Dark Phoenix FAQ
In Dark Phoenix, Jean Grey absorbs the Phoenix Force to become awesomely powerful. But how could this be if she already had it in the previous movie when she defeats Apocalypse? Did they retcon the Apocalypse movie because it was so bad?
No, there was no retcon. In Apocalypse, Professor X refers to Jean’s powerful potential that she’d been holding back until he encourages her to unleash it at last upon Apocalypse. So what you’re seeing is her own immense power, and not that of the Phoenix. Also notice that Professor X retained his hair loss in Dark Phoenix because Apocalypse.
Are you sure about that? It certainly looked like the Phoenix… you know, with the distinctive fiery wings and scorching aura?
Trust me on this one. The makers of the X-Men movies had been planning to make Dark Phoenix before Apocalypse so the degree of incompetence required for such an oversight would be almost unthinkable. Instead, they anticipated all of this. Jean’s powers only happen to resemble that of the Phoenix because it’s precisely the similarity between them that makes Jean an ideal host for the Phoenix. With their deep knowledge and respect of X-Men lore, the film makers drew upon little-known comic references that depict Jean’s innate astral form as that of a phoenix. So by showing her as a phoenix and not THE Phoenix when she destroys Apocalypse, they are actually paying homage to the comics in a way that even the most passionate X-Men fans may overlook.
Maybe we watched two different movies..? Because the ones I watched repeatedly raped comic lore, overturned established character relationships and whip-lashed its way through flimsy knee-jerk motivations to do whatever seemed ‘cool’ or expedient in each moment. But yes, let’s give their makers the benefit of the doubt in this one respect: that Jean Grey is already so powerful that she can vaporize Apocalypse from a distance in exactly the same manner and appearance as she would have done if she already had the Phoenix Force. If that’s where she’s at by the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, then where does she have to go from there? What does she accomplish that she couldn’t already? What exactly is the point of Dark Phoenix?
Uh…you get to watch a really cool and flashy train sequence? And this was a directorial debut, too! Not bad, right?
…that whole sequence was a re-shoot.
