The latest issue of Entertainment Weekly reveals new details for the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix movie , including who the villain of the superhero film will be… sort of.
EW released a few images from the X-Men movie, including Jennifer Lawrence’s new-look Mystique, Sophie Turner’s Phoenix and the first look at Jessica Chastain as the villain of the Dark Phoenix film. The publication did not reveal the villain’s name, but the character description does give some hints to who she may be playing.
The Molly's Game star plays an otherworldly shapeshifter who manipulates Phoenix for her own agenda. Chastain's villain is quiet but brutal. "Simon and I were talking about the character and I said, 'I keep thinking of the vet who tells you you need to put your dog down,'" says the actress of her inspiration. "There’s something very clinical about it."
So who is Chastain’s villainous character? There seems to be two ways the X-Men film will go with her character. The first alters a character from the comics and puts a unique spin on it.
LILANDRA
The word “otherworldly” suggests Chastain will play an alien in Dark Phoenix, and there’s no other race that ties into the X-Men and the Phoenix more than the Shi’ar.
The most prominent female Shi-ar is Lilandra Neramani. In the comics, she was the Magestrix (or Empress) of the Shi'ar empire and the sister of D'Ken who was the emperor. However, her connection with the X-Men revolves around her romantic involvement with Professor Xavier.
With James McAvoy reprising his role as Charles Xavier, Lilandra could be the villain who tries to convince the X-Men to put Jean Grey down, which Chastain references in the EW article.
"Simon and I were talking about the character and I said, 'I keep thinking of the vet who tells you you need to put your dog down.'"
Elsewhere, however, the article says Chastain’s character will be a shapeshifter. This throws off the Shi’ar theory, as that has never been one of Lilandra’s abilities. That leads to the second option.
VERANKE
The Skrull are another alien race that has come into contact with the X-Men on multiple occasions (and the Marvel Universe as a whole).
The green-skinned aliens have just the kind of shape-shifting ability EW alludes to in its description of Chastain’s character. The actor could be taking the role of Veranke, the Skrull Queen. She has the shape shifting abilities of a Skrull and is obviously from another world.
The Skrulls will also be featured in the upcoming Fox / Marvel Studios film, Captain Marvel.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix will release in theaters Nov. 2, 2018.
So which of these two characters do you believe will be the villain of Dark Phoenix? Let us know in the comments section below.
