During an interview with Rolling Stone, Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg explained the reason why Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was absent in latest X-Men film.
While Hugh Jackman retired from the role of Wolverine in director James Mangold’s Logan, many fans hoped to see the character reprise the role in Dark Phoenix, especially considering the fan-favorite character played a role in the comic book storyline. However, director Simon Kinberg explained that part of the reason why Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was absent from Dark Phoenix can be attributed to the age difference between the actor and Sophie Turner, who portrays Jean Grey:
“If you know the Dark Phoenix story, you’d want to really service the love story between Logan and Jean. And I think the notion of Hugh Jackman, as great as he looks for his age, and Sophie Turner — it didn’t sit well with me. Or anyone else!”
Simon Kinberg added that he wanted the focus of Dark Phoenix to be on Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey as opposed to turning to fan-favorites like Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine:
[…] I didn’t want to run the risk of pulling away from Jean by going to the well of a fan-favorite character in these movies. I wanted this to be a very different experience of seeing an X-Men movie.
Would you enjoy seeing Hugh Jackman reprise his role as Wolverine, even for a brief cameo, or was it the right call to leave the character out of this film? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
This is the story of one of the X-Men’s most beloved characters, Jean Grey, as she evolves into the iconic DARK PHOENIX. During a life-threatening rescue mission in space, Jean is hit by a cosmic force that transforms her into one of the most powerful mutants of all. Wrestling with this increasingly unstable power as well as her own personal demons, Jean spirals out of control, tearing the X-Men family apart and threatening to destroy the very fabric of our planet. The film is the most intense and emotional X-Men movie ever made. It is the culmination of 20 years of X-Men movies, as the family of mutants that we’ve come to know and love must face their most devastating enemy yet — one of their own.
Written and directed by Simon Kinberg, Dark Phoenix stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters, and Jessica Chastain.
Dark Phoenix will be released in theaters on June 7, 2019.
Source: Rolling Stone
