Filming is officially underway on the nextX-MenmovieX-Men: Dark Phoenixin Montreal, and our first set photos have arrived. TheX-Men: Apocalypsefollow-up was put togetherreallyquietly, with franchise writer/producerSimon Kinbergpenning a screenplay under the radar, then pitching himself as the director. 20th Century Fox liked what they heard, and set Kinberg to make his directorial debut on the sequel afterBryan Singerreturned to helm the last two franchise installments.
As the title suggests, the film will be tackling the Dark Phoenix storyline from the comics in whichSophie Turner’s Jean Grey becomes overwhelmed by her powers and transforms into a dangerous being known as the Dark Phoenix.Apocalypsecertainly laid seeds for this in Turner’s introduction of the character, and Kinberg himself sorta attempted this storyline as a co-writer onX-Men: The Last Stand, which delved into Dark Phoenix territory withFamke Janssen. That film, however, was plagued with production issues as Singer left to helmSuperman Returnsand directorMatthew Vaughndropped out at the last minute, leavingBrett Ratnerto come in and cobble together something semi-worthwhile.
So Kinberg no doubt wants to really nail the storyline this time around, and I’m curious to see how he does it. One thing we do know from these set photos is thatTye Sheridan’s Cyclops is getting an upgraded visor. I’m interested to see ifDark Phoenixtakes place in the 1990s, continuing the decade time jump formula that pushedApocalypseinto the 80s after the 70s-setDays of Future Past. If itisstill in the 80s, we’re gonna get a lot of Tye Sheridan doing 80s stuffs next year as he also leadsReady Player One, where he looks to be donningverysimilar headwear.
Check out theX-Men: Dark Phoenixset photos below (viaCS). The film also starsKodi Smit-McPhee,Alexandra Shipp,Evan Peters,James McAvoy,Michael Fassbender,Jennifer Lawrence, andNicholas Houltand opens in theaters on June 24, 2025.
