Dark Phoenix: Awesome Throwback Poster Debuts At Brazil Comic Con
The next X-Men movie certainly knows its place in comic book lore.
Dark Phoenix, the forthcoming picture based on one of the most popular Marvel storylines of all time, debuted an amazingly retro new poster at Comic Con Brazil, as reported by Collider. The one-sheet is modeled after comic book covers of the '70s and '80s, during which the saga was originally published.
X-fans have long been waiting for a proper big-screen treatment of the Dark Phoenix story. Some elements were cribbed for the plot of 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand, in a fashion that many found to be misguided, if not downright disrespectful. Fortunately, the events of 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past effectively retconned the events of Last Stand out of existence, opening the door for a filmmaker not named Brett Ratner to give it another go.
In the comics, Jean Grey rechristens herself "Phoenix" after an interstellar encounter with a solar flare maxes out her psychic power. She is strategically manipulated by members of the secret society known as the Hellfire Club, causing the "Phoenix Force" to break from Jean's personality and overwhelm her completely. The Dark Phoenix takes down the X-Men singlehandedly, obliterates the entire population of a planet by devouring the star that sustains it, and nearly causes the destruction of the entire solar system before Jean regains control and sacrifices herself. The story, penned by Marvel legend Chris Claremont and illustrated by fellow legends John Byrne and Dave Cockrum, helped to firmly establish Uncanny X-Men as one of Marvel's most popular titles, and arguably opened the door to some of the darker, grittier storylines which would spring up throughout the '80s and into the '90s.
Series producer Simon Kinberg had teased fans with the possibility of a full adaptation before the release of 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, and that film's conclusion provided a bit of foreshadowing. With the X-Men on the brink of defeat, Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) encouraged Jean (Sophie Turner) to unleash the full extent of her power in a last-ditch effort to destroy Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac); she does, and the enormous swell of energy gathering around her as she gives her power full rein conspicuously resembles a certain mythical bird.
Although certain aspects of the story will need to be tweaked (most notably the involvement of the Hellfire Club, which was effectively disbanded at the conclusion of X-Men: First Class), Dark Phoenix will be the direct adaptation fans have been clamoring for since Ratner's famous fumbling of the story with Last Stand. Hopefully, the fimmakers will get it right this time around; reactions to the trailer, which was released in September, have been mixed. But longtime producer and screenwriter Kinberg has apparently had enough of trusting a revolving stable of directors with his franchise; he's helming the picture himself in his directorial debut, so whether Dark Phoenix thrills or disappoints, it's all on Kinberg's shoulders.
This new poster certainly demonstrates that the producers understand their fan base; if not for the recognizable faces of McAvoy, Turner, and Michael Fassbender as Magneto, one might think that it was an actual comic book cover from the '80s. Let's hope that that understanding translates to a firm grasp of what audiences want from this classic story.
Dark Phoenix hits theaters on June 7, 2019; in the meantime, check out the poster below.
