Simon Kinberg: A Proper ‘Dark Phoenix Saga’ Requires More Than One Movie

Speaking with JoBlo, Simon Kinberg explained how he feels the iconic Dark Phoenix Saga storyline requires more than a 2-hour movie. Kinberg had a hand in both cinematic adaptions as co-writer of X-MEN: THE LAST STAND and director/writer of DARK PHOENIX. Asked if the plot of Jean Grey being overtaken by a cosmic force, facing an intergalactic war with the Shi’ar, and dealing with a mental-meddling Hellfire Club could sustain its own limited series, he agreed.

“Yeah, there’s certainly a bunch of things that I’ve worked on that I think would make for a cool series,” he said. “The idea of doing Dark Phoenix as a series is fascinating because what I felt in constructing the movie, and even initially when writing the movie, was that it required more than one movie to tell that story.”

Kinberg originally planned to make ‘Dark Phoenix’ a multi-part event, but 20th Century didn’t want to sign off on it, giving him only one film to figure it out. While he was able to add a cosmic aspect this time, it still lacked the major players, mainly the Hellfire Club (cut from the film – concept art exists), the Shi’ar Empire, and the entire M’Kraan Crystal plot.

“I think to do it in a way that was really loyal to the comic is to make it as intergalactic as the book and to really get into the Hellfire Club,” he continued. “There’s so many different aspects of the story, right? They have to be excised when you’re telling a two-hour version of it. But, the idea of doing a four-hour, if it were two movies or doing an eight-hour limited series or 10 hours, would really allow you to get into all of the different elements of the original book and original run. But yeah, you know, these days, when I think about a story, I don’t immediately think, “Oh, this is a movie.” I think about it like, oh, this is a cool story. This is an interesting character. What’s the best way to tell it?”

With the X-Men rights now under Marvel Studios, we’ll surely see another creative team try to crack the code of making a successful adaption. Three time’s the charm, right?

Source: JoBlo