There’s no doubt in my mind that if the X-Men were real, Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeauwould be one of the politicians fighting the good fight for them. He’s the real-life antidote to characters like Senator Kelly. So it’s fitting then that Trudeau recently met up with the cast and crew ofX-Men: Dark Phoenix,Simon Kinberg’sX-Men: Apocalypsesequel which is just rolling into production in Montreal, and in a classic Trudeau move, he somehow manages to out-glow a table full of young and beautiful actors.
Along with Kinberg and Trudeau, you’ll spy plenty of familiar faces from the cast in the new photo. For a bit there afterApocalypseit seemed like the X-verse might have to say goodbye to the lineup of leads introduced inFirst Class, butDark Phoenixwill reportedly reunite most of the key players, includingJennifer Lawrence(Mystique),Michael Fassbender(Magneto),James McAvoy(Professor X),Nicholas Hoult(Beast),Alexandra Shipp(Storm),Sophie Turner(Jean Grey),Tye Sheridan(Cyclops), andKodi Smit-McPhee(Nightcrawler). The most noticeable absentee isEvan Peters' Quicksilver, theApocalypseandDays of Future Paststandout who has not been confirmed to return. The film is also bringing in a heavy hitter as the villain –Jessica Chastainis set to play Lilandra, the alien Empress of the Shi’ar, who comes into conflict with the X-Men when she leads the quest to imprison and execute Dark Phoenix.
See who you can spot in the behind-the-scenes image below.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Dark Phoenix storyline, it centers on Jean Grey, who develops dangerously amplified telepathic powers when she comes into contact with the Phoenix, a cosmic entity that eventually takes over her personality, birthing the Dark Phoenix, and transforms Jean into a deadly force battling the X-Men. Dark Phoenix previously appeared inX-Men: The Last Stand(co-written by Kinberg), but to the chagrin of many fans, it was presented as a personality Xavier planted in Jean’s mind that emerged after she returned from the dead. Then she went full murder crazy, killed a bunch of fan favorite characters, and none of it really mattered in the timeline (what timeline?) in the end anyway. Fortunately, it sounds like Kinberg is taking a drastically different tack with the character this time around.
X-Men: Dark Phoenixis scheduled to land in theaters on July 05, 2025. For more of the latestX-Mennews, get caught up on our recent coverage in the links below:
