New trailer for Dark Phoenix doesn’t bode well for the X-Men

The latest trailer is out for what could be the final installation in this iteration of the X-Men franchise — and things don’t look great (either for our heroes or for the franchise).

The Dark Phoenix saga is one of the most famous (and well-loved) narrative arcs in the comic book series long history, and one that would always prove tricky to reproduce on the big screen.

Setting aside the split over the rights to the franchise (which was owned by Fox, while Disney owned the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe), the Phoenix saga in the comics depends heavily on some plot elements that have yet to be introduced to the MCU.

Fox is only getting this second shot at recreating the storyline because the first time it was attempted it was a colossal mess.

The first trailer for ‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ looks appropriately ominous

After two strong showings (both creatively and at the box office), Fox’s latest foray into the wild world of the Uncanny X-Men team hit a stumbling block with the messy and misguided “Apocalypse”.

There’s still the individual narrative arcs of characters like “Logan” and “Deadpool”, which were both successes at the box office.

However, the franchise needs a good box office showing to sustain it. At least it has the beyond stellar cast of James McAvoy as Professor Xavier, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, plus “Game of Thrones” star Sophie Turner, who’s returning as Jean Grey.