Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg recently explained what aspects of the X-Men storyline from the comics were cut for the film.
20th Century Fox’s first attempt at adapting the Dark Phoenix saga didn’t go well. The Jean Grey-centered story was cut down to a subplot when it was first explored in 2005’s X-Men: The Last Stand and was only teased in X-Men: Apocalypse. Many fans have eagerly anticipated Dark Phoenix but are somewhat skeptical if the film will fully adapt the comic book storyline exactly as it appeared on the page.
Now, Dark Phoenix fans may be upset to hear that some elements of the classic comic storyline had to be cut out for the movie. While promoting the film, Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg was asked by Digital Spy to touch on what aspects of the comic book Dark Phoenix storyline were left out for the film adaptation.
“I think if I had four hours to tell this story I would’ve included the Hellfire Club, I might’ve included Lilandra,”
Kinberg went on to elaborate on why those two elements specifically were cut.
“So while I loved the Hellfire characters and their role in the Dark Phoenix saga in the comics, and I loved the Lilandra storyline in the comics, all of those felt like they were going to start to compete with the main story of Jean and her emotional crack-up and the break-up of the X-Men family. And I didn’t want to draw away from that main emotional through-line.”
It seems Kinberg originally tried to work the characters in during the writing process but ultimately the film needed to be trimmed down in order to include all the previously introduced X-Men. The film serves as the final chapter in the main X-Men storyline following the reintroduction of characters like Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler from 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse.
In regards to the exclusion of the Hellfire club and Lilandra, the Hellfire club was previously seen in X-Men: First Class and was supposedly going to play a larger role in the X-Men franchise before Fox opted to make X-Men: Days of Future Past rather than return to the Hellfire club. Additionally, Fox also changed the third act of Dark Phoenix. The final fight was going to take place in space but was it was changed due to its similarity to another superhero film. Producer Hutch Parker elaborated more on the story.
“There was more of a cosmic story… the story ended in space in a much more significant way,” he told us. “We actually shifted that to be back on Earth, most notably, so that we can involve our main characters and see them come together.”
Ultimately it seems the changes from the source material ultimately were made in order to service the plot of the film. Are you excited for Dark Phoenix? Let us know in the comments!
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: Digital Spy
