‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ Director Shares New Details On Jessica Chastain’s Alien Villain

X-Men Dark Phoenix Jessica Chastain Sophie Turner Jean Grey

During an interview with IGN, X-Men: Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg shared new details on the mysterious villain played by Jessica Chastain.

Details on Jessica Chastain’s villainous character have been scarce since the Academy Award-nominated actress was cast in the latest X-Men film, prompting fans to develop their own theories on the identity of Chastain’s character. In fact, some fans proposed that the character was a gender-swapped version of the telepath named Mastermind, who played an important role in Jean Grey’s downfall in the Dark Phoenix comic book story. While director Simon Kinberg confirmed that this theory was incorrect, he did explain that Jessica Chastain’s character will have elements of a few characters from the comics:

“I will say that Jessica’s character is not Mastermind but there are elements of the way Mastermind manipulates Jean that Jessica’s character does employ. For me, as you’ll see, that Jessica’s character has elements of a few different characters from the comics.”

Though Kinberg would not divulge whether or not Jessica Chastain’s character was connected to the Shi’ar Empire from the comics, the filmmaker did confirm that the character is an extraterrestrial:

“She is from, let’s say, not our planet, her character. I’ll keep it relatively mysterious but it is a cosmic story in a way that is extraterrestrial, which is something we’ve never done in the X-Men movies before but is obviously something that is integral to the Dark Phoenix story so I felt we couldn’t’ do what we did on X3 and ignore that. We had to actually embrace it. So there’s a fair amount that takes place in space, and the inciting incident that starts to turn Jean, let’s say, dark and fill her with this power that she can’t control happens in space. And then there are forces from space that come to Earth because of that.”

Actress Sophie Turner also commented on the nature of the relationship between Jessica Chastain’s villain and Jean Grey:

“It’s an interesting one and I don’t want to spill too much about it but basically Jessica’s character is very interested in this power that I’ve kind of acquired and this cosmic force that I have and she kind of wants that force to use it for her own — she has her own intentions with it and she kind of wants to use that. And she nurtures me in a way to make me kind of trust her.”

Are excited to learn more about Jessica Chastain’s character? Share your thoughts below!

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 February 14, 2019.

Source: IGN

Sebastian Peris

Sebastian Peris

Canadian film buff, political junkie, comic book geek, and board game enthusiast.