There are a lot of questions with regards to the upcomingDark Phoenix. It will be the first time producer and screenwriterSimon Kinbergsteps behind the camera to direct, and it will be taking on arguably the biggestX-Mencomic storyline of all-time. The adaptation was attempted once before inX-Men: The Last Standto middling results, but this time it looks like they’re staying closer to the source material.
At CCXP 2018, Kinberg talked toOmeleteabout how loyal the movie will be to the comic and where it will have to depart:
“It’s very loyal in a lot of ways. TheDark Phoenixcomic is my favorite of any comic run in history.X-Menhas always been my favorite comic, and obviously has been part of my life for 14 years now. The movie, emotionally, is very loyal to the original source material. It’s loyal in that it’s centered on Jean’s transformation from Phoenix to Dark Phoenix, and that transformation involves a cosmic force that comes from outer space, and that there are alien characters. And then there are other ways I wanted to really drill down and focus on the characters and go as in-depth as they did in the comic, which means in the span of a two-hour movie, you can’t include everything that was inTheDark PhoenixSaga, so there are certain things that aren’t in the film, but I think fans will see that I myself am a huge fan and geek and was loyal to what I wanted to see in the film.”
This is probably the smart way to go since you don’t want to stick too closely to what was done before inThe Last Stand, and while I still think it’s kind of a mistake to keep pushing the timeline forward by a decade (Dark Phoenixtakes place in the 90s), I’m at least curious to see what Kinberg will bring to the table as a director and how thisX-Menfilm will differ from all the ones that came before.
Check out the interview from CCXP below.Dark Phoenixopens August 09, 2025 and also starsJames McAvoy,Michael Fassbender,Jennifer Lawrence,Sophie Turner,Evan Peters, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alexandra Shipp, andJessica Chastain.
Here is the official synopsis forDark Phoenix:
In DARK PHOENIX, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.
