Although 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse concluded the "First Class" trilogy that began in 2011, the X-Men film franchise isn't finished spending time with this group of mutant characters. Later this year, we'll reunite with Professor Xavier's team of superheroes in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which, like 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, will adapt the classic storyline The Dark Phoenix Saga. Along with having to deal with Jean Grey in her Dark Phoenix form, the X-Men will also face an enemy played by Jessica Chastain. However, this character may have deeper ties to the Marvel mythology than previously suspected, as it's being reported that X-Men: Dark Phoenix will feature the Skrulls, the same shapeshifting alien species that is already set to appear in Captain Marvel.
Back in December, Jessica Chastain's X-Men: Dark Phoenix character was described as an "otherworldly shapeshifter who manipulates Phoenix for her own agenda." So right off the bat, we know that this mysterious individual can alter her appearance. With Chastain having already debunked the rumor she was playing Empress Lilandra of the Shi'ar Empire, it was hard to guess who this villain was. But supposedly X-Men: Dark Phoenix will include the Skrulls, so while we still don't know what Chastain's character is named, presumably this makes her someone high up within the Skull Empire. The Skrulls are one of the few Marvel properties that Fox and Marvel Studios share (though that will obviously change if Disney's Fox purchase goes through), and at last summer's San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Captain Marvel would be set in the 1990s and see Carol Danvers battling the Skrulls.
This wouldn't be the first time that an X-Men movie has beaten the MCU to adapting a character for the silver screen first. 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past introduced Evan Peter's Quicksilver, who was brought in to replace Juggernaut, and a year later, Aaron Taylor-Johnson brought the same speedster to life in Avengers: Age of Ultron. As for the Skrulls, while they started out as enemies for the Fantastic Four, over the years they've graduated to clashing with heroes from all corners of the Marvel universe. It's unclear if it was always the plan for X-Men: Dark Phoenix to include the Skrulls, particularly since they didn't play any role in the original Dark Phoenix Saga, but assuming this report is true, then the X-Men universe's versions of these aliens will debut four months before the MCU versions. It would also be interesting to see how the X-Men Skrulls are visually different from the MCU Skrulls in their natural forms.
Along with reporting about the Skrulls, Jeremy Conner, a.k.a. Manabyte, has heard from a source that X-Men: Dark Phoenix is better than X-Men: Apocalypse, but not as good as X-Men: Days of Future Past. Apparently Dark Phoenix is also "very serious with little humor," but director Simon Kinberg did a good job with the movie. There's still nine months to go until Dark Phoenix's release, but ideally within the next few months the first teaser trailer will be released, giving us our first idea of what this story holds in store.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix hits theaters on November 2, and Captain Marvel will follow on March 8, 2019. For all the latest comic book movie news, Skrull-related or otherwise, keep checking back with CinemaBlend.
