Just because Jean Grey is taking center stage later this year in Dark Phoenix doesn’t mean the other X-Men characters won’t have opportunities to shine. All of the mutant involved have their own unique abilities, and most of these powers we’ve already seen numerous times. That said, director Simon Kinberg says that Dark Phoenix will be kicking things up a few notches with certain powers, like Magneto and Storm’s. Commenting on the train scene shown at the end of the latest Dark Phoenix trailer, Kinberg explained:
You see Magneto doing some gnarly things. You imagine a train is obviously full of metal, so he’s got nothing but weapons around him. What I really wanted to do in this film is show how powerful Storm is because she’s obviously she’s an incredibly powerful and a strong character in the comics, and I felt like this is an opportunity to showcase that. This is by far and away the heaviest use of powers we’ve seen from Storm in these movies. That’s one sequence where she’s also flying at speed above the train, firing lightning bolts down from the heavens.
Known for decades as the Master of Magnetism, the live action version of Magneto, whether he’s played by Ian McKellen or Michael Fassbender, has pulled off some impressive feats, like moving the Golden Gate Bridge and transporting a stadium to the White House. But there are other ways for him to show off his metal manipulation powers, like when he’s levitating and firing a bunch of guns at once in the Dark Phoenix trailer. Being on board that metal-packed train, you’d think that Magneto would be practically invincible, but since the Phoenix-ized (is that a term?) Jean Grey is the one lifting said train, even he might not be entirely safe from her wrath.
As for Storm, who was originally played by Halle Berry and is now played by Alexandra Shipp, it seems like her weather manipulation powers will be put to the best use of all in Dark Phoenix. We’ve seen Storm fly a few times before, but the example of her doing so in Dark Phoenix that Simon Kinberg provided to EW sounds like a moment ripped straight from the comics. Maybe Storm is the only person standing in the way of Jean Grey killing everybody on board, although like with Magneto, her powers still might not be enough to stop Jean.
Taking place almost a decade after X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix, the second cinematic adaptation of The Dark Phoenix Saga (the first being X-Men: The Last Stand), sees Jean Grey becoming corrupted after being struck by a solar flare out in space while the X-Men are on a rescue mission. Along with Jean’s actions driving a wedge between the other mutant players over how to neutralize her, there’s also a mysterious alien shapeshifter, played by Jessica Chastain, who’s manipulating Jean for her own purposes.
Dark Phoenix opens in theaters on June 7. Be sure to also look through our 2019 release schedule to learn what other movies are coming out this year.
