The X-Men era of movies as we know it is concluding this summer with the release of DARK PHOENIX, which will be the last movie released featuring the mutants while they still call 20th Century Fox home. Before the roles are inevitably recast and the characters rebooted by Disney, actors James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and more are looking to end things with a cataclysmic bang in DARK PHOENIX, and now a new trailer is here that finds Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey embracing her dark side, and kind of loving it.
“When I lose control bad things happen,” Grey says. “But it feels good.”
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That part right there underlines the conflict Grey goes through after an accident during a space mission leaves her surging with a dark power that enhances her abilities beyond measure. She’s struggling to retain what good in her still exists, which is slowly being taken over by the darker forces that make being so powerful feel so damn good. Much of this trailer’s new footage shows her seeming to get a kick out of being able to toss powerful mutants like Magneto (Fassbender) around like sacks of potatoes, with the mysterious character played by Jessica Chastain acting as the devil on her shoulder.
Along with more Grey footage, there’s more about the general setup and story, like the team being sent into space to save a crew in peril, which goes wrong when a solar flare hits and thus sets things in motion. There are some more action bits as well, but the most notable takeaway is that it paints a clearer picture of the story, which might be enough to win over some people who are having their doubts about this final Fox outing for the X-Men.
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Indeed, there have been many concerns raised over the movie, spurned by numerous release shifts and lack of enthusiasm over previous trailers. The previous movie, 2016’s APOCALYPSE, doesn't help things either, with it being a huge step down from 2014’s DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and left a sour taste in moviegoers’ mouths. But, no matter, we won't know how it turns out for another month or so when it debuts on June 7, and I for one am trying to stay positive. While it might not be the best-looking movie to conclude this series with this cast of actors, I'm hoping there's enough in there to make for at least a decent dramatic, action-packed conclusion for some of the characters.
Here's the synopsis
This is the story of one of the X-Men’s most beloved characters, Jean Grey, as she evolves into the iconic DARK PHOENIX. During a life-threatening rescue mission in space, Jean is hit by a cosmic force that transforms her into one of the most powerful mutants of all. Wrestling with this increasingly unstable power as well as her own personal demons, Jean spirals out of control, tearing the X-Men family apart and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our planet. The film is the most intense and emotional X-Men movie ever made. It is the culmination of 20 years of X-Men movies, as the family of mutants that we've come to know and love must face their most devastating enemy yet — one of their own.
X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX hits theaters June 7.