Simon Kinberg On Dark Phoenix Rumors & ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’

Last April, Heroic Hollywood’s Umberto Gonzalez exclusively reported that Fox planned on redoing the Dark Phoenix saga in an upcoming X-Men film. In X-Men: Apocalypse, fans were given a hinted of the significance of Jean Grey’s (Sophie Turner) powers, teasing that Dark Phoenix may in fact be explored.

The last time Dark Phoenix was tackled, it was in Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand, which universally disappointed critics and fans. Now, rumors are once again circulating that the supposed X-Men: Supernova would explore the Dark Phoenix story and producer Simon Kinberg is potentially in line to direct the film. Although 20th Century Fox have yet to confirm that X-Men: Supernova is on the way, Kinberg got a chance to share his admiration for Dark Phoenix while also expressing that he would like to improve upon X-Men: The Last Stand.

I’m a huge fan of The Dark Phoenix story, and I felt like there was a lot that we didn’t do in X-Men: The Last Stand, which was based on the Phoenix story. [Things] that if we were so lucky to get another chance, we would do differently.

As for whether or not he would take on this next project as his directorial debut, Simon Kinberg remained coy. However, he doesn’t seem intimidated at the scope of the production.

I’ve been around movies of this scale for over a decade now. The first movie I ever worked on was Mr. and Mrs. Smith. It’s five X-Men movies in, and there’s The Martian. I’ve been around big movies. To me, what would be new about directing would be having more creative control than I do, as I did as a writer, and even as I do as a writer-producer.

What do you guys think of this news? Do you think Simon Kinberg was hinting at returning to the Dark Phoenix saga? If reports are to be believed, do you think he deserves the opportunity to direct an X-Men film? Sound off in the comments below.

Logan opens in theaters on March 3.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter