New footage for 20th Century Fox's upcoming X-Men movie, Dark Phoenix, was shown off during the movie's panel at WonderCon 2019 this weekend, and while one clip was previously revealed at New York Comic-Con last year, the second clip was all-new for panel attendees to check out. Screen Rant was in attendance at the panel, and we have a full footage description for X-Men fans and moviegoers alike to read about below.
Just over one week after the Disney-Fox acquisition was finalized, 20th Century Fox (now a division of The Walt Disney Studios) unveiled new, never-before-seen footage of Dark Phoenix, much of which is a continuation of previously seen footage from the Dark Phoenix trailers. Taking place approximately midway through the film, with the X-Men fractured after the death of Mystique, Magneto's new Brotherhood of Mutants are on their way to kill Jean Grey/Phoenix in New York City.
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Beginning inside Cerebro at the X-Mansion, Professor X says, "It's time," and tells what appears to be the remaining X-Men team members that Magneto has found Jean and means to kill her. So he asks Nightcrawler to teleport him and Cyclops to Jean's location and then tells him to teleport back. Storm is there and wants to join them on their mission to save Jean, but Professor X won't allow that, for he's already lost too many people that he loves. But given what they're going up against, Cyclops tells Storm that he needs her there. Storm agrees, so she says she's going - end of discussion. Using his powers, Professor X shows Nightcrawler where to go by showing him a picture in his mind. They all teleport to Jean/Phoenix's location. Given that she's in New York City, they presumably teleport into Central Park, next to the X-Jet (aka the Blackbird).
Cut to Magneto and Beast (who's apparently on Magento's side at this point in the film, seeing as he wants revenge for Mystique/Raven's death. Beast actor Nicholas Hoult also mentioned during the Dark Phoenix panel that Beast/Hank McCoy is separated from Professor X in this film.) - along with two new mutants to the X-Men franchise, Selene (Kota Eberhardt) and Red Lotus (Andrew Stehlin) - walking out of the park, at which point Professor X and his group shows up behind them.
Professor X: "Hello, old friend."
Magneto: "Save the old friend sh*t, Charles. And stay out of my way."
Professor X: "I'm sorry, for what she did. But I can't let you go in there."
Magneto: "You're always sorry, Charles. And there's always a speech. But nobody cares anymore."
Professor X is afraid that if they fight each other, especially out in the open, the humans would see them as monsters, and they would lose any faith they had with the people and the government. (Earlier in Dark Phoenix, the X-Men were considered heroes to the world, and the United States president frequently calls upon them to aide in certain matters.) Magneto scoffs at Professor X's remarks, at which point Cyclops drops the movie's only F-bomb (that is, of course, if Dark Phoenix remains a PG-13 movie). Cyclops tells Magneto, "If you touch her, I will f***ing kill you." After that, Professor X tries to talk sense into Beast, but Beast wants to see Phoenix dead just as much as Magneto. That's when a fight ensues.
Splintering off, Cyclops goes after Beast and Magneto, but he doesn't try to actually harm Beast using his blasts. Magneto, on the other hand, Cyclops appears to be okay with killing. Meanwhile, Storm and Red Lotus fight each other using their powers as much as possible, with Professor X trying to prevent Selene from killing Nightcrawler. Given that Selene is also a telepath, she uses her powers to force Nightcrawler to teleport near her so that she can stab him. In order to put an end to all this, Magneto kneels down and pulls a subway car out of the ground.
Magneto then walks inside the building and uses the subway car to block the entrance. (Director Simon Kinberg mentioned afterward that the subway car is a practical effect, and they really did have it stop just a foot or two behind Michael Fassbender on set. That scene is real, surprisingly.) Jean/Phoenix is waiting for Magneto in the building's lobby, standing alongside Jessica Chastain's new X-Men supervillain. Looking at Phoenix, Magneto says, "I know whose blood that was." Phoenix responds, "You cast me out, now you've come here to kill me?" "That's right," Magneto answers.
Stripping a metal railing, Magneto tries to kill Phoenix, but she's too strong for him and she stops the railing from penetrating her eye. "And you couldn't even do that," Phoenix retorts, adding, "Let me show you how." She then uses her power to crush Magneto's helmet, which viewers can see a tiny bit of in the latest Dark Phoenix trailer. The clip ends on that note, trying to imply that Phoenix doesn't stop killing X-Men characters with Raven; she could keep going, and Magneto might be her next victim. However, judging by previously released trailers and photos, it's clear that Magneto survives this encounter but is left scarred. He is then taken captive by the "MCU" and perhaps rescued at a later point. Magneto's story won't end so unceremoniously in Dark Phoenix.
All in all, Dark Phoenix is shaping up to be an even darker X-Men movie than before, but whether or not it the cast and crew can really pull it off remains to be seen. After all, it could very well be Fox's final X-Men movie before being rebooted by Marvel Studios.
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