As the very last of the X-Men movies from the now defunct 20th Century Fox banner, X-Men Dark Phoenix is expected to shatter records and create milestones. While the movie’s storyline is said to take a direct leaf from the critical success The Dark Phoenix Saga of Marvel Comics, the story does not just end there. As the showstopper to a billion-dollar franchise that is the Fox-Verse, it must have what it takes to be seen as a proper sendoff. And to that end, the very writer claims he has taken inspiration from a lot of other blockbuster movies that were used in making X-Men Dark Phoenix. One example, in particular, caught our curiosity. X-Men Dark Phoenix has been penned by none other than the acclaimed Chris Claremont who claims the movie is comparable to James Bond: Casino Royale.
Sophie Turner as Jean Grey in the movie. She will unwittingly turn into the megalomaniac entity called the Phoenix Force after a freak accident lets her lose control of the body. The Phoenix Force is a cosmic entity and the embodiment of all psychic energy in the universe. Until now, it stayed dormant. But with Jean losing control, it finally has a chance to be set free.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the seventh installment to the original timeline of X-Men movies (standalone don’t count). The movie will see the emergence of the character of Smith, a mysterious figure that everyone believes to be the Skrull Queen in disguise. She will be played by Jessica Chastain. The X-Men movies’ primary co-leads – Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are also set to return to play Magneto and Professor X respectively.
Chris Claremont claims the Fox-Verse is still not dead, not entirely anyway. The Dark Phoenix saga will determine whether Disney will continue the X-Men separately or will they integrate them into the mainstream MCU using the rumored ‘Zero Event.’ Whether his words are true or not is still up for debate. But he was the guy who saved the X-Men from almost certain cancellation during Marvel’s bad phase where it almost went bankrupt. Fox Studios had already adapted his ‘Days of Future Past’ storyline into a movie. This is another of his works being adapted into the Big Screens.
While promoting his documentary Claremont’s X-Men, he shared a rather interesting view via Screen Crush:
“It’s isn’t like they didn’t make more than one version of Casino Royale.”
To be clear, he is referring to something else entirely. Casino Royale was adapted twice into a movie. The one starring Daniel Craig and Eva Green was preceded by a 1967 Casino Royale movie starring none other than David Niven. While the latter is not necessarily considered a Bond Movie, it was still inspired by Bond Lore. So that necessarily means Claremont is saying X-Men: The Last Stand was the campy prequel version while The Dark Phoenix will be the actual, gritty one:
“Well, I think that’s a perfectly accurate paradigm; the second Dark Phoenix will have as powerful an impact on the comic-book film world as the second Casino Royale had on the James Bond film world. I figure you could do a whole lot worse than that.”
Claremont has created several strong female superheroes for the X-Men like Mystique, Emma Frost and Rogue. It is reasonable to think that the story of Dark Phoenix will also be centering on female characters. Claremont is the guy who wrote the Dark Phoenix saga comic book series for Marvel Comics. So it stands to reason to think that he has invested so much time and energy to make the movie a reality.
Casino Royale effectively rebooted the James Bond franchise which was almost about to implode due to unexpected shortcomings. The same happened with X-Men: First Class. The movie effectively helped the X-Men franchise breath a breath of fresh air with a new darker plotline and newer characters. The James Bond franchise is soaring high wick to back blockbusters and even an Oscar nomination. Will X-Men Dark Phoenix help the franchise rise from the ashes like its namesake?? Only time will tell. But Claremont seems confident enough to say yes.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix releases on November 2nd, 2018. Excited?? Yeah me too!!!
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