The next X-Men movie lined up is X-Men: Dark Phoenix which revolves around Jean Grey’s transformation into a powerful, cosmic creature. She is played by Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones). Fans are rejoicing as its one of the most iconic X-Men storylines ever conceived by Marvel comics. But the timing of revisiting this old saga may not be perfect.
In 1976, an acclaimed X-Men writer Chris Claremont who enjoys strong female characters wrote ‘Phoenix Saga’ centered around Jean Grey. He said at the time:
“Our intent was to create an X-Men analog, if you will, to Thor – someone who was essentially the first female cosmic hero. We thought at the time we could integrate her into the book as well as Thor had been integrated into the Avengers.”
In the plot, Jean Grey almost killed by solar energy, emerged into something else, she donned the mantle of fire and defeated the ruthless alien emperor. She merged with Phoenix force, could hold entire timelines in her hands and destroyed Apocalypse. She became so powerful that she could even defeat Galactus (Devourer of Worlds) in the end. In a shocking turn of events, she turned on X-Men and then consumed an entire star, committing atrocities by the millions and thus the name Dark Phoenix.
There are a number of problems with doing Dark Phoenix plot at this point of time. Firstly, we all know the story and there are no surprises until the makers decide to change stuff from the source material. Further, there was an attempt in the past that failed spectacularly. Secondly, Jean Grey’s character needs to be established first, let audience develop an emotional connection with her and then we go in this direction. Thirdly, it gives the impression that X-Men franchise has run out of ideas and is now just searching for iconic plots without setting the stage for them.
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