Dark Phoenix

Dark Phoenix  (internationally marketed as X-Men: Dark Phoenix) is an upcoming film sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse and both the twelfth installment and the final film in the X-Men film series in the main series. Nine years after defeating Apocalypse, the X-Men are against a cosmic threat, in addition to Jean Grey losing control of her abilities and unleashing the terrifyingly powerful cosmic Phoenix Force.

Plot
In Dark Phoenix, the X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe; one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite - not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.

Cast

 * James McAvoy as Charles Xavier/Professor X
 * Michael Fassbender as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto
 * Jennifer Lawrence as Raven Darkholme/Mystique
 * Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy/Beast
 * Sophie Turner as Jean Grey/Phoenix
 * Summer Fontana as Young Jean Grey
 * Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers/Cyclops
 * Alexandra Shipp as Ororo Munroe/Storm
 * Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler
 * Evan Peters as Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver
 * Jessica Chastain as Nova
 * Kota Eberhardt as Selene Gallio/Black Queen
 * Andrew Stehlin as Paul Hark/Red Lotus
 * Scott Sheperd as John Grey
 * Evan Jonigkeit as Mortimer Toynbee/Toad
 * Gregg Lowe as Eric Gitter/Ink
 * Lamar Johnson as To-be-confirmed character
 * Daniel Cudmore as To-be-confirmed character
 * To-be-confirmed actress as Lilandra Neramani
 * To-be-confirmed actress as Alison Blaire/Dazzler

Cast

 * Charles Xavier/Professor X appears.
 * Nicholas Fry,
 * Jaiden Cannatelli,
 * Shakira
 * Joshua Dela Cruz
 * Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto appears.
 * Raven Darkholme/Mystique appears.
 * Hank McCoy/Beast appears.
 * Jean Grey/Phoenix appears.
 * Scott Summers/Cyclops appears.
 * Ororo Munroe/Storm appears.
 * Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler appears.
 * Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver appears.
 * Mortimer Toynbee/Toad appears.
 * John Grey appears.
 * Nova/Smith is introduced.
 * Selene Gallio/Black Queen is introduced.
 * Paul Hark/Red Lotus is introduced.
 * Eric Gitter/Ink is introduced.
 * Lilandra Neramani is introduced.
 * Alison Blaire/Dazzler is introduced.

Taglines

 * Fire and life incarnate. Now and forever...Phoenix!
 * The World goes Dark!
 * Every Hero Has A Dark Side!
 * A Phoenix will rise!

Production
In May 2016, Kinberg said the next X-Men film will be set in the 1990s. He also acknowledged the possibility of re-adapting "The Dark Phoenix Saga" for the new timeline, which had originally been a part of the first X-Men trilogy films,   and said the post-credits scene mentioning the Essex Corporation was related to Logan, and that it could have ties to Gambit as well as the following X-Men film. It was reported that the film will be set in 1991 and will shoot under the title Teen Spirit. Bryan Singer said he would be interested in having the villain Proteus in an X-Men film. He also said he will be stepping away from the franchise but could envision returning to it at a later date in some capacity.

On November 9, 2016, Kinberg announced to The Hollywood Reporter that the film series would start a soft reboot with him working on the a new script and having Lawrence, Fassbender, Hoult and McAvoy optimistically in mind. The film will commence filming in May 2017 with the working title of X-Men: Supernova.

In February 2017, McAvoy has dropped some hints on his return to the franchise and Collider reports that Kinberg is in talks to write and direct the next film. Donner told Vanity Fair in a recent interview that the next film won't explore the Erik/Charles dynamic but will explore other characters. It was announced that the film will start production from June to September of 2017.

In March 2017, following the release of Logan, Lana Condor, who played the mutant Jubilee in the film, shared a piece of fanart of her character on her Instagram account. In it, she proclaimed that she misses playing the character, and wants to "hang again soon". While the caption is a relatively vague indication that Condor wants to reprise her role in Teen Spirit, it will certainly come as a welcomed piece of news for fans of Jubilee.

On June 14, it was confirmed that Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, and Kodi Smit-McPhee will all reprise their roles, and the potential newcomer, Jessica Chastain, was in talks to play the film's villain, Lilandra Neramani, empress of the Shi'ar Empire. During the same month, in Boston, the cast members of Josh Boone's New Mutants have also started to bond ahead of their production start date on July 10. The light-emitting popstar mutant Dazzler will appear, though she remains to be cast. On June 23, it was reported by Entertainment Weekly that Dazzler will pop up but only in a small role and there is no plan at the moment to have Taylor Swift play her. Before the end of the month, Evan Peters was confirmed to be returning to reprise his role as Quicksilver, and Lamar Johnson would also be joining the film as well. Principal photography began on June 28, 2017, in Montreal, under the working title Teen Spirit.

On July 14, along with Tye Sheridan reprising his role as Cyclops from X-Men: Apocalypse, a new set photo reveals him donning a new visor for his character. Sheridan's new look has been noted to closely resemble James Marsden's portrayal of Cyclops from the original X-Men films. During the same month, it was heavily speculated that Olivia Munn would be reprising her role as Psylocke for X-Men: Dark Phoenix. With principal photography on Dark Phoenix expected to get underway within the month, the implication is that Munn will either have a larger role to play this time around and/or is filming her scenes in the next X-Men movie earlier during production. While promoting The LEGO Ninjago Movie at San Diego Comic-Con, Munn was vague about her future with the X-Men film franchise during an interview on MTV news. Though unclear, Munn's vagueness implies that she's considering returning for X-Men: Dark Phoenix. During the interview, she revealed that her character's big fight scene with Beast was only 25 percent of it's original length, as well as revealing her plans to make her own special director's cut of the said film. At the end of the month, it was announced that Summer Fontana, from Basic Witches and The Originals, was cast to portray young Jean Grey for X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Earlier in the month, Fontana had posted a photo from Montreal to her Twitter account. Although the caption of the picture says nothing specific about taking part in the X-Men film, this seems telling because X-Men: Dark Phoenix is shooting in the Canadian city.

At the beginning of August, Jessica Chastain confirmed via an Instagram post that she has joined the cast of X-Men: Dark Phoenix, and is heading to Montreal for filming. Following Jessica Chastain's confirmation, on August 7, it was reported that According to That Hashtag Show, Kota Eberhardt has joined the production as "Luna" - with speculation pointing to either Hellfire Club member Selene, or Layla Miller. In addition, Scott Sheperd is also said to have been cast in the role of Jean Grey's father. In the same report, Evan Jonigkeit and Gregg Lowe are returning to reprise their respective roles as Toad and Ink from Days of Future Past. Later towards the end of that month, Kinberg stated that he wanted the film to be "human" and emotional like the previous X-Men films, and that he was looking to ground the "Dark Phoenix Saga" story for his adaptation "so it’s not too intergalactic".

In early September, Jessica Chastain revealed that she wouldn't be portraying Lilandra Neramani for the film, leaving her role undisclosed. Later on in the month, Daniel Cudmore had confirmed that he would be appearing in the film, but could not confirm whether he would be reprising his role of Colossus from previous films in the franchise or if he would be portraying a new character. On September 26, 2017, in an interview with Collider, Olivia Munn confirmed that she would be reprising her role of Psylocke in the film, and described Dark Phoenix as "a two parter". Filming was completed in Montreal on October 14, 2017.

Towards the end of November, Simon Kinberg, revealed his plans to show how powerful Jean Grey’s Phoenix persona can be, and is willing to do it at the expense of one of the actors who has been with the franchise since the "X-Men: First Class": Michael Fassbender’s Magneto, James McAvoy’s Professor X, Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult’s Beast, all of whom are returning for X-Men: Dark Phoenix. It was announced that Kinberg is holding nothing back and that in a moment when Jean’s powers are on full display, they will become too much for the hero to handle. At that point, with her powers out of control, Jean will impale one of the characters mentioned above, unequivocally killing that character.

On December 7, Entertainment Weekly released the cover of its Dec. 15/22 "First Look Issue", and confirmed the official synopsis for Dark Phoenix, as well as the year that the film’s setting will be taking place in 1992. On the same day, Entertainment Weekly revealed new images of the film, as well as more information on the role that Jessica Chastain will have in the film. Chastain was originally reported to portray Lilandra Neramani, but Entertainment Weekly doesn’t reveal her character’s name, and only says that the actress will play "an otherworldly shapeshifter". 2 Days later, on December 9, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that the film will also feature the iconic, mutant-friendly Island of Genosha. On December 12, the cast and crew of X-Men: Dark Phoenix revealed that the film will be a tribute to its female superheroes.

In pitching the film to the studio, Kinberg used real world imagery such as disaster footage or lightning strikes, and focused on an organic and relevant approach as a response to criticisms of Apocalypse's heightened reality[64] On December 9, Entertainment Weekly confirmed that the film will also feature a version of the iconic, mutant-friendly Island of Genosha, adapted to the film as a mutant refuge led by Magneto.[65] Afterwards, the cast and crew of X-Men: Dark Phoenix revealed that the film will be a tribute to its female superheroes, focusing on the female characters more so than previous films in the series, particularly Jean Grey as both the hero and villain of the film, and Chastain's character with whom Grey has a complex relationship.

At the beginning of January 2018, the alias of the character that Jessica Chastain will be portraying was confirmed to be "Smith".

In February 2018, Rose Byrne confirmed that she would not be reprising her role as Moira MacTaggert in the film.

On March 27, 2018, Fox pushed the film back from its previously scheduled release date of November 2, 2018 to February 14, 2019. According to sources from Collider, X-Men: Dark Phoenix had a test screening to determine which aspects of the film needed to be improved on. Due to the cast's availability, additional photography could only take place in August or September of 2018. As a result, the film's release date was moved forward so that the production team had enough time to work on the visual effects in post-production.