X-Men: Dark Phoenix Director Nods At Jean Grey's Return

Jean Grey at the end of Apocalypse

While superhero movies have become commonplace over the past few years, the X-Men franchise was ahead of its time. And throughout the various shared universes, 20th Century Fox's superheroic franchise is still going strong, with fans are eager to return to the main timeline with Simon Kinberg's X-Men: Dark Phoenix. The upcoming sequel will be the second attempt at adapting the iconic comic book of the same name, bringing Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner center stage as Jean Grey. Reshoots are currently happening on Dark Phoenix, and Kinberg teased Jean's upcoming struggle with a photo from the set. Check it out.

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Jean is coming back, and she's not going to the wholesome young mutants we met in X-Men: Apocalypse. The character's darkness was briefly teased during her interactions with Professor X, but the true extent of her abilities and the Phoenix Force will arrive in a more official capacity in Dark Phoenix.

Information about X-Men: Dark Phoenix has been kept under wraps, but the sequel's overall plot has been briefly teased. With the X-Men now celebrated heroes, the team makes their way to space for a new mission. But a solar flare causes Jean to lose control, and allows the Phoenix Force to take control of the powerful mutant. It's a sequel that will turn the X-Men against their own, and one that will likely be especially emotional for Jean and Scott (Tye Sheridan). Considering how Sophie Turner's tenure on Game of Thrones is coming to a close, its the perfect opportunity for the actress to showcase her talents and become a bonafide movie star.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be the franchise's second attempt at the Dark Phoenix story. It was adapted to rather poor results in X-Men: The Last Stand back in 2006. Ultimately it treated Jean's powers vaguely, and without actually bringing in the intergalactic element of the narrative. Franchise director Bryan Singer regretted not directing the threequel, and ultimately it was a movie whose timeline was largely ignored. Fans are ready to see the Dark Phoenix plot once again adapted for the silver screen, this time more inspired by the source material. We'll just have to wait and see if the sequel's quality is an improvement on the somewhat lackluster performance of X-Men: Apocalypse.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix will arrive in theaters on February 14, 2019. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.