Dark Phoenix took a page from Logan's book and just went with its own standalone title for release in theaters. But that's pretty much where the Logan similarities end. When Dark Phoenix arrives on digital and disc this September, it will make its status as an X-Men film much more clear.
Dark Phoenix is back to X-Men: Dark Phoenix for its September 3 digital release and September 17 arrival on Blu-ray and DVD. The words X-Men are prominent in the packaging, in case the X-factor wasn't clear. Also, presumably, the rebranding aims to entice more people to pick up the film -- collect the whole set, now that the X-Men film franchise as we know it is over.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is the sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse (which was always called that, never just Apocalypse, which would've made it sound like a generic disaster movie). It's also the 12th movie in the X-Men series that started with X-Men back in 2000. Along the way, only five movies removed X-Men from the title -- The Wolverine in 2013, Deadpool in 2016, Logan in 2017, Deadpool 2 in 2018, and now Dark Phoenix in 2019.
It may seem like a minor thing to rebrand the movie for the home release, but this could be X-Men: Dark Phoenix's last chance to pick up some money. With just over $250 million in global box office receipts, that's not expected to cover the full cost of both making the film and releasing/marketing it around the world. Dark Phoenix was even a bigger box office bomb than Fox's ill-fated Fantastic Four movie.
All in all, it was not the most impressive way to end the X-Men film franchise as we know it, and not the best way to walk through the Disney door. But fans are hopeful for the Marvel Comics characters themselves. What will the future hold for them in the MCU? We shall see. We won't see anytime soon, though.
In case you're curious, here are Fox's listed special features for X-Men: Dark Phoenix on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD:
Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker**:Edwards Air Force BaseCharles Returns HomeMission PrepBeast MIACharles Says GoodbyeRise of the Phoenix: The Making of Dark Phoenix (5-Part Documentary)Scene Breakdown: The 5th Avenue Sequence (Digital only)How to Fly Your Jet to Space with Beast Audio Commentary by Simon Kinberg and Hutch Parker** Commentary available on Blu-ray, iTunes Extras and Movies Anywhere only
Dark Phoenix may have struggled at the box office in part because fans didn't feel compelled to rush out and see it at the theater. But will they watch it at home through the digital release or on disc? What's your take? Have you already seen the movie in theaters? Will you check out X-Men: Dark Phoenix's home release or not?
