If 20th Century Fox had learned any lessons from the release of
Justice League, it was “go big or go home,” and its adaptation of the venerated Dark Phoenix Saga was as big as they came. The studio recovered from the production woes that plagued
X-Men 2 with Keifer Sutherland replacing Russell Crowe as Wolverine, and brought relative newcomer, Len Wiseman (who had worked as property assistant in 1998’s
Green Lantern) on board as director. Given the size and scope of the original comic book storyline, the production was too big for one film and decided to break the project into two films with a release date of Christmas 2005 and 2006, respectively.
X-Men: The Dark Phoenix, Part 1 picked up with where previous film left off with Jean Grey piloting the space shuttle through a radiation storm. Cyclops hears her screams and calls out to her while the other X-Men struggle to restrain him as the shuttle reenters Earth’s atmosphere and crashes into Jamaica Bay. The X-Men emerge from the water save for one, Jean, Cyclops refuses to accept that she’s gone and frantically searches while Wolverine attempts to pull him back as they need to get out of there before law enforcement has agents crawling over the place.
Their argument is cut short when they see a light at the bottom of the bay and a fiery raptor flies high into the the air and bathes the area in a bright light, revealing itself to be Jean, reborn as the Phoenix. She loses consciousness shortly thereafter and Nick Fury (another cameo from the ‘Hoff) spirits them back to the X-Mansion where Jean remains in the infirmary with Cyclops staying by her bedside. Lilandra reveals her backstory that her power mad brother, D’Ken (played by Christopher Ecceleston) is searching for the powerful M’Krann Crystal, which potentially destroy the universe in the wrong hands. She discovered its location and destroyed the historical records before she fled to Earth. However, D’Ken sent his agents after her.
One of the original problems with the original “Phoenix Saga” from Uncanny X-Men #101-108 is the episodic format did not suit a film adaptation. Wiseman discarded the confrontation with a brainwashed Havok and Polaris from Uncanny X-Men #97 and melded it with the confrontation with Magneto from Uncanny #104 where a brainwashed Master of Magnetism attacks the mansion. Due to scheduling conflicts, Rutger Hauer was not able to reprise the role. Thus Fox turned to David Hemblen (who voiced the character in the animated series) to reprise the role for live action.
After a brief battle with the X-Men, the children of the atom manage to remove Magneto’s helmet so that Xavier could reverse the brainwashing. Gladiator of the Imperial Guardian (played by Arnold Vosloo) arrives and plucks Lilandra up in the confusion despite Rogue and Colossus’ attempts to stop him. Magneto assists the X-Men (minus Cyclops) in tracking down the Shi’ar agent responsible for his brainwashing: Davan Shakari AKA Erik the Red (played by Ryan Reynolds) who proves to be a coward when Magneto threatens him. Magneto humiliates Shakari by stripping away his armour and leaves him naked in the wilderness while he and the X-Men take his ship, giving the film a little levity.
Before leaving Earth, the X-Men try to coax Cyclops into coming with them on their mission to save Lilandra. Cyclops refuses to leave Jean’s side, which leads to an altercation with Wolverine who Cyclops knocks the the wall with his optic blast. Wolvie unsheathes his claws, but Xavier steps in before the fight can escalate. Xavier reaches through Cyclops to reluctantly leaves to lead the X-Men (accompanied by Magneto) to Shi’ar space.
What follows is what can best be described as
Raiders of the Lost Ark meets
Star Wars where the X-Men find themselves in a race to not only rescue Lilandra, but find the M’Krann Crystal before D’Ken. However, their first engagement with the Imperial Guard does not go well as they can only fight them to a standstill. A third party known as the Starjammers swoop in to steal the crystal from under both the X-Men and Imperial Guard’s noses and also abduct Cyclops in the chaos. The film also borrows a story element from the animated series where the Starjammers’ leader Corsair (played by Kurt Russell) plans to use crystal as a bargaining chip and Cyclops as a weapon to destroy D’Ken.
Much like the animated series, the film dances around the fact that Corsair is Cyclops’ father and makes vague references to the character’s origins. Needless to say Corsair’s plan goes south as D’Ken double crosses him and attempts to seize the crystal, only for the X-Men to arrive to fight the Imperial Guard to a standstill. Meanwhile, Jean can sense Scott’s distress with her newly gained cosmic aware and immediately regains consciousness in front of a started Professor X before taking off to the Shi’ar Galaxy. She arrives too late as D’Ken opened a gateway into the the crystal that draw in himself, the X-Men, Imperial Guard, and Starjammers.
Adding to the stakes is that with the crystal’s energy lattice damaged, the neutron galaxy inside the crystal itself is slowly drawing the universe into it. Gladiator finally realizes his emperor’s madness and joins the X-Men in fighting a nearly omnipotent D’Ken. Using both Storm and Corsair (whose identity she learned via telepathic probe) as anchors, Phoenix repairs the crystal while at the same time trapping D’Ken’s consciousness inside the neutron galaxy and leaving his physical body catatonic. With the threat passed the X-Men return to Earth while Lilandra ascends to Empress of the Shi’ar.
Dark Phoenix, Part 1 also addresses one of the main criticisms of the first X-Men film: the lack of nuance of Magneto’s character and his friendship Xavier. The pair share something of a tender moment where Xavier sees Magneto off at the front of the mansion.
MAGNETO: You never cease to surprise me, Charles, allowing the world’s most wanted man to walk out your front door. I had believed that you would’ve told your friends in S.H.I.E.L.D. of my whereabouts.
XAVIER: Do you think so little of me after all these years? Even if we chose different paths, you are still my friend and I would never betray that friendship. Especially not after what you have done for us.
MAGNETO: -beat- Even after the grief I inflicted upon you and your students?
XAVIER: I know there is still goodness inside you. My only regret is that I couldn’t convince you to stay.
MAGNETO: You said it yourself, Charles. We chose different paths.
XAVIER: There is still a chance of redemption for you, Erik.
MAGNETO: You may be safe in this mansion surrounded by your students, but I know how cruel and unforgiving this world can be. The humans will never forgive me, but that won’t stop me for doing what I must for mutantkind.
XAVIER: And you know what I must do.
-Magneto tips his hat to Xavier and walks down the steps. He pauses, and then turns to Charles-
MAGNETO: Doesn’t it ever wake you up in the middle of the night? The feeling that one day they’ll come for you and your children.
XAVIER: It does indeed.
MAGNETO: What do you do when you wake up to that?
XAVIER: I feel a great swell of pity for the poor soul that comes to my school looking for trouble.
Part 1 ends with Scott and Jean walking side by side in Central Park with the Scott preparing to propose to her before the famous fountain. However, Jean finds herself overcome with dizziness and briefly finds herself in the arms of a man named Jason Wyngrade (played by Paul McGann) before the illusion fades and to discover that he is back in Scott’s arms. A concerned Scott asks if she is feeling all right, but Jean reassures him that it was nothing and ask that they move on. While they walk away, the camera pans out to reveal that someone was watching them from afar: Jason Wyngarde himself, setting up for part 2 of
Dark Phoenix.
X-Men: The Dark Phoenix, Part 1 opened to rave reviews from both fan and critic alike on December 21, 2005, earning $162 million in its first five days and $427.6 million overall. Fans particularly praised Keifer Sutherland’s first full outing as Wolverine as well as film relative closeness to the storyline from both the comics and the 90s animated series. Meanwhile, critics lauded the film for its ambitious and cosmic scope that drew positive comparisons to Warner Bros.’
Justice League and Fox’s own
Star Wars. 20th Century Fox felt more confident venturing into 2006 as the company released its own superhero slate on January 10 of that year, which included a confirmed release date for the long-planned
Thor (May 2, 2008) as well as an untitled X-Men spinoff for that year as well, which insiders speculated was a solo Wolverine film.
What fueled further speculation was the appearance
Captain America/Iron Man team-up code named “Tales of Suspense” for Summer 2009. While the studio was coy on the details, industry insiders said that the studio had not only entered negotiations for a multi-picture deal with not only Tom Cruise, but his
Iron Man co-stars Aaron Eckhart and Lucy Liu, leading many to believe that an
Avengers film was in the works for "2010 at the earliest.” Regardless of the rampant speculation, the studio’s fortunes were bright with the second part to
Dark Phoenix and the long-awaited sequel to 1999’s
Fantastic Four due for release in 2006.
-Tales From The Superhero Wars, sequentialhistory.net, November 11, 2010