Set in 1992, Dark Phoenix is based the comic book saga of the same name where Jean Grey loses control and unleashed the Phoenix. But some X-Men fans may be thinking, “Didn’t this happen in X-Men The Last Stand?” And they’d be right. The 2006 X-Men movie, which was poorly received by critics, saw Grey go Phoenix and Wolverine have to put her down so she didn’t kill anyone else. But this movie was set 14 years after the new Dark Phoenix movie and while Mystique dies in today’s new trailer, she’s alive in X-Men The Last Stand.
The key is X-Men Days of Future Past, which saw the X-Men movie timeline rewritten.
In 2023, Wolverine went back in time to 1973 to change a post-apocalyptic future.
Successful, the film’s sequel X-Men Apocalypse, and now Dark Phoenix, are set in an alternate timeline where the originally X-Men trilogy from the noughties, including X-Men The Last Stand, never happened.
This was confirmed in the closing scene of Days of Future Past when Wolverine wakes up in the new 2023 and a number of previously dead X-Men are alive and well. Most noticeably Jean Grey.
But with Mystique dying in the Dark Phoenix trailer, does this mean the logic of the X-Men movie timeline is now screwed up?
Not exactly, since that new 2023 created by Wolverine in which Jean was alive did not feature Mystique.
In fact, neither did it see Magneto, suggesting he could possibly kick the bucket in the new film.
Of course, if Jean or any of the new 2023 survivors do die in Dark Phoenix then that will be a serious issue for the timeline’s consistency.
The official synopsis reads: “In DARK PHOENIX, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable.
“Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiralling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together.
“Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite – not only to save Jean’s soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.”
Dark Phoenix is released in UK cinemas on June 7, 2019.