Fanning The Flames Of Fandom: 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix' Could Be Adding Two Huge Fan Favorites

For those who are worried what the "Fox" is going on with #XMen franchise, there has been a recent surge in news surrounding the upcoming #DarkPhoenix movie. Presumably it will loosely follow the "Phoenix Saga" and "Dark Phoenix Saga" from Uncanny X-Men in 1976–1977 and 1980. Sophie Turner took over from Famke Janssen in the role of Jean Grey for Apocalypse, teasing that she will be the main player in the next film.

Obviously Grey plays the main part as the titular Phoenix, while it is expected that her romantic interest in Tye Sheridan's Cyclops will be a major part, as will James McAvoy as Professor Xavier. We also recently reported that #MichaelFassbender will be back as Magneto, but the rest of the cast is a mystery. We know that Hugh Jackman is out as Logan, so we are already one big cast member down — luckily, there are plenty more characters to get excited about.

Why so blue?

During an interview with CinemaBlend, producer Hutch Parker teased that both Mystique and Rogue could appear in the next "main series" X-Men film. It is a faithful nod to the McAvoy/Fassbender era of the series but also means that #JenniferLawrence will likely reprise her role as the blue-skinned antihero. Speaking about Mystique's return, Parker stopped short of 100% saying yes:

"I'd rather not confirm any of those officially, but yes, the current story that we're working on has that group involved as well as some of the younger characters that we introduced last time."

Speaking of the younger characters that were introduced last time, does this mean that Lana Condor will get some more screen time and we will finally get the Jubilee that we are worthy of? If anyone knows the details, it will certainly be Parker. Having previously produced The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse, and Logan, he has officially signed on for Dark Phoenix.

Perhaps the only criticism of Logan was its limited roles for those mutants we have come to love over the past 17 years of X-Men films, and even Liev Schreiber's Sabretooth didn't make the cut; however, with the main X-Men films being Fox's own ensemble version of the MCU's Avengers, it is usually a pick 'n mix of your favorite heroes. It looks like we are on the cusp of another supersized superhero venture, but could it be overkill?

Going Rogue

Parker was also asked whether another staple of the #comicbooks would be making an appearance. As a fan favorite of screen and page (as well as a central figure in the "Phoenix Saga"), we have been waiting for the arrival of Rogue since Matthew Vaughn rebooted(ish) the series with First Class in 2011. Even Parker can't seem to deny that Dark Phoenix could certainly be the right time to bring back the adored absorber:

"We're all sorting out exactly which mutants will be part of it, and which ones won't. It is a bit more expansive than... obviously Logan was a bit more intimate of a story. This one's a bit more expansive, and you know the comics, so you know how and why. We're still kind of sorting that through."

Anna Paquin famously played the part of Rogue in Bryan Singer's X-Men in 2000, but the convoluted timeline and various alternate histories could see her arrive on the scene much earlier. If you remember, Rogue was originally in Days of Future Past and even got her own "Rogue Cut" of the film after Paquin's scenes were removed from the cinematic release. Just as Alicia Shipp was recast as Storm, expect Dark Phoenix to follow suit for a younger Rogue.

With proceedings on Josh Boone's New Mutants and David Leitch's Deadpool 2 officially full-steam ahead, they are both set for release after Dark Phoenix. While it may seem like the least developed of 2018's trio of X-Men films, expect the phoenix to come rising from the ashes to cast off the smoking ruins of the previous few X-Men films.