Fox has been making X-Men movies for a long time—even before superhero movies became cool again. Now with Disney purchasing 21st Century Fox, this run of films may be coming to an end. Eighteen years after the mutants made their first cinematic appearance, we’ll see what could be the final installment in this time-bending series this fall when X-Men: Dark Phoenix is released.
The film will attempt to be a version of The Dark Phoenix Saga that does the source material justice, unlike the studio’s first attempt. This is a pretty intriguing concept, and with a young lineup of mutants that made the most of their screen time in X-Men: Apocalypse, the film could potentially be pretty good.
However, there are also some concerns. Mainly, director Simon Kinberg has never helmed a feature film before despite producing every X-Men film since First Class. Kinberg also co-wrote the much maligned X-Men: The Last Stand, and while he is likely determined to get the source material right this time, this is still a bit of a strange situation.
What will be even stranger is the situation Marvel Studios will find itself in if the film if a hit. While there is no official confirmation of this, many have speculated that the X-Men will be rebooted to fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the coming years. If audiences love Dark Phoenix, then Fox will want to make a sequel that continues the story.
The Dark Phoenix Saga is a pretty large-scale storyline that would dramatically change the landscape of the X-Men if it is adapted properly. While the movie will reportedly be toning down the cosmic aspects of the story, a Dark Phoenix movie would still have major ramifications on the series.
When Jean Grey becomes Dark Phoenix in the comics, she is an all-powerful destructive force that would be bigger than any character the X-Men films have previously introduced. The storyline ends with deeply personal consequences that would be difficult to follow up.
This makes Dark Phoenix a logical ending for Fox’s current string of X-Men films. However, since Kinberg likely plotted out the story before a Fox-Disney deal was a significant possibility, the plan likely involves making another sequel after this. After all, the franchise has softly rebooted itself a few times now, with the end of Apocalypse seemingly hinting at many adventures to come for Quicksilver, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler and Storm.
Since the franchise is set up for a series of movies with this younger lineup of X-Men, will audiences want to see Marvel Studios introduce an entirely new young lineup of X-Men set in a different continuity a few years from now? We’ll have to wait and see, but unless Dark Phoenix ends up being the final chapter in this long-running saga of films, it seems like Fox has set itself up for a series that will never come to fruition.