First Look at Dazzler in X-Men: Dark Phoenix Surfaces Online

Dark Phoenix opened in theaters last week and it brought with it a surprise cameo by a classic X-Men character. The mutant pop star Allison Blaire, aka Dazzler, was introduced into the Marvel Universe during the events of “The Dark Phoenix Saga.” It’s appropriate then that she also makes her big screen debut in a cinematic adaptation of that story.

20th Century Fox cast The Orville‘s Halston Sage in the role for Dark Phoenix. Dazzler has a brief singing moment in Dark Phoenix, and now an image of Sage in the role has surfaced online. You can take a look below.

Dazzler’s role was brief in Dark Phoenix. In an interview with CinemaBlend, Dark Phoenix writer/director Simon Kinberg explained why.

“I didn’t want to get into too many other characters,” Kinberg says. “In the original ‘Dark Phoenix Saga,’ you have the Hellfire Club, you have Lilandra and the Shi’ar. There are a lot of other storylines to service and I wanted to boil the movie down to the essentials emotionally and then throw in a few cameos. I’m just a huge Dazzler fan from the comics and there was an opportunity in the scene that she’s in for someone to be singing at a party and it was like, why not?”

Dazzler’s mutant powers allow her to convert soundwaves into focused light and energy beams. Before joining the X-Men, she used her powers to create a unique, stunning light show during her performances.

Dazzler was created by Tom DeFalco and John Romita Jr. as part of a cross-promotional partnership between Marvel Comics and Casablanca Records. The idea was for her to be a multimedia character that would appear in Marvel’s comics while being played by Bo Derek in a feature film. The film plans fell apart, but Dazzler went on to headline her own comic book series for 42 issues between 1981 and 1985. Dazzler: The Movie became the title of an original graphic novel, and she co-headlined the miniseries Beauty and the Beast with Beast before joining the X-Men during their Australia-based era.

Dazzler is also set to co-headline the animated series Marvel’s Tigra & Dazzler Show, being developed by Erica Rivinoja and Chelsea Handler for Hulu. It is one of four Marvel shows that will come together in the animated crossover The Offenders.

What did you think of Dazzler’s appearance in Dark Phoenix? Let us know in the comments. Dark Phoenix is now playing in theaters.