant Morrison's New X-Men run from the early 2000s. Unfortunately, this likely means the new costumes from the end of X-Men: Apocalypse haven't made it to the 1990s.
Read More: Confirmed Dark Phoenix Costumes Honor One of the Best X-Men Eras
Page 2: X-Men In Space, A Mystery Funeral and Phoenix Unleashed
6. The X-Men Go Into Space
It only took 18 years and 11 movies, but the X-Men are finally going to space! And, good thing too - it's hard to tell a proper Dark Phoenix story without it. The more offbeat side of the X-Men has typically been ignored on the big screen, with even Egyptian conquerer Apocalypse rather grounded, but with the next movie we're actually going outside of Earth... sort of.
Jean's immense power is awoken when some cosmic rays blast her during an X-mission in the atmosphere; we can see it piloted by Beast, with several prime students coming along. It's not much - in the comics, the Phoenix Force takes over Jean in deep space, sees her travel to far off planets and destroy a galaxy - but at least shows some understanding of the comic source.
5. Charles Consumed By Fire
It may be one of his most useful tools, but whenever Charles goes into Cerebro it doesn't end well. In First Class he can barely control it, in Days of Future Past he refuses to, and it's where En Sabah Nur takes control of him in Apocalypse. And now, in Dark Phoenix, he's engulfed by fire?
The obvious suggestion is that Jean is attacking him after Phoenix Force has taken control, either directly or through the telepathic reach of Cerebro (likely the latter), but the trailer editing suggests it's the actual impact of the flare that awakens Jean in the first place. Whatever the case, it once again puts Professor X in the firing line.
4. Magneto Puts On The Mask
Earlier we saw Magneto as a benevolent ruler, putting his past actions - including almost destroying the world in X-Men: Apocalypse behind him. Evidently, that won't last. We see him putting on his iconic helmet, stolen from Sebastian Shaw in First Class and worn again in both sequels. Bringing it out of storage symbolically sees him returning to the fight, but may have some darker meaning: it's a way for him to block Charles' telepathy. That said, producer Lauren Shuler Donner did promise this movie wouldn't be as focused on Charles/Erik...
Related: Marvel is Finally Done Trying to Make Magneto a Hero
3. The Brotherhood Rises
What the First Class gang is noteworthy for is its highly sympathetic take on villains, to the point that they don't even class as anti-heroes. Both Magneto and Mystique are conflicted, yet have diverged massively from their typical imaginings to help the X-Men more often than not.
Things may change in Dark Phoenix. Mystique is already leading the X-Men for her adoptive brother, Charles, but Magneto is once again on a darker path. He's calling out what Charles has done with Jean, and is forming what looks like a proto-Brotherhood of Mutants (again). Interestingly, he's flanked by Beast. Hank was already shown as angry at Professor X, perhaps hinting at a major loyalty arc for him.
2. A Mystery Funeral
Dark Phoenix's funeral scene was first teased in EW's cover story in late 2017, and returns here in an even more prominent position. The big question now is as it was then: whose is it? In attendance are Professor X, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Storm and Beast, so they can be ruled out, but that leaves many figures, including Jean, Mystique, Magneto and more.
Assuming this isn't a big spoiler from the end of the film (in which case it could be anyone) this is likely Jean's, with her presumed dead as in the graphic novel before bringing herself back to life (like a literal phoenix).
1. Jean as Phoenix
And, finally, the Dark Phoenix trailer's money shot: Jean becoming Phoenix. While it's not a full-on display, it looks very much as expected, with the cracked skin teased by the EW images. However, there's still a clear human beneath all that power, again reminding that this is the story of Jean Grey as much as it is a sci-fi spectacle.
Next: X-Men: Dark Phoenix: Every Update You Need To Know
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