“Dark Phoenix” To Have A “Thor” Influence
In the wake of the release of the first trailer for “Dark Phoenix,” one complaint rang out the most on Reddit threads, discussion boards and social media – it looks like a remake of the much despised “X-Men: The Last Stand”.
Indeed there are some striking similarities to that Brett Ratner-directed third of the original “X-Men” films, the movie that was so hated by the fans that it effectively led to the series being rebooted with the far superior “X-Men: First Class”.
“Dark Phoenix” writer-director Simon Kinberg, who also penned ‘The Last Stand’, has decided to tackle the storyline again for the new film. The project marks the last of Fox’s main “X-Men” films before the Marvel-Disney deal goes through and the property likely gets rebooted. Speaking with
EW this week, Kinberg discussed his inspiration for his second go around at the story:
“I’m sorry for ‘X-Men 3’. We tried to tell the ‘Dark Phoenix’ story and we didn’t do it properly. So, with this ‘Dark Phoenix’ story there is no ‘cure’ plot, there is no other plot. It is the Dark Phoenix story, as told in comics, as told in the cartoons.
Sophie [Turner] is the center of the film, that’s why she’s the one person that’s in the teaser poster. The entire movie revolves around her. It’s a movie that goes into space and is cosmic, very much inspired actually by what [Taika Waititi] did with ‘Thor’ – even though the tone is totally different – but just the ability to make a character movie that still feels grounded, and fun, but is in whole other universes.
Jessica Chastain’s character plays an alien, and that’s all I can tell you about that. But, yeah, it’s the ‘Dark Phoenix’ story and if you’ve read that comic I think you’re going to like the movie a lot.”
Whether that holds true remains to be seen. The first trailer launched to a tepid reaction, and the subsequent delay of several months didn’t improve its image, but the screening of the film’s first fifteen minutes at New York Comic Con the other day reportedly went over very well. “Dark Phoenix” opens in cinemas next Summer.