It’s not quite Westeros, but we’ll take it. The Queen of the North slays as Jean Grey (portrayed by Famke Janssen in the O.G. trilogy) in Dark Phoenix. But where does Sophie Turner’s Dark Phoenix fit in X-Men’s timeline? When the movie begins, Jean and her fellow X-Men including Mystique, Cyclopes, and Storm embark on a space mission at the urging of Professor X. During this mission, Jean is infused with some supernatural abilities that make her powerful beyond measure. Unfortunately, her newfound skills also corrupt her and cause her to lash out. Dark Phoenix is one of the most beloved storylines in the X-Men Universe. However, when it comes to the twelve films in the franchise, the timeline can get a bit confusing.
SPOILER ALERT!
Dark Phoenix begins in 1975. We meet Jean at age 8, and we discover the very beginnings of her origin story, and how she came to be under the care of Professor X. After losing her parents in a tragic car accident, she comes to live at Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. During her youth, Professor X hides certain truths from her that will come back to bite them both in the future. From there, we zip forward a bit in time where we meet Turner’s, Jean Grey.
In Sept. 2018–director Simon Kinberg revealed the exact year that the majority of Dark Phoenix takes place. He told Empire, “It’s 1992, nine years after Apocalypse. The X-Men have become the X-Men that many of us know from the comics — they are heroes. They’re still viewed as different by society, but they’ve been more embraced than ever before. And when the movie starts in 1992, they are a known superhero team.”
Image: Walt Disney Pictures.
So if you’ve been keeping up, Jean is 25 years old in Dark Phoenix. When we first met her in X-Men: Apocalypse, it’s 1983 and she’s 16. You might have remembered the distinct ’80s vibe in that film. All of the fashion was quite loud and colorful. This is over 20 years after the events of X-Men: First Class. When we first meet a young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. Magneto along with Jennifer Lawrence’s Raven aka mystique and Hank McCoy a.k.a. Beast– it’s 1962.
We’re not quite sure why no one decided to age the actors in these movies, but here we are.
But where does that leave X-Men: Days of Future Past, the movie that left the X-Men movie timeline in shambles in the first place? Days of Future Past is set in 1973. So we’ve already met the original class, Professor X has established the school, and then we get pulled back in time virtually obliterating the X-Men Universe that we knew from the very first film which debuted in 2000.
Interestingly enough, the events of Dark Phoenix also collide with a storyline in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand. However, Turner’s film more closely resembles the storyline that was so beloved in the Marvel comics. One significant omission is Jean’s love affair with Wolverine (played in the franchise by Hugh Jackman).
Kinberg explained to Rolling Stone that he had no interest in that plot point for Dark Phoenix due to Turner and Jackson’s age difference. He also wanted the movie to be about Jean’s evolution only.
***Stands and claps loudly!!***
If you’re still scratching your head because time is a polarizing thing especially when Marvel has their hands in it, here’s an exact timeline of all of the X-Men movies.
- 1845: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (first section)
- 1962: X-Men: First Class
- 1973: X-Men: Days of Future Past
- 1979: The Wolverine
- 1983: X-Men: Apocalypse
- 1992: X-Men: Dark Phoenix
- 2000: X-Men
- 2003: X2: X-Men United
- 2006: X-Men: The Last Stand
- 2016: Deadpool
- 2018: Deadpool 2
- 2029: Logan
Dark Phoenix debuts in theaters June 7, 2019