'X-Men: Dark Phoenix' Trailer Shows a Series on Course Correction

Hey, does everyone remember X-Men: The Last Stand?

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is doing that story but with the twist of being good. Or at least, the trailer seems to promise a much darker, dramatic and character-driven take on what may be one of the best ever comic book story arcs.

I was a big fan of X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past, but X-Men: Apocalypse was a big mess. We have fresh blood in the director's chair with long-time producer turning filmmaker, Simon Kinberg. The trailer gives off the vibe that this may be the final chapter of this version of the series, which makes sense considering when Disney gets it, it will get rebooted.

There are the big special effects and action sequences teased here, but the real meat seems to be the character interactions and the internal conflicts based off decision made. I like that there doesn't seem to be clear villains and heroes in this trailer with Professor Xavier possibly making a mess despite his intentions being in the right place and thus losing some trust from people like Mystique. A relationship that they've built as both very close but having some serious challenges over the span of movies.

Magneto looks to capitalize on Jean Grey being stunk in a dark place, but there isn't anything that screams that he will be a cackling villain. They have been effective at making him nuanced and this looks to be the direction they will keep. He may do some nasty things, but he has always been able to justify them. Even Grey is going to be a complicated character with her torn between her relations with people like Cyclops and being overcome by her own powers.

This won't be a full on faithful adaption of the comic book storyline, because there is no way to cram that all into one movie and my impression is that they are going for just one movie here. I will be interested to see what direction this goes into and if they even dare to end this thing on a dark note.

Lots of great teases in the trailer too, with stuff like the team being at a funeral, which gives off the vibe that maybe a few characters will be knocked off. One interesting thing, is if this movie is supposed to be sharing the Logan timeline, and if it does, how that will all pan out. My impression is that the movie is set in the 1980s, which is long before Logan, but the trailer shows no sign of Wolverine. Hugh Jackman was pretty clear that he was done, but he seems to be a pretty massive character to not at least address why he is missing.

I like that in the last few years, we've had big special effect tentpoles that have dared to have complicated characters and go in some bold storyline directions like Black Panther, Logan and Star Wars: Last Jedi. This trailer seems to promise that we got another meaty and deep big event movie in X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

Plus Jessica Chastain!