Original Jean Grey Actress Famke Janssen Happy to See Dark Phoenix

Tonight marks the premiere of the latest X-Men movie Dark Phoenix, which chronicles Jean Grey's own descent into madness after being possessed by a cosmic force too powerful for her to control. But this isn't the first attempt at telling this iconic Marvel Comics storyline on the big screen, as director Simon Kinberg also wrote the much maligned X-Men: The Last Stand.

That film might have been poorly received due to the Phoenix storyline being crammed into an overstuffed plot that also attempted to tackle the mutant cure. And original Jean Grey actress Fanke Janssen is happy that the plot is finally getting the focus it deserves in Dark Phoenix.

"I'm just happy that Dark Phoenix got her own movie because she deserves it," Janssen explained to Variety. "And it's a really powerful and very important story in the comics, that in The Last Stand we just touched upon the tiniest part of. It was something that needed to be told as a full-blown film and now that's happening. And it's wonderful."

Janssen also addressed her relationship with new Jean Grey actress Sophie Turner, praising the latest actress to tackle the iconic storyline.

"She did [reach out before initially taking the role] and she reached out again and she's lovely," Janssen said about Turner. "I'm so excited to see the film."

Because of X-Men: The Last Stand, some fans might be curious about the reasoning for adapting the story again in Dark Phoenix, and even Turner herself had no idea the films were leading up to this plot when she first signed up. But she added that she felt it was the right time to tackle the plot again.

"But I was really excited when they told me because in The Last Stand, the Dark Phoenix storyline was a subplot and in this it's the main plot and it being one of the most loved comic books in the X-Men world, it definitely felt right to do it again. I was so excited," Turner explained to ScreenRant.

Turner previously explained to EW that there was a lot of pressure on the whole crew to get it right.

"I know it's one of the most loved stories of the X-Men universe and for Simon to trust me enough with this responsibility is a big honor. And I want to do the fans of the original story justice, and of course there's a lot of pressure especially having been done before. Simon would tell you that it was a B-plot of the movie and he felt it had to be the main plot of the movie."

X-Men: Dark Phoenix is now playing in theaters.