Dark Phoenix: new X-Men movie, first look

A tantalising trailer and delayed release dates have left fans impatiently awaiting the twelfth instalment in the X-Men series, Dark Phoenix. In early 2019, three years after X-Men: Apocalypse stormed the box office, their wait will finally be over.

Dark Phoenix is set in 1992, a decade on from where Apocalypse left off. The X-Men are now national heroes, but when they are hit by a solar flare during a space rescue mission, Jean Grey becomes the victim of cosmic forces and loses agency over her telepathic and telekinetic powers, turning into, you guessed it, the titular dark phoenix. The remaining X-Men must now fight to protect her – and the world.

British actress Sophie Turner, who rose to fame playing Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones, stars as the mutant Phoenix, Jean Grey. Grey's childhood trauma underpins the narrative, resulting in what director Simon Kinberg calls the ‘most emotional’ X-Men film to date. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Evan Peters also return as X-Men, while Jessica Chastain joins the cast as a mysterious villain.

Simon Kinberg makes his directorial debut here, having previously written and directed several of the X-Men series. He has revealed that Dark Phoenix will be the first in a new line of X-Men films featuring (even) younger versions of the original characters – as McAvoy et. al are already playing younger versions of Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen's generation. Dark Phoenix promises to deliver brilliant acting, strong female characters and breathtaking special effects – it could just be the superhero film to save 2019.