Dark Phoenix: Burying A Franchise in Seven Steps

Dark Phoenix may not have been conceived as the final nail in the coffin of Fox’s iteration of the X-Men movie franchise. Somehow it managed that feat anyway, as Disney will certainly put the mutants on the shelf for some time before re-introducing a new cast of X-characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe at some future point. How did Dark Phoenix go about burying the Fox franchise.

[Mild spoilers follow.]

Get the Tone Wrong

Even a superhero movie that aims for a serious tone needs to be at least a little fun. To have moments of levity and humor to offset the darker elements. Non-stop bleakness isn’t exactly entertaining. Dark Phoenix shoots for serious and lands on self-serious, to the point of near nihilism. The movie is brutal, at times garishly gory, and often conveys a sense of hopelessness. Gentle characters become violent, violent characters become near-psychotic and all characters seem resigned to a certain despondency. It’s a wearying viewing experience. The movie goes too far in embracing the “Dark” part of its title, to the point where almost all other textures and moods are shunned.

Sideline Two of Your Most Interesting Actors

Two of the actors who have made among the strongest impressions since the X-Men franchise’s successful First Class reboot are both M.I.A. after the first act. In the case of Evan Peters, who plays speedster Peter Maximoff, that’s a significant contributing factor to the movie’s tone…