X-Men: Dark Phoenix
WARNING : Major spoilers forDark Phoenixahead .
Dark Phoenixkilled Mystique very early on in the movie , but despite being the only major destruction , it was whole ball up . Fox issued a voiced reboot of theX - Menfranchise in 2011 with the release ofX - Men : First Class . The film introduced audience to the untried versions of theoriginalX - Mencharacterswith James McAvoy ’s Professor X , Michael Fassbender ’s Magento , Nicholas Hoult ’s Beast , and Jennifer Lawrence ’s Mystique . They have been the stars of the series since this point , whileX - Men : Apocalypseintroduced a new , immature cast of familiar mutants : Tye Sheridan as Cyclops , Sophie Turner as Jean Grey , Alexandra Shipp as Storm , and Kodi Smit - McPhee as Nightcrawler .
In typicalX - Menfashion , the kinship between Professor X and Magneto has been key to the most recent tally of picture , but some have undoubtedly been surprised to see a eccentric like Mystique receive so much screentime . Her increased character has not altogether been constitutional to the account , though , and was instead a move to push Lawrence more to the forefront asTheHunger Gamesfranchise continue to grow , and she racked up Oscar nominations . Unfortunately , the handling of Mystique as a character and Lawrence ’s evident neutrality in continuing to play the part have been interrogate in the most late installments of the franchise .
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This is why many were surprised to learn that Lawrence agreed to sign on forDark Phoenixafter her originalthree - pictureX - Menmovie dealended withX - Men : Apocalypse . When audience started to see the merchandising for the movie , though , they began to understand why : the 2d trailer forDark Phoenixheavily telegraphed thatMystique was going to dieat the hands of Jean Grey . This belief was confirmed not too long after by author / director Simon Kinberg , who say that they unveil this moment in the merchandising to show that there were big stakes in his and the dealership ’s second attempt at tellingThe Dark Phoenix Saga .
As those who have seenDark Phoenixknow , Mystique does die , but the film does n’t right cover the delivery and fallout of the moment .
Mystique’s Dark Phoenix Death Makes Sense (Sort Of)
Dark Phoenixmay not flawlessly executeMystique ’s death- as we ’ll talk about later - but the musical theme , abstract thought , and motivations for the moment do mostly make sense . From a storytelling standpoint , the destruction of an crucial quality is a standard machine used to raise the stake of any story . This can come off as a cheap gimmick or an easy way to work around the lack of a proper build up , but that does n’t make it never utilitarian . Superhero movies have already used this trope on several occasions , with Cyclops ' decease inX - Men : The Last Standand Loki ’s end inAvengers : Infinity Warshowing the disconfirming and irrefutable outcomes .
For a report likeThe Dark Phoenix Saga , a major death does show that the lives of these heroes can be taken aside and , in this case , is used to make Jean a more effective villain for the second act . It also fits with Mystique ’s four - movie arc and where her story need to get along . InX - human race : Apocalypse , she became the face of the " mutant and proud " mantra and evolved into a drawing card of the X - Men squad who was also a mentor to the new Italian sandwich . More so than others theatrical role , her demise means something for the untested heroes and the original family too . With Mystique out of the moving-picture show , the team splits , and the populace begins to wonder whether or not mutants should have as much power as they do .
The other part of Mystique ’s last that make sense is it being a suited fashion to accommodate Lawrence ’s dwindle interest in the franchise . Not only was her contract up afterX - gentleman’s gentleman : Apocalypse , but she need to stay out of the blue makeup as much as possible . Lawrence and the otherFirst Classcast membersmay have fall to support Kinberg , but Lawrence may have also campaign for a limited part , forcing them into killing her .
Mystique’s Death Is Rushed & Poorly Shown In Dark Phoenix
No matter how promise the setup , Dark Phoenixfumbles the execution of instrument of Mystique ’s dying . The movie does n’t needfully hurry to get to that level in the story , but rather clumsily handles the scene itself once it come . Mystique walks up to try and tranquillize down Jean ( who is in the middle of a equipment failure ) , and they only exchange a few words before Jean throw off Mystique back into a deal of rubble . If an interview phallus is n’t certain of what just happened , the reaction of Professor X and others make it clean-cut . Oddly , Dark Phoenixdoesn’t convey that visually ; it is only after a series of cuts and close - ups of the actor ’s faces thatDark Phoenixreveals Mystique is impale through the breast .
It ’s potential Kinberg could n’t show that much of what happened to her due to the MPAA and wanting to keep the motion-picture show PG-13 - like to how the MPAA ab initio deemed Phil Coulson ’s end inThe Avengersas too sick to show in a PG-13 film - but come across as trying to hide her fortune for supply shock value . After all , Lawrence is one of the expectant actresses in Hollywood , so killing a character she ’s play three prison term before in the first 30 minute would typically take consultation by surprisal and be impactful regardless of how it was plow . Yet that handling of this vista - not helped by the marketing squad beleaguer the death for month prior to discharge - hook it of any real stupor or emotional value .
Mystique’s Death Has No Real Impact On Dark Phoenix’s Plot Anyway
Even if Mystique ’s death was hidden from the selling and better executed in the moment , there would still be the takings of the lack of impingement it has . Dark Phoenixtries to show how the death affected various member of the disco biscuit - Men , but most of the resulting story threads do n’t go anywhere : Cyclops and Storm momentarily do not tally ; Professor X ’s handling of Jean ’s brain in the past is question ; the kids at Xavier ’s School for Gifted Youngsters briefly mourn but do n’t even get to advert the small funeral ; and Jean quickly manage more about controlling her big businessman than struggling with what it enable .
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Dark Phoenixreally spends the most prison term reflect on Mystique ’s death with Hank McCoy and Magneto . Beast is the most upset and , when the relief of the squad does n’t finger his anger , he goes to join military force with Erik . The two of them have a shared love for Mystique , and it does n’t take much from Beast to win over Magneto that Jean demand to pass away . All of this is used to set up the cinema ’s second act fight as Charles , Cyclops , Storm , and Nightcrawler essay to deliver Jean , while Magneto , Beast , and anew , smaller Brotherhoodtries to kill her . But even though the two side may fight in the middle of New York , their fight back views on Jean are whole disregarded after that . Mainly , Dark Phoenixjust used Mystique ’s death as a storytelling gimmick to move other character reference and the declamatory story forward , never taking the time to really consider what that would intend .
Instead , the characters all decide to protect Jean from the D’Bari exotic airstream that wants the power of thePhoenix Forceafter being apprehended by the Mutant Containment Unit . This ensures that Mystique ’s death at the hands of Jean is completely forgotten about in the third act . Dark Phoenix ’s endingis particularly galling in this regard ; the movie ’s epilog see Xavier ’s mutant school renamed after Jean and not after the instructor / mentor that she killed just a few days ago , all because she vote down the D’Bari and was believe to perish in the process .
How much of this was a result ofDark Phoenix ’s reshootsis unclear , but the end result is that Mystique ’s last , something that should be one of the moving-picture show ’s most of import vista , cease up as one of the X - Men motion picture ' strangest or else .
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