The X-Men face their darkest threat yet in first Dark Phoenix trailer

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We should’ve been only about a month out from X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX at this point, but some months ago the release date was pushed all the way to February 2019. As a result, we’ve had to wait even more patiently for the first trailer for the upcoming superhero blockbuster, and now it’s finally here. Yes, the gang is all here, including Professor X (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) and more as they take on the darkness that's rising in Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), and it looks about as epic and grim as it sounds.

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Here are some select stills from the trailer!

Where APOCALYPSE strayed from the previous two X-MEN movies (FIRST CLASS, DAYS OF FUTURE PAST) is by relying on grand spectacle and action, diverting away from the character work and depth, thus becoming a hollow mess. This movie looks to take things back to the character-driven roots of the former two movies, telling a much darker tale that heavily focuses on Grey, and how the team's response to her growing powers may end up tearing them apart. I'm very interested to see where this goes, and we'll see much more before the year is out. For right now I'm liking what I'm seeing, even if we got a criminally small amount of Jessica Chastain. 

Here is the plot synopsis:

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 spiraling 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.

X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX rises in theaters February 14, 2019.