In Dark Phoenix, the latest film in Fox's X-Men franchise, Jessica Chastain's mysterious villain may have a deeper connection to Professor Charles Xavier than we realized. While Chastain has long been speculated to play anything from a gender-bent Mister Sinister to Shi’ar Empress Lilandra to the Skrull queen Veranke, her role likely hits a little closer to home. In fact, we believe she may be Xavier's dark shadow: his "twin" Cassandra Nova.
In the comics, Nova has a rather complicated history. The character debuted in Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's New X-Men #144 as a "mummudrai," or a parasitic life form that exists on the astral plane. In an effort to create a body of her own, she copied Xavier's DNA while he was still in the womb; this made her biologically his twin. Xavier killed her before they were born, resulting in a stillbirth, but Nova's astral form persevered. She eventually rebuilt herself a body using the telepathic abilities she copied from Xavier and became hellbent on destroying everything he held dear, believing she existed in a universe where only she and Xavier were real and everything else was an illusion.
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Of course, if Dark Phoenix were to adapt Nova to film, her origin probably wouldn't be quite so convoluted. She would likely be a true sibling rather than a mummudrai host. As such, it's worth pointing out that Chastain is close in age to Xavier actor James McAvoy. At 41, Chastain has a mere two years on McAvoy, who is 39. Now, Hollywood has never had any trouble fudging its actors' ages for a film and this latest X-Men trilogy has been particularly giving in this area, as Xavier should be close to or in his 60s by the time of Dark Phoenix. Nevertheless, it's interesting that Fox enlisted an actor close in age to McAvoy for this role.
Thanks to some set photos and the first official trailer, we also know the film is drawing at least some influence from Morrison and Quitely's New X-Men run. In fact, the X-Men's new costumes look as if they were pulled straight off the run's very first cover. As sharp as those costumes look, they could indicate more than an aesthetic choice; they could also hint at the direction of the film. If Dark Phoenix borrows more than the costumes from New X-Men, Nova would be a viable choice of villain.
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Further, that would explain the look of Chastain's character. The character's hair is so white it's nearly translucent; indeed, it hardly looks as though she has eyebrows at all. Her appearance isn't quite the bald-headed look Nova rocks in the comics, but it's certainly the closest thing to it without shaving Chastain's head or putting her in a bald cap. Since the identity of Chastain's character is supposed to stay secret, at least for now, it's no surprise she doesn't look exactly like Nova, because that would be a dead giveaway.
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Then there's the matter of Genosha. If the trailer is any indication, Magneto has begun to establish this mutant island nation in Dark Phoenix. With a wide shot of an island and the reveal of Magneto creating living spaces out of shipping containers, the trailer suggests he is working towards the creation of Genosha, even if it isn't mentioned by name. He'd better hope Chastain isn't Nova, though, because she is famous for Genosha's destruction. In the comics, she teamed with Bolivar Trask's cousin and sent Sentinels to the island. The Sentinels successfully destroyed Genosha, killing 16 million mutants in the process and triggering Emma Frost's secondary mutation. As such, Chastain's character could pave the way for Genosha's destruction in Dark Pheonix, even if she isn't directly involved. That would certainly give Magneto reason to join the X-Men in the fight against her and Jean's Dark Phoenix.
What's more, Nova would be a thematic choice for a villain. Dark Phoenix's first trailer leaned heavily into the idea of a secret past. Xavier can be heard arguing with Mystique over his treatment of Jean's traumatic history. He makes it clear that he believes "protecting" Jean means keeping the details of her past from her. As Dark Phoenix explores Jean's past, it would only be fitting for the movie to examine Xavier's in parallel. We've gotten some glimpses of this over the course of First Class and Days of Future Past, but his youth is still mostly a mystery. As such, there's certainly room to establish Chastain's character as his sibling. Plus, it's possible even he didn't know about the existence of his sister, that he was shielded from this knowledge the same way he tried to protect Jean. If Dark Phoenix examines the sins of the past and their repercussions on the present, Nova would make an excellent choice of villain.
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By introducing Chastain as Cassandra Nova, Dark Phoenix could also avoid one of the pitfalls of The Last Stand. In the first trailer, Dark Phoenix seems to be borrowing a page out of The Last Stand's book, in that the Phoenix appears to be something inside of Jean that Xavier has hidden from her starting at a young age. In The Last Stand, Xavier followed a similar course of action and Jean simply lost control to the darkness inside her. Dark Phoenix could sidestep that mistake by turning Nova into her mentor of sorts, as the trailer and several new photos seem to suggest. Since Nova wants to destroy all Xavier holds dear, this could set up Jean to turn on her and incite a battle between the two. This certainly wouldn't be a first for the pair of telepaths; in New X-Men, Jean went toe-to-toe with Nova and -- with a little help from Xavier -- managed to end her reign of terror. Indeed, Dark Phoenix's Jean might be the only person strong enough to overcome Nova, if that is who Chastain is truly playing.
The first Dark Phoenix trailer didn't reveal much about Chastain's mystery character, but it showed enough to offer some hints. Between the film's visual references to New X-Men, its themes and the inclusion of Genosha, all signs seem to point to Cassandra Nova, a character who is very much the inverse of Charles Xavier. The introduction of Cassandra Nova would also separate the film from its predecessor The Last Stand, which is considered one of the worst films in the franchise. If her character was fleshed out properly, Cassandra Nova -- as played by Chastain -- would have a lot to offer the X-Men Cinematic Universe.
Written and directed by Simon Kinberg, Dark Phoenix stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Evan Peters and Jessica Chastain. The film opens February 14, 2019.