‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ Director Explains How ‘Days of Future Past’ Fixed His Major Mistake

X-Men director Simon Kinberg helped make a lot of fans unhappy with his script for X-Men: The Last Stand, which resulted in the deaths of many popular mutants. And after the response to that movie, he reversed those decisions with the time-bending movie X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Kinberg spoke about how fan reaction played a part in his storytelling choices for Days of Future Past and how the movie allowed him to correct some of the “mistakes” made in the third X-Men movie, which adapted the Dark Phoenix storyline very loosely.

“I co-wrote X-Men 3, the ‘Dark Phoenix’ story, which is probably the most sacred of the X-Men storylines in the comics,” Kinberg said in a roundtable with The Hollywood Reporter. “Fanboys and girls did not love the movie [X-Men: The Last Stand]. When I wrote X-Men: Days of Future Past years later — it was a time travel story — I thought, ‘Well, here’s an opportunity to rewrite this mistake — bring Jean Grey back to life.’ I got to go back and essentially erase a $200 million movie.”

Kinberg and a group of fellow creators were speaking about fan reactions changing how people tell stories in television and film.

He is getting his first shot at directing in the upcoming mutant film X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which will also serve as another attempt at retelling the story of Jean Grey and her relationship with the destructive cosmic deity of the Phoenix.

Recent rumors indicated that Kinberg’s latest X-movie might be cancelled altogether. Those reports cropped up after the film was pushed back from its November release date to February of 2019. The delay was substantiated with word of reshoots, which had to accommodate Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner. Her character of Jean Grey is vital in the new film, and she could not participate in reshoots until her Game of Thrones obligations were fulfilled.

But recently, rumors came up after the Disney purchase, with a message board poster anonymously saying Fox was cancelling the movie in the wake of the Disney purchase because it was turning out much like the Fantastic Four reboot.

Of course, rumors of the cancellation have yet to pan out, and it sounds like X-Men: Dark Phoenix is right on track for its Valentine’s Day release in 2019.