Fox
In case you haven’t heard yet, the latest (and likely last) entry into Fox’s X-Men universe, Dark Phoenix, has been nothing short of a disaster.
Not only does Dark Phoenix currently sit at an abysmal 23% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it also had the worst ever opening weekend for an X-Men movie, earning just $33 million dollars in the United States of America (for comparison, the similarly subpar Godzilla: King of the Monsters made over $47 million during its opening weekend).
But the issues with Dark Phoenix don’t stop there, as recent reports indicate that the film was forced to undergo massive reshoots due to its striking similarities with a previously existing Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Captain Marvel.
Warning: spoilers for ‘Captain Marvel’ will follow.
According to /Film, in a recent podcast interview with ReelBlend, Cyclops actor Tye Sheridan revealed that Dark Phoenix was forced to undergo last-minute reshoots due to its similarities with Captain Marvel, which was released in early March.
Sheridan says that not only did the film’s climactic battle take place in the reaches of space, but, similar to Captain Marvel, it also was against the shape-shifting Skrulls that made their MCU debut in the Brie Larson flick.
“Originally, it was scripted that Charles and Scott go to the U.N. because — man, I’m totally going to mess this up — they go to the U.N. because they’re going to try to tell the President that, ‘Hey, we’re under attack by aliens and, they’ve now captured Jean Grey.’ Or, you know, whatever it is that we’re going to tell him,” Sheridan told ReelBlend.
“And then Jean comes down in the front of the U.N., and causes… there is this huge battle between the guards at the U.N. and Jean Grey, and all the guards turn out to be Skrulls. And then Jean and Scott are — Scott is fighting Skrulls in the fountain. And then Jean comes down and basically fights all of the Skrulls off, and then blasts back off into space. [She] basically says goodbye to Scott and Charles.”
Sound ridiculous? You bet your ass it does!
However, unfortunately for Fox, reshoots were unable to save Dark Phoenix, as it will likely go down as the worst X-Men movie of all-time (this side of X-Men: The Last Stand).
Luckily, now that Marvel Studios has got their hands on the iconic mutant franchise, Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, Magneto and the rest of the gang will be getting an MCU makeover sooner rather than later.