Sansa Stark is back! Actually, it's just Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones. She's all modern-looking and evil in the trailer for Dark Phoenix, the next big X-Men movie. (Which isn't to say that Turner doesn't look modern, but Game of Thrones has a certain lewk, you know? Lots of furs.) Last year, it was announced that Turner would be playing a young Jean Grey, the Phoenix, in an origin story of sorts for the character. Grey, who was originally played by Famke Janssen, is a complicated character. At the end of X-Men 2, she sacrificed herself, submerging herself under water. Then, in X-Men: The Last Stand, she returned, this time as the Phoenix, a dark alter ego that consist of Jean Grey's pure, unadulterated id.
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So, how did Jean Grey go from being a charming telepathic mutant to a devilish villain? That all rests with Dr. Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart in the original movies and James McAvoy in the new ones. The Dark Phoenix trailer does some explaining in this department, as did X-Men: The Last Stand. Jean Grey's powers are incredibly powerful, you see, and somehow, in limiting her excessive telekinetic skills, Dr. Xavier created a split personality. Meet: Jean Grey, who is also sometimes a dark Phoenix.
This is in line with the recent re-branding of the X-Men franchise. The early movies, which appeared in the early aughts, were hopeful, Harry Potterish films — they were loosely allegorical and all somewhat uplifting. Then came Logan, the standalone movie directed by James Mangold. It was much darker than the previous films (it was rated R) and received a generous amount of critical attention. Next up, there's Dark Phoenix, the movie about an evil split personality, and, later next year, there will be The New Mutants, a movie that's all but an X-Men horror film. It's worth noting, too, that the newer X-Men films are all devoid of director Bryan Singer, who helmed the original two films and many thereafter. Simon Kinberg, a frequent X-Men screenwriter, will make his directorial debut on Dark Phoenix.
Dark Phoenix, which will arrive in theaters February 14, 2019, also stars Jennifer Lawrence, reprising her role as Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult, reprising his role as Hank McCoy (aka the Beast). Plus, the movie has Oscar winner Jessica Chastain, who plays a mysterious character named Smith.
Watch the first full trailer for Dark Phoenix, below.
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