It may be almost half a year away from the release of the latest X-Men movie, simply titled Dark Phoenix, but the first trailer for the film dropped during a recent episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden, and boy oh boy, is it packed full of information about the upcoming movie.
The movie follows the story of Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) as a young girl who manifests mutant abilities. From there, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) takes her into his school for the gifted to help her learn how to control her newfound abilities. However, his years of work are for naught as Jean Grey loses control in this latest film.
Originally, the film was supposed to hit theaters this November, but the trailer did reveal the new release date of Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2019. Aside from Turner and McAvoy, Dark Phoenix features the return of Michael Fassbender, Tye Sheridan, Evan Peters, Alexandra Shipp, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, and Kodi Smit-McPhee in this latest X-Men outing.
A lot happens in this trailer, and we’re breaking it down to figure out what we can about the upcoming 2019 film.
A young Jean Grey stands in front of Xavier’s mansion. She is alone–and we’ll find out a little more about that later. She asks Xavier if he can “fix” her, and he reassures her that she is not broken. She seems very young, much younger than most people in the X-Men cinematic universe when they realize they have superhuman abilities. In the comics, Jean manifested her powers when she was around eight years old after her friend was hit by a car and killed right in front of her.
Jean sits in Xavier’s office. We can hear McAvoy say, “The mind is a fragile thing.” He continues saying that even a slight tap can move it in the wrong direction. Foreshadowing! What is this moment that causes Jean to break? We saw some of her Dark Phoenix powers in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. Could that have unlocked something when Jean went full force at the end of the movie?
Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) is running some tests on Jean in the laboratory under the X-Mansion. It seems like the early parts of the film will revolve around trying to find a way to “fix” Jean, who has become broken.
Earlier, we saw Jean get dropped off at the school alone. That’s because her parents are more than likely dead. While riding in the back seat of the car, with her parents upfront, Jean’s powers manifested–or were just uncontrollable at that moment–and her mind moved the car into oncoming traffic, where it collided with a truck. From the look of it, Jean was the only survivor.
An adult Jean Grey looks for answers and finds herself at a commune. There, she finds Magneto and wants his help. She tells him that she’s looking for answers. Now, Magneto–in the comics and in the movies–is a guy who wants to be left alone when he’s not in the heat of battle. Magneto–in this scene–is on Genosha, the island nation he eventually led in the comics that is home to mutants.
Jessica Chastain shows up in a church. She’s playing a character named Smith. She tells Jean she doesn’t belong “here.” Does this “here” mean in the church, on the X-Men, or maybe even on Earth?
There are plenty of rumors surrounding her real identity. Some people think she’s actually Mr. Sinister–an immortal geneticist who is pretty evil–while others think she’s Lilandra–the Empress of the Shi’ar, and alien with a knack for metal helmets. Could she even by Mastermind, a telepathic mutant–and member of the Hellfire Club–known for manipulating Jean in the comics. He was also an instrumental part in creating Dark Phoenix. This role is top secret, and all we know is Smith is a shapeshifter and an alien. That’s it. Mr. Sinister isn’t an alien, but Lilandra isn’t a shapeshifter. I know this is the X-Men Cinematic Universe and all, but maybe she’s a Skrull?
There are a few glimpses of X-Men we’ve come to know and love throughout the series. Quicksilver (Evan Peters) seems to have cleaned up his act.
Storm (Alexandra Shipp) has left Egypt and become a full-fledged member of the X-Men.
This is the first time we see a real change in Jean Grey. There is a little bit of orange in her eyes. Because this is a movie and not a direct adaptation of the comic book story, it’s hard to know if the Phoenix Force is a cosmic entity or just another side of Jean that’s been buried for years. We’re going to go with the latter, and this is the start of a darker version of Jean.
Here’s your X-Men team lineup for the latest movie. From left to right, we have Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, Beast, Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, and Mystique. The movie is going to get to a point where Jean may be beyond help and the X-Men–the people in her life who truly care for her–will have to try and stop her.
The X-Men won’t be the only people after Jean. She’s going to do something that gets the attention of the some form of military. As to what event made this happen is unknown, but it’s going to have to be something big. However, Jean won’t be running and hiding. In the next scene, she uses her telekinesis to take down a helicopter.
Yes, that’s the X-Men’s jet–the Blackbird–headed into space. So much of the early parts of Dark Phoenix Saga comic story involves space travel, primarily confrontations with the Shi’ar and Lilandra. Will Dark Phoenix be adding that to this movie?
Things start to get really crazy when we notice a rift between McCoy and Xavier. Beast says to him, “This is your fault, Charles.” This is more than likely referring to something Xavier did with Jean’s mind as a child that made the whole Phoenix debacle worsen as she aged.
The Blackbird–flying in space, above the Earth–has a fireball emitting energy behind it. This is probably Jean Grey/Phoenix, and the battle has been taken to space. Did the X-Men leave Earth because Jean had become so powerful she could destroy the planet?
“You’re always sorry, Charles, and there’s always a speech, but nobody cares.” Magneto says this as we see him pick up his helmet and put it on. Aside from Beast, it seems Magneto is not happy with the decisions Xavier made dealing with Jean Grey.
Lines have been drawn and Beast has parted ways from Charles. He’s now teamed with Magneto and two other mutants we can assume are from Genosha.
“Don’t do this,” Xavier says to Beast, Magneto, and company as the two groups face off with one another. Xavier’s team–at this point–is made up of Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Storm, and himself. What happened to Mystique and Quicksilver?
Please don’t let this be the funeral for Quicksilver. We already saw him die in Age of Ultron. Both Xavier and Beast stand on opposite ends of the dirt mound. Not even in death can their rift be repaired. Also, why is it always raining at funerals in movies?
Jean goes full Phoenix towards the end of the trailer. Bizarrely enough, she’s wearing an X-Men outfit, which matches the others we saw earlier on. This could be earlier on in the story, where Dark Phoenix takes over Jean, when she’s still a full-fledged member of the X-Men.
