Since its title and story were announced, anticipation is high for Fox’s upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which now may feature a role for Michael Fassbender’s Magneto. Fassbender took over the role of Erik Lehnsherr in X-Men: First Class as part of Fox’s soft reboot of the franchise. After previously seeing Sir Ian McKellen put his stamp on the character, Fassbender was still able to bring something new to the character while staying true to who Magneto would eventually become.

The acclaimed actor has already made three appearances as the mutant leader and has continued to blur the lines between being a hero and a villain. Despite his role being a constant bright spot for the films, his future remained uncertain following Apocalypse and it looked to be a real possibility that he could sit out the next installment. But, this does not appear to be the case anymore.

Fassbender spoke to MTV‘s Josh Horowitz on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, but before the episode comes out in a few days, Horowitz shared a small, but important tease for Fassbender’s future in the X-Men universe. While there is no direct quote from the actor, he appears to have indicated to Horowitz he’ll return for Dark Phoenix, but not New Mutants.

Want to know Fassbender's X-MEN future? Bet big on him appearing in DARK PHOENIX but not NEW MUTANTS. Oh, I just saw Michael Fassbender BTW
— Josh Horowitz (@joshuahorowitz) May 15, 2017

If true, it will mark the latest example of Fox extending an actor’s contract. It was reported that Fassbender, James McAvoy (Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), and Nicholas Hoult (Beast) all saw their contracts expire after Apocalypse, but the studio was hoping to re-sign them.

It appears Fox has worked out Fassbender’s contract at the least and will see Magneto play a part in the Dark Phoenix story on the big screen. Fans may recall he played a prominent role in helping Jean Grey embrace her full potential in X-Men: The Last Stand, but even he was not prepared for the true terror that she would bring forth.

Even though Fassbender’s Magneto has been a highlight for this new trilogy, his character has continued to have a similar arc throughout each appearance where he starts bad but ends up walking away without Charles stopping him. His absence could have allowed Fox to bring in other villains into the fold, but that may now be unlikely. Now, we will have to just wait and see what exactly the future holds for Magneto and the rest of the X-Men universe.



[Screen Rant]