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Dark Phoenix Director Apologizes for X-Men: The Last Stand
Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg apologizes for botching Fox's first attempt at adapting Chris Claremont's Dark Phoenix saga in X-Men: The Last Stand. A longtime producer of Fox's X-Men films, Kinberg also wrote the Brett Ratner-directed movie, alongside Zak Penn. The film was the final installment in the series' initial continuity, before it was rebooted by Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class.
Specific narrative points are still being kept under wraps, but people involved in Dark Phoenix are hyping it up, including Sophie Turner (Jean Grey/Phoenix), who promised fans that it will revolutionize the superhero genre. Meanwhile, Jennifer Lawrence (Raven/Mystique) dubbed it her best X-Men experience. The movie is set to be the last Fox-controlled X-Men film before rights to the mutants, alongside all their tie-in characters, return to Marvel Entertainment after the Disney and Fox merger is finalized.
Speaking with EW as he continues to promote Dark Phoenix, Kinberg apologized for Fox's first attempt to adapt the quintessential storyline from the comics back in 2006. Considering that he was a pivotal part of The Last Stand, the first-time director also assures fans that this time, they made sure to stick to the source material as closely as possible. Kinberg previously named Logan and the original Star Wars trilogy - as well as other MCU cosmic-set films - as influences on his upcoming movie, but following his apology, he specifically named Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok as another significant inspiration.
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“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 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] 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.
Admittedly, not many were initially sold on the idea of retelling the same print narrative, especially since Fox could've gone with other storylines that have never been translated to the big screen. It didn't help that Dark Phoenix's release has been pushed back a few times, alongside rumors that the reshoots were to alter a huge chunk of the movie. Over the years, the term "reshoots" has developed a negative connotation after being associated with problem-laded productions, that said, reshoots have always been mandatory, especially for blockbusters.
While the film's first trailer didn't necessarily squash people's concerns that Dark Phoenix will be just an updated version of The Last Stand, the buzz surrounding the event-exclusive footage shown at NYCC may sway naysayers to give the movie a fair shot. Those who were lucky enough to see the preview raved about the chemistry of the established X-Men team before Jean's change of heart. From the looks of it, Kinberg's apology may not just be lip service, assuming the forthcoming mutant-centered movie blows everyone away.
