New 'Dark Phoenix' Featurettes Revisit The Legacy Of The X-Men In Films And Comics

Today has been arbitrarily declared X-Men day as 20th Century Fox (or what's left of it) continues to market Dark Phoenix, the last film in the X-Men film franchise as we know it. In honor of the makeshift publicity holiday, a trio of new featurettes have been released focusing on both the legacy of the X-Men on the big screen that spans all the way back to 2000 and the original Marvel Comics storyline that inspired the new movie. Watch the new Dark Phoenix featurettes below.

First up, X-Men launched the comic book movie craze as we knew it. Though there were a handful of comic book movies released in the preceding decades, the success of X-Men had studios investing in every property they could get their hands on, nearly a decade before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was ever being developed.

This new featurette looks back at all of the X-Men movies that came before Dark Phoenix (including the first time the comic storyline was adapted in X-Men: The Last Stand) with clips from various cast members over the years talking about their work on the films, as well as behind the scenes footage. But then it turns into a regular promo for Dark Phoenix, of course.

Next up, for those who may not be as familiar with the Dark Phoenix comic book arc that inspires this latest installment of the X-Men franchise, writers Chris Claremont and Louise Simons talk about the legacy of one of the most popular story threads from the mutant history in Marvel Comics.

Finally, this video plays more like a legacy trailer that reminds you of the X-Men movies of the past before again becoming a promo for Dark Phoenix. There are some snippets of new footage here that seem to show that Jean Grey can just disintegrate another person entirely with her telekinetic powers being enhanced by the Dark Phoenix. Plus, there's the ominous text reading, "The X-Men will fall." How will this final chapter of the X-Men franchise play out?

Here's the official synopsis for the end of the X-Men film series:

In Dark Phoenix, the X-MEN face their most formidable and powerful foe: one of their own, Jean Grey. During a rescue mission in space, Jean is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. Wrestling with this entity inside her, Jean unleashes her powers in ways she can neither comprehend nor contain. With Jean spiraling out of control, and hurting the ones she loves most, she begins to unravel the very fabric that holds the X-Men together. Now, with this family falling apart, they must find a way to unite — not only to save Jean's soul, but to save our very planet from aliens who wish to weaponize this force and rule the galaxy.

Dark Phoenix flaps into theaters on June 7, 2019.