DARK PHOENIX
Who are we?
Are we simply what others want us to be?
Are we destined to a fate beyond our control?
Or can we evolve, become something…. more?
From writer-director Simon Kinberg comes the most radical X-Men film ever made: DARK PHOENIX tells the iconic story of Jean Grey’s transformation from gifted mutant into the most powerful force in the universe. The culmination of a superhero saga nearly two decades in the making, the spectacular new blockbuster is part science-fiction thriller, part character-driven drama, posing intriguing questions about identity and destiny.
During a life-threatening mission to outer space, Jean Grey is nearly killed when she absorbs a cosmic entity that leaves her with powers far beyond anything she or any other mutant has ever possessed. Once she returns home to Earth, she struggles with these near-godlike abilities, but the force inside her is too overwhelming to contain. Spiraling out of control, Jean hurts the ones she loves most. Her actions tear the X-Men apart, and the heroes find themselves deeply compromised at a time when they must face their most dangerous enemy yet—one of their own.
The emotional story of a divided hero, a divided family and a divided world, DARK PHOENIX stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp and Jessica Chastain. The film was written and directed by Simon Kinberg and produced by Simon Kinberg, p.g.a., Hutch Parker, p.g.a., Lauren Shuler Donner and Todd Hallowell.
DARK PHOENIX: THE TRUE CULMINATION OF THE X-MEN SAGA
What do you do when the person you love becomes the world’s greatest threat?
It’s the question at the heart of one of the most enduring storylines in the decades-long history of the X-Men comic books, the Dark Phoenix saga. Written by industry legend Chris Claremont and illustrated by artist John Byrne in 1980, the story in many ways represents the ultimate X-Men tale: Jean Grey is transformed into a force that not even her mutant family can comprehend. She becomes an outsider among outsiders, a being beyond the reach of even those closest to her.
“The Dark Phoenix saga is one of the most beloved of the X-Men series in its long lineage, primarily because it’s not a story where you have heroes and villains, black and white,” says Simon Kinberg.
A lifelong comic book fan, Kinberg felt it was important to tell the Dark Phoenix saga on the big screen in a way that would truly do justice to its distinguished legacy. The writer-director has been a presence on the X-Men films since 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, having either written or produced every installment in the series (in some cases, serving as both writer and producer). The 2006 film included aspects of the Dark Phoenix story, but more than 10 years on, the time was right for a darker, grittier, much more faithful adaptation that would serve as a capstone to nearly two decades of superhero filmmaking. Kinberg not only wrote the script for this new telling, but he also makes his directorial debut with the film.
