As the Disney-Fox merger looms on the horizon, fans and filmmakers alike have been feeling uncertain about the future of the X-Men universe. A new report from THR, however, may hold a glimmer of insight on the matter, and it all has to do with the latest delay announced for X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
The news a few weeks ago was that the next cinematic outing of Charles Xavier and his peers had been pushed from February of next year to June. It was the kind of announcement that’s become all too familiar to followers of this franchise, with Gambit getting struck with its own delay at the same time. Nonetheless, Dark Phoenix director Simon Kinberg has defended the development as an opportunity to ensure that the sequel’s up to the highest possible standard, while also increasing the movie’s chances in the lucrative China market.
What’s now being suggested, however, is that the film may have been moved to four months later to avoid clashing with any major Disney openings, and that’s because this flick could be first Fox feature released under the new owners. If this is indeed Disney’s plan for the transition, then their handling of Dark Phoenix could also give us some insight into the eventual plans for The New Mutants, X-Force, and the fabled Gambit movie that so many fans doubt will ever reach cinemas.
Of course, arguably the bigger mystery about the franchise’s future is what the Mouse House is planning in the long-term. Specifically, we’re still waiting to hear if and how Disney will be integrating these characters into the MCU, and it may be a while before we receive any official confirmations on such matters. In the meantime, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is scheduled for release on June 7th, 2019, and seems set to serve as the last hurrah for the core mutant team of this 18-year-old cinematic universe.