The X-Men franchise is great. It’s the longest-running superhero series within the same timeline and has given fans some amazing films like X2, Days Of Future Past, and Logan. It has also given us some duds like The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and most of all, Dark Phoenix.
What was supposed to be the epic swan song of this phenomenal, time-bending arc fell flat and gave the franchise a deflated end (New Mutants notwithstanding). Critics and fans panned the film, calling it everything from boring to an absolute misfire. Stories of studio meddling and scheduling conflicts made clear that director Simon Kinberg had all the right ideas, but none of the right backup. Still, there are a few things that could have been done to rectify Dark Phoenix. Here are six simple fixes that could have given us a far better film to end the X-Men series.
10 If It Didn’t Ignore X-Men: Apocalypse
We can all agree that X-Men: Apocalypse isn’t the strongest link in the X-Men series. With a weak plot and choppy storytelling, the film was a far cry from its vastly superior predecessor, Days Of Future Past. Still, one of the standout scenes in Apocalypse happens at the end of the film when Jean Grey unleashes the unbridled fury of the Phoenix on En Sabah Nur - turning the ancient mutant to dust.
It was an obvious segue into the next film in the franchise, Dark Phoenix; a decision that was met with excitement by some fans, and tired groaning by others. To make an already-divisive decision worse, Dark Phoenix, for whatever reason, decided to completely ignore the events of Apocalypse as though they never happened. The film decided to give us the Phoenix a new origin story, thus rendering the end of Apocalypse non-canon.
9 Including Mystique
It’s no secret that Jennifer Lawrence hasn’t been thrilled about being Mystique for a very long time. Lawrence was an up and coming star when she signed on to play the shapeshifter in First Class, only to have her status in Hollywood skyrocket not long after.
While it’s understandable that the studio wanted to capitalize on Lawrence’s star power, it’s also weird that they didn’t recast the most re-castable of all mutants. By design, Mystique could literally look like anyone. It would have made it so much better for everyone to just write Mystique out of these films, but for some reason she remained a constant up to the very end, making everyone’s experience slightly awkward and pretty unnecessary.
8 Giving Magneto A Slightly Bigger Role
How many times has Magneto had to exile himself, only to have everything he holds dear ripped away from him, thereby dragging him back into the madness of mutant warfare? One too many times, is the answer.
And yet, we once again see Michael Fassbender’s Erik Lehnsherr living in a makeshift Genosha with other stateless mutants… before he’s inadvertently forced back into more X-Men shenanigans. The rule is pretty obvious here - if you have Michael Fassbender and his character, Magneto, at your disposal, it’s best to use them as much as possible. Having the ‘master of magnetism’ suddenly show up and shoehorn himself into the plot didn’t do Dark Phoenix any favors.
7 Exploring Scott & Jean’s Relationship More
One thing that the X-Men films have failed to do time and time again is lend some much-needed depth to Jean and Scott’s relationship. While the characters are often linked as lovers in the comics, the films barely scratched the surface of what made them so entrenched with one another.
The original X-Men films hardly fleshed out Cyclops as a character, while the newer films sort of awkwardly pair Scott and Jean together but have never afforded them, as a couple, any real screentime. A solid relationship that the audience cares about goes a long way in giving a story some weight. Really showing us how Jean’s predicament is affecting Scott in Dark Phoenix would have given the plot a whole other angle.
6 Have Fewer Storylines
Dark Phoenix’s flimsy plot was made worse by several subplots that further complicated the film. Having Jean Grey possessed by an ancient, elemental force is heavy enough. Couple that with an alien invasion and we’ve got ourselves a potentially epic blockbuster.
There didn’t have to be a Beast/Mystique love angle, or a Beast/Charles Xavier rivalry, or a Charles Xavier drunk on fame subplot, and a Magneto-on-a-revenge-bender arc, or even a Mystique-role-model spin. These haphazardly tacked-on storylines bogged the film down and took crucial time away from the core of Dark Phoenix. In the end, a simple script would have sufficed.
5 Showcasing Jessica Chastain As An Actor
Why would someone cast an actor like Jessica Chastain, with all her charismatic prowess, and then have all emotion removed from her character? It’s such a weird flex. It’s almost like a silly prank. As Vuk, Jessica Chastain emotes a total of (checks notes) zero times.
Even if the character of Vuk calls for zero facial movement, the complete underutilization of Jessica Chastain as an actor in Dark Phoenix is borderline criminal. If you have powerhouse actors like Michael Fassbender, Jessica Chastain, and James McAvoy in your arsenal, it’s best to harness every bit of those acting chops to give the film some much needed gravitas.
4 Explaining The “Aliens” A Little Better
The real antagonists in Dark Phoenix are the alien race known as the D’Bari. Apparently they’re after the unfiltered power of the Dark Phoenix because it destroyed their planet… or something. Other than a dialogue-laden montage explaining their convoluted history, we’re not told much else about these alien shapeshifters. They’re just a group of generic goons led by Jessica Chastain’s Vuk, out to destroy the universe. How exciting.
If Thanos has taught us anything, it’s that good villains need compelling reasons for doing what they do. Backstory is important when it comes to antagonists, because the best ones have a method to their madness. Basic bad guys like the D’Bari just don’t cut it anymore.
3 Not Pretending To Be Logan
While Simon Kinberg had the best intentions when making Dark Phoenix, benchmarking it against Logan wasn’t a good idea. Unless you can back that comparison up with some serious firepower, it’s best not to put expectations in people’s heads.
Logan worked because it focused on two core mutants in a dystopian future. It pretty much ignored the X-timeline altogether. Dark Phoenix, however, was supposed to be the crescendo of the X-Men franchise. Trying to emulate Logan in tone and pacing, while having a plot that called for everything but Logan, was a misfire in every way possible.
2 Not Turning Charles Xavier Into A Jerk
When did Professor X turn into a narcissistic jerk? While the comics have always allowed the wise leader of the X-Men to dabble in the dark side every so often, Dark Phoenix’s decision to paint Charles Xavier as a self-absorbed attention freak was jarring and counterintuitive to the already-flimsy timeline. It created a void where the emotional core of the story should have been - Charles Xavier at his best, fighting his most gifted student at her worst.
Charles had already been through his pouty phase in the far superior X-Men: Days Of Future Past and came out a better person. Regressing him to a similar state, albeit on the other end of the spectrum, just seemed like bad character development. Making that switch in the (supposedly) final film in the franchise didn’t do Dark Phoenix any favors either.
1 Making About Something Other Than “Dark Phoenix”
Let's be honest... this movie didn’t need to happen. Dark Phoenix was based on a storyline that had already been explored in this loose X-Men timeline… and that movie wasn’t well-received by fans and critics alike. Although Simon Kinberg wanted to do right by the source material, studio meddling and release date reshuffles ultimately doomed the film before it even had a chance. People weren’t interested in a Dark Phoenix adaptation anymore, especially from the same studio behind the previous flop.
What makes this decision to revisit a failed project even more baffling is the fact that the X-Men universe is a treasure trove with so much to offer. From the Savage Land to Mr Sinister, there was so much that could have been done to give the longest-running cinematic superhero series the finale that it deserved.