'Dark Phoenix' Director Explains the Cracks in Jean's Face

Fans got their first glimpse at Jean Grey's metamorphosis into the Phoenix with the official poster, showing cracks forming in Jean's face, but Dark Phoenix's director explains just how far along that process is there, and it isn't as far as you might think.

Dark Phoenix is being directed by Simon Kinberg, who is giving the Phoenix storyline from the Marvel Comics another run with this new group of X-Men. Fans saw in the poster and the latest trailer that fiery cracks were starting to form on Jean's face, and Kinberg explains just what those cracks signify.

"That's not maximum [Phoenix]. That's a two or a three on the Dark Phoenix spectrum," Kinberg told Empire. "It is a manifestation of her transformation from the Jean we know into Phoenix. Over the span of the movie we see different symptoms or iterations of that. The lines on her face let you know that Jean is losing control, and that force inside her is trying to escape, push through, take over. Those cracks are almost as if something inside her that's more powerful than she is is trying to push out of her body."

Fans saw another shot right before that one in the trailer that showed Jean either absorbing or unleashing a surge of Phoenix-like power, and it turns out to be the former.

"Jean is in space, and what she's taking in is a cosmic force that she thinks is one thing, and over the course of the movie realizes is something far different, that our human science can't explain," says Kinberg. "But she needs to find a way to control it or she'll destroy more than just her friends – and even our planet."

You can check out the official description of Dark Phoenix below:

"In Dark Phoenix, the X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean's soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy."

Dark Phoenix hits theaters on February 14, 2019.