Superhero movies are everywhere, as it has become the most profitable genre in the filmmaking world. As such, plenty of studios have gotten in on the action, and attempted to create their own cinematic universe. But years before Marvel Studios changed the filmmaking world with Iron Man, Marvel's heroes had hit theaters with the X-Men franchise.
The X-Men movies began with Bryan Singer's original blockbuster back in 2000, and was a big risk for Fox in regards to budget and fan interest. But the property is still going strong today, extending to both spinoffs and main installments. Dark Phoenix will arrive in June, and is expected to be the final installment in the franchise, as Fox and Disney's merger has been finalized. But it turns out the upcoming release was always meant to end the long running narrative. As director Simon Kinberg recently revealed:
From the beginning of conceiving what we were going to do with this film and writing it, which was three plus years ago, so long before there was a Disney merger, I felt like this was the natural culmination for this cycle of X-Men movies. Because it is seeing this family that you've come to love and know for how ever many films, and if you count the originals almost 20 years now, you see that family tested in a whole new way. You see that family start to fall apart in a real way for the first time, ultimately come back together.
Well, that's a relief. While some cinephiles have been scared for Dark Phoenix to be the finale of the X-Men franchise as we know it, looks like that was always the plan. As such, the conclusion will hopefully end up satisfy the generations of X-fans out there.
Simon Kinberg's comments to Comic Book should be a relief to lovers of Marvel's mutant group. Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox has put much of the developing X-Men projects in jeopardy. Just look at The New Mutants, which may not even make it to theaters, and whose reshoots haven't occured yet. So when it comes to Dark Phoenix being the big finale, moviegoers assumed the ending would fail to wrap up the narrative. But if Kinberg's directorial debut was always meant to be the finale, then perhaps the movie can deliver in the end.
Ignoring the merger with Disney, it does seem like a good time to finally wrap up the X-Men franchise. The property has been going for nearly two decades, and has a long and convoluted canon. There's been two generations of cast members, and their timelines should be pretty close to colliding. So it's best to end franchise, especially as the current cast departs their roles.
Dark Phoenix will arrive in theaters on June 7th. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
