X-Men: Dark Phoenix Timeline Revealed

Earlier today, Marvel fans received a round of updates about 20th Century Fox’s X-Men pursuits. […]

September 5, 2017, 4:20pm

Earlier today, Marvel fans received a round of updates about 20th Century Fox’s X-Men pursuits. News broke that X-Men: Dark Phoenix had tapped Simon Kinberg to direct whilst franchise stars like Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy would reprise their roles. With the feature speeding through development, details about Dark Phoenix‘s script are also starting to come to light. Now, fans have learned just when the film will take place.

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Here’s a hint: Only ’90s kids will remember the year.

If the X-Men reboots hadn’t already made it clear, Fox’s new mutant feature will be squarely set in the past. According to Omega Underground’s Christopher M, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is reportedly set in 1991. The writer broke the news over on Twitter earlier today, and you can read the tweet below.

Of course, some fans may have guessed the film’s timeline thanks to its working title. X-Men: Dark Phoenix rotated through working titles such as ‘Supernova’ and even ‘Dark Phoenix’ before it landed on ‘Teen Spirit.’ The current title should remind any music fans of Nirvana’s iconic track “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” And, yes – the rock anthem had its debut in 1991.

Coincidence? Probably not.

So far, there are no concrete details about the storyline of Dark Phoenix, but one of the film’s recent announcements has given everyone a hint. Today, it was confirmed that Jessica Chastain is in talks to play Lilandra, a well-known figure from Marvel’s comic run. The character is one of the leaders of the Shi’ar Empire, an alien race who is none too fond of the Phoenix which Jean Grey houses. So, if Chastain does nab the role for good, fans should expect to see the actress go head-to-head with Sophie Turner in theaters.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix currently has a 3.72 out of 5 ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating. Let us know how excited you are for X-Men: Dark Phoenix by giving the film your own user anticipation rating below.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix will be a direct sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse. The film will take place in the 1990s and will be inspired by “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” the most popular X-Men story of all time. Fox attempted to adapt “The Dark Phoenix Saga” once before in X-Men: The Last Stand, but the attempt was not well-received by fans.