In 2017, producer Hutch Parker teased that the X-Men: Dark Phoenix mutants would venture into space. Later, director Simon Kinberg shared that he wanted to ensure that the movie wouldn’t be “too intergalactic”. Most recently, Sophie Turner - who portrays Jean Grey – came forward to shed some light on the matter.
In an interview in the latest issue of Empire (via Twitter user @THGDistrict3), Turner confirmed that the mutants will definitely venture beyond Earth in X-Men: Dark Phoenix:
The X-Men go cosmic. That element is in there somewhere.
However, the British actress insisted that we can’t expect the November 2, 2018 release to go so far as to be an interstellar romp. Labeling the movie as “dark, gritty drama”, she added that it's “so different from any other X-Men”:
We are revolutionizing it. We wanted to create a whole new genre of superhero movies.
Simon Kinberg's directorial debut won't be 21st Century Fox's first attempt at adapting The Dark Phoenix Saga. Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand was also based on the iconic Marvel Comics storyline. That movie is full of flaws. Very little effort was made to depict Jean Grey's epic torment as she struggled with the powerful cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force.
On the other hand, that plot point will be front and center in Dark Phoenix. Kinberg promised that it will be done in a “bold” and “radical” manner. According to Turner:
Once I got the script, though, I realized that not only were we telling this amazing superhero story, but we were also telling a very personal story as well, one which required research into mental health issues. Because that is a big part of what drives the story. I mainly drew inspiration from multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia, as it really is about duality, this movie. Darkness and light - that's all within her. This sense of her being a completely other person and struggling with that.
The magazine also shared several low-resolution photos from X-Men: Dark Phoenix. One of them showed a bruised, bloodied, and unconscious Magneto. An official, high-resolution version recently turned up online. Check it out here!
