X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Audition Tape Teases Shi’ar Empire

Following the massive success of Logan, 20th Century Fox is preparing to embark on a new […]

September 5, 2017, 4:35pm

Following the massive success of Logan, 20th Century Fox is preparing to embark on a new theatrical X-Men journey. The studio is slated to begin filming two features this year which will bring mutants back into cinemas. A New Mutants film is expected to begin production this month while the studio’s Dark Phoenix feature completes its casting. Now, a new audition tape for the latter film has hit the Internet, and it may give fans new insight into the movie.

Videos by ComicBook.com

Over on Omega Underground, the site stumbled upon a new audition tape for The Dark Phoenix. The footage sees actor Toby Huss reading for a role called Hoover. The character appears to be a reconnaissance agent, and fans have noticed a few peculiar bits about his tape.

In Huss’ audition, the actor can be heard using a stilted and unearthly voice. The way the character speaks isn’t natural, leading fans to wonder whether this Hoover fellow is not from Earth. The lines which Huss reads suggests his character isn’t familiar with America or even mankind as a species. These lines may not be ones penned for the X-Men film, but they are likely indicative of the character Huss would be playing if he were casted. So, with that in mind, netizens seem convinced Hoover may be an agent related to Marvel’s Shi’ar Empire.

If you are not familiar with Shi’ar Empire, then you should know the alien race ranks up with the Kree and Skrulls. The extraterrestrial species is made up of humanoid aliens with avian ancestry. They live amongst the stars and leave Earth alone – that is, until X-Men began its Phoenix Saga. In the comics, the Shi’ar Empire covets a powerful weapon know as the M’Kraan Cyrstal which Jean Grey fixes with her newfound abilities. When the telepath loses control of her powers, the Shi’ar Empire tries to intercept but the X-Men icon wipes out a vessel.

Enraged, the corrupt ruler of Shi’ar manages to kidnap Jean Grey and condemns her to death for war crimes. The emperor’s younger sister Lilandra disagrees with the decision, and she manages to bring the X-Men to their home world to defeat her brother D’Ken.

When it comes to the Phoenix Saga, the Shi’ar Empire is a big player, so it makes sense that Fox would fold it into the story. Fans learned back in 2015 that the studio does own the film rights to Shi’ar as well as Kang the Conqueror. There’s little holding Fox back from capitalizing on the alien race as it reinvigorates its X-Men Cinematic Universe. Now, the only thing standing in the studios’ way is casting.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix currently has a 3.4 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.