The X-Men franchise has been going strong for a decade now, but the franchise looks like it may come to an end with Dark Phoenix. Simon Kinberg's upcoming blockbuster will attempt to tell the iconic comic book story, after The Last Stand failed to impress fans back in 2006. The pressure is very high for Dark Phoenix, especially as it's been delayed a few times already.
Dark Phoenix will pick up on the X-Men a decade after the events of Apocalypse. The story will largely follow Sophie Turner's Jean Grey, who is struggling with a powerful cosmic force inside of her. Helping to guide her through this journey is Jessica Chastain's mysterious character, who was shown as some type of mentor figure during the film's trailers. But the character hasn't even been named yet, and Kinberg recently spoke to CinemaBlend about this decision, saying:
The plan is to keep it mysterious as long as humanly possible. I mean, one of the things I loved growing up watching movies. The most seminal movies for me growing up were the Star Wars films. What I loved about them is I had no idea what was going to happen when I walked into the theater. What we've tried to do -- Hutch [Parker, producer] and I both produced Logan -- part of what we really tried to do with that film and we're trying to do with this is retain some of that mystery, retain some of the experience of going into the cinema not knowing everything about the movie before you see it, and just sort of having it be the sort of experience we had growing up.
It looks like Simon Kinberg's decision to keep Jessica Chastain largely under wraps ahead of Dark Phoenix's release has much to do with the galaxy far, far away. The director/producer wants to keep the secrets of the film secure, and therefore allow moviegoers to get a full theatrical experience in theaters.
Simon Kinberg's comments about Jessica Chastain's mysterious Dark Phoenix role come from CinemaBlend's conversation with the cast and crew at WonderCon. And considering what we know about the film world, his idea makes a great deal of sense. Spoilers have become essentially a curse word with popular franchises, as cinephiles want to be able to experience major releases as filmmakers intended. Studios are known to keep their cards close to the chest, and that's exactly what Kinberg is doing when it comes to Chastain in Dark Phoenix.
You can check out our conversation with the Dark Phoenix cast and crew below, including Simon Kinberg himself.
To this date, there's no official character name or detailed description of Jessica Chastain's Dark Phoenix character. While she's an integral part of the marketing material, she's only known as some shapeshifting alien who will manipulate Jean Grey. And that's all the information we're likely to get until the blnockbuster finally arrives in theaters. At least, if Simon Kinberg is to be believed.
Luckily, there isn't all that much time left before we get some answers. Dark Phoenix will arrive in theaters on June 7th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
