Does Mystique die in Dark Phoenix? In an age where so many people are avoiding spoilers, it looks like the new X-Men movie trailer dropped a major one.
The new Dark Phoenix trailer was shared last night after Jessica Chastain appeared to talk about the movie with Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night.
However, was the footage just a swerve?
Does Mystique die in Dark Phoenix?
Crazily, the answer is that — yes, Mystique dies in Dark Phoenix.
“People don’t just fall off buildings and dust themselves off and walk away. There’s a reality to this movie and a consequence to this movie,” director Simon Kinberg told Entertainment Weekly while confirming that Mystique does die. “There are certainly other major casualties in this.”
Portrayed by Jennifer Lawrence since X-Men: First Class, the recent movies in the X-Men franchise have shown a very different version of Mystique than the one who was Magneto’s right-hand in the first three movies.
However, First Class was a prequel and X-Men: Days of Future Past created a parallel universe where what happened in the first three X-Men movies was wiped from existence and a new future was formed.
The trailer shows that Mystique did die at the hands of her close friend Jean Grey, right after she said “you’re my family, Jean. No matter what.”
Could her death be what finally triggers Jean Grey to fight back against the villain of the movie, an alien who is trying to get Jean to use the full extent of the alien Phoenix Force inside her?
There are some thoughts that Chastain isn’t even a real person, but a manifestation of the Phoenix Force that is talking to Jean Grey and it could be the death of Mystique that helps Jean fight back.
What we know about Dark Phoenix
There are some changes from the comic book storyline.
In the comics, Jean Grey is possessed (retconned to replaced) by the Phoenix Force — one of the oldest beings in existence. Much like Galactus, who devours planets, Phoenix Force is a force of nature that can never die.
Its job is to destroy and then rebuild.
When possessed by the Phoenix Force in the comics, a member of the Hellfire Club (remember those guys from First Class?) named Mastermind messes with Jean’s brain, unlocks memories, and drives her insane.
The Dark Phoenix arises, hungry. Under the control of the being, Jean Grey flies into space and consumes an entire star, killing billions of beings living in that solar system. As a result, she was wanted for genocide and took her own life to protect the X-Men who tried to come to her rescue.
In the Dark Phoenix movie, instead of destroying a star system, she destroys Genosha — a refuge for mutants hiding from humans who fear them and want to hurt them. This brings Magneto after her for vengeance.
Dark Phoenix hits theaters on June 7, 2019.