The Last Of Us Actor Lamar Johnson Had His Mutant Role Cut From X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Distrust is the world's law in "The Last of Us," but in episode 5, Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) were forced to make an alliance while dodging the Hunters in Kansas City. They meet a pair of brothers, Henry (Lamar Johnson) & Sam (Keivonn Woodard), then team up with them to get out of the city alive. Sam is a fan of comic books, even though publishing has long since ceased in this overrun world. How excited would he be to know that his big brother was, in another life, a superhero ... sort of.
As Johnson told Entertainment Weekly, he had a small part in "X-Men: Dark Phoenix," one that got whittled down. He recalled, "I was supposed to be one of the new students at Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, but the movie just took a completely different direction and that just didn't happen."
Johnson's character was Ben Hammil, code-name Match. True to his name, Match can control fire. He's one of many in pyrokinetics the X-Men world: even the films previously featured Pyro (Aaron Stanford) and Sunspot (Adan Canto) in "Days of Future Past." Created by writers Nunzio DeFilippis & Christina Weir and artist Carlo Barberi, Match debuted in 2003 as a member of the New Mutants. He remains a recurring face in "X-Men" comics, albeit not an A-lister.
In the final cut of "Dark Phoenix," Johnson/Match makes only an unnamed cameo when Xavier's students are having a bonfire on school grounds. Naturally, he gives the fire a bit of a boost:
20th Century Studios
Johnson's part being cut down is far from the only revised part of "Dark Phoenix" — once the Fox/Disney merger was underway and the "X-Men" movie franchise with it, the movie was placed on a sacrificial altar.
A script that shapeshifted like a Skrull
"Dark Phoenix" clocks in at just under 2 hours, but not because the story is tightly written. Rather, it's a hodgepodge of different drafts, cut to the bone and devoid of rhythm. In particular, there's the third act and the film's antagonists.
The villains of "Dark Phoenix," at least during principal photography and before re-shoots, were the Skrulls. The film was supposed to conclude with the X-Men battling the Skrulls outside the United Nations in New York. This was changed due to similarities with another superhero movie, almost certainly "Captain Marvel," which also released in 2019 and featured Skrulls. Director Simon Kinberg also felt the ending was too similar to "Captain America: Civil War." The third act was re-shot into battle on a train with the X-Men trying to stop the aliens from reaching the unconscious Jean Grey (Sophie Turner).
Said aliens were also revised from Skrulls into the D'Bari — in the comic "Dark Phoenix Saga," Jean destroys their planet. Still, they're Skrulls in all but name, complete with shapeshifting powers. Their leader, played by Jessica Chastain, is the greatest victim of the movie's uncertain direction — her character was rumored to be everyone from Lilandra (empress of the alien Shi'ar and paramour of Professor X), to Skrull Queen Veranke, to Emma Frost, but in the end was Vuk, who "obscure" doesn't even begin to cover. Chastain even admitted she didn't know her character's name during shooting.
New Mutants
The seams of "Dark Phoenix" are visible elsewhere too. Returning to Johnson's solo appearance in the bonfire scene, which also features an appearance by mutant pop-star Dazzler (Halston Sage), who uses her power over light in her shows. Dazzler first debuted during the comic "Dark Phoenix Saga," so her appearance in the movie could be a nod to that. However, her presence is unremarked upon, she's never named, and she doesn't appear again afterwards.
Like Match, it's likely that Dazzler was part of the new generation of X-Men students meant to carry the torch forward. According to the Hollywood Reporter, at least one executive at Fox realized during the production of "Dark Phoenix" that they were making the last X-Men movie. So, why bother spotlighting new characters who have no future?
Johnson said that the shoot in 2018 feels like, "a lifetime ago." However, he doesn't regret it:
"It was a lot of fun, though, being able to see the school and to see how they shoot the film. I got to meet Jennifer Lawrence and Alexandra Shipp and James McAvoy and the full cast. I was like a kid in a candy store, especially growing up watching 'X-Men' and being a fan of the 'X-Men' comics."
While his days as Match were cut short, superhero movies are always in search of new talent. If Johnson is able to use his part on "The Last of Us" as a springboard, he may yet get back into that candy store.