X ‘gon give it to ya–Dark Phoenix gets a new trailer

The X-Men face their greatest foe yet. Through a series of trials and logistical tribulations, the cosmic balance of their very reality lies uncertain. Charles Xavier, Magneto; the most powerful mutants known to man, moved like pawns in–oh wait, nevermind. I’m thinking of the Fox-Disney merger. Jean Grey? Pfff. Try fighting Disney’s lawyers.

Arriving ahead of its June 7th release is a new trailer for Dark Phoenix, the latest and seemingly-penultimate (before August’s New Mutants) of the X-Men films.

Adapting Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s classic arc of the X-Men comics, Dark Phoenix sees supermutant Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) struggle with her tremendous power, her instability unleashing her Phoenix moniker, and throwing the X-Men and the mutant world at large into topsy-turvy land. A lot of our favorites return with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender returning to their respective Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) roles, and Jennifer Lawrence slipping back into her blue skin for Raven/Mystique.

The X-Men films are a fascination of mine, not least because I’m a longtime fan of the franchise at large. The films have run the gamut of the superhero boom, having been around long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe and somehow managing to keep things relatively tidy with the timelines. Not to mention the quality has been rockier than Everest, from the highest-highs of Logan and First Class to the lowest-lows of Deadpool 2, the inconsistency is part of the fun. I guess?

When we left our heroes in 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse was… no bueno. But who knows! Perhaps we’re set to go out with a bang.

And that’s another thing, the cinematic future of the X-Men remains to be seen in a post-MCU world where Disney holds all the cards. I have a plethora of ideas, but I suspect we see the X-Men go the route of The Defenders, with Disney using the X-Verse (you can use that, Kevin Feige) as a base for their original series via Disney+. 

But this is all wild speculation. Wilder than Jessica Chastain’s ice queen hair in that trailer.