In March, the ongoing Disney-Fox deal was made final, thereby signing over dozens of massive tentpoles and titles over to the entertainment behemoth that got its start with a simple cartoon mouse. One of the more prominent examples of this is the X-Men and Fantastic Four film franchises, which have been licensed to Fox for decades but are now in the hands of Disney and, therefore, its subsidiary Marvel Studios. So what does this mean for the upcoming film Dark Phoenix? Apparently, it will be Fox’s last in the series.
At least that’s according to Fox executive Emma Watts, who addressed the crowd at the annual CinemaCon event in Las Vegas. Per The Hollywood Reporter and many other journalists and exhibitors who were on hand for the occasion, she directly addressed the matter while introducing the film. Specifically, Watts said Dark Phoenix would be the “perfect sendoff for our X-Men team.”
Dark Phoenix: “It’s the perfect sendoff for our epic X-men series.” Welp. That’s the official word. The reset happens after this summer’s installment.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) April 3, 2019
Dark Phoenix is promised as "the perfect sendoff for our X-Men team." It will be the "final chapter" for the X-Men world. #CinemaCon
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) April 3, 2019
Got a longer #DarkPhoenix trailer peek and it’s really shaping up more and more as a solid flick. Lots more focus on action and Jean Grey’s embrace of her powers. They are calling it a proper send off to their Fox X-Men series. #CinemaCon
— JoBlo.com (@joblocom) April 3, 2019
Fox brass calls Dark Phoenix "the perfect epic send-off to this X-Men series."
— Jim Vejvoda (@JimVejvoda) April 3, 2019
Of course, Watts’s comments beg the question, “What about The New Mutants?” The film has been delayed for some time, and if star Maisie Williams’s recent comments about its status are to be believed, then the film’s significantly pushed-back reshoots and release date aren’t going to change anytime soon.
So does that mean NEW MUTANTS will come out before DARK PHOENIX, or what? https://t.co/OSINTXlezt
— William Bibbiani (@WilliamBibbiani) April 3, 2019
Then again, New Mutants is technically an attempted X-Men franchise offshoot film. In other words, it relates to the current Fox film franchise as much as Todd Phillips’s movie Joker relates to Suicide Squad or The Dark Knight. The characters depicted in New Mutants aren’t officially a part of the team that audiences have been following in Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg’s films. So, basically, Watts isn’t wrong to say that Dark Phoenix will be the end of this “team.”
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)