There's certainly been a lot of chatter about Dark Phoenix and not all of it has been good. The film had its release date pushed back a few times and the X-Men franchise was slapped with a giant question mark following the Disney-Fox deal. However, all that uncertainty took a break this week when the cast and filmmakers arrived at WonderCon 2019. It sounds like everything was fairly upbeat and positive, and though the road hasn't been easy, star Sophie Turner revealed the element of the script that attracted her to the film in the first place.
CinemaBlend had boots on the ground at WonderCon this week where our own Eric Eisenberg spoke to the producers and actors of Dark Phoenix. Of the many topics covered during the conversation, Sophie Turner, who stars as Jean Grey, spoke of what she loved about the Dark Phoenix script. Not only was the role unique in that Jean Grey is technically both the protagonist and antagonist, but it's the X-Women who lead the show this time.
I think what I loved was the fact that, from a female standpoint, some of the most powerful characters in this movie are women. The lead of the movie is a female and she's not only the protagonist but also the antagonist. I loved the concept of that, so that really excited me.
Blockbusters are putting more and more female characters into the spotlight to so far tremendous results. Captain Marvel is the highest grossing movie of the year right now and other successful franchises like Stars Wars, Wonder Woman, and The Hunger Games are led by women. Dark Phoenix is continuing the trend of putting women front and center, such as Jean Grey, Mystique, Storm, and Jessica Chastain's mysterious Smith.
During the Dark Phoenix panel at WonderCon, new footage was shown that reportedly went well received by the audience. One moment that got loud cheers was when Mystique, after a tense argument with Charles Xavier, said that it's the women on the team who are often taking the biggest risks, that he should rename them the X-Women.
Obviously, more diversity in pop culture is a great thing and it sounds like Dark Phoenix will be contributing its share of strong characters when it arrives later this summer.
If you'd like to hear Sophie Turner share her thoughts on Dark Phoenix and hear what fellow cast members Tye Sheridan, Evan Peters, Alexandra Shipp, and Kodi Smit-McPhee had to say, then check out our coverage of WonderCon in the video below!
Dark Phoenix arrives in theaters on June 7, 2019. To learn more about the blockbuster until then, here is what we know so far about the latest film in the X-Men franchise.
