Considering how the central conflict of the X-Men franchise has always been between Xavier and Magneto, the final ending of X-Men: Dark Phoenix presented a unified conclusion. With James McAvoy’s Professor X reluctantly accepting a chess game with Michael Fassbender’s Magento, the finale showed Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey reentering the atmosphere, after being presumed dead.
However, this resolution stands in contrast to the film’s original plan, which envisioned a much more solitary conclusion. Initially, director Simon Kinberg had intended for the film to end with Professor Charles Xavier alone in the X-Mansion. Thankfully, Kinberg chose to revise this approach which would have otherwise left Marvel fans deeply dissatisfied with the already low-rated movie.
The Original Plans for a More Isolated Ending of X-Men: Dark Phoenix
The X-Men franchise has long been defined by the tension between Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto. Eventually, this dynamic was put to the test in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, wherein James McAvoy’s Charles and Michael Fassbender’s Magento concluded their run with a moment of reconciliation. But sorry to disappoint, because director Simon Kinberg originally had a much darker and more isolating ending on the table for the 2019 installment.
According to young Cyclops actor Tye Sheridan’s interview with the Reelblend podcast, X-Men: Dark Phoenix originally ended with the mutants going up against the villainous Skrulls in the finale, leading to an empty X-Mansion. The proposed ending would have seen James McAvoy’s Professor X left alone in the school for mutants, embodying a profound sense of isolation and abandonment.
It’s really hard for me to remember what the ending of this movie is. [laughs] Originally, it was scripted that Charles and Scott go to the U.N. because – man, I’m totally going to mess this up – they go to the U.N. because they’re going to try to tell the President that, ‘Hey, we’re under attack by aliens, and they’ve now captured Jean Grey.’ Or, you know, whatever it is that we’re going to tell him.
And then Jean comes down in the front of the U.N., and causes… there is this huge battle between the guards at the U.N. and Jean Grey, and all the guards turn out to be Skrulls. And then Jean and Scott are – Scott is fighting Skrulls in the fountain. He gets thrown into the fountain in front of the U.N. And then Jean comes down and basically fights all of the Skrulls off, and then blasts back off into space. [She] basically says goodbye to Scott and Charles. And then it’s all over, I guess.
Later on, even director Simon Kinberg corroborated Tye Sheridan’s revelation and explained why he eventually planned to revise the ending via i09. As James McAvoy had told Yahoo Movies UK, the ending had to be changed since it overlapped and paralleled another superhero movie of that time, namely Captain Marvel. However, as per Kinberg, he changed the ending since he felt it was more like Captain America: Civil War.
My original ending didn’t have the entire X-Family together the way they are in the film now. More than Captain Marvel, you could see a lot of Civil War in that ending. Usually, these big, huge action movies have the climactic moment in the third act. I loved the way that Civil War had its big action set piece where everyone’s facing off more towards the end of the second act rather than in the third so that after that huge battle, you’re left with Winter Soldier, Captain America, and Iron Man.
Thankfully, Simon Kinberg decided to revise this approach, leading to a more inclusive and unified conclusion for the X-Men family. This shift in the ending of X-Men: Dark Phoenix marked a significant change from the originally envisioned solitary note and provided a more collective resolution for the characters.
Marvel Fans Relieved as James McAvoy’s Film Avoided Depressing Ending
After the news hit social media, even Marvel fans expressed their relief over the change of original plans. Taking to X, fans and netizens admitted to feeling fortunate that the final version deviated from this somber alternative. Audiences noted how Simon Kinberg’s original ending could have left a negative impression with the solitary and melancholic finale, especially after X-Men: Dark Phoenix already suffered a catastrophic case of low rating.
As the ultimate conclusion for James McAvoy‘s 2019 movie contrasted sharply with the film’s original resolution, it allowed audiences to have a glimmer of hope and unity. Ending the film with Professor X and Magneto engaging in a chess game symbolizing a tentative peace between them, followed by the dramatic return of Jean Grey, this ending provides a sense of closure and reconciliation.
Therefore, considering how fans are relieved by this revised ending, it is believed that Simon Kinberg’s alternate conclusion, focused on Xavier’s isolation, might have left audiences with a lingering sense of dissatisfaction. Given how the film already received mixed reviews, the depressing end would have left fans in dismay. People, therefore, expressed their concerns over how the downbeat conclusion would have overshadowed the film’s achievements.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is available on Disney+ as of 2019.
