It appears that the Dark Phoenix trailer throws some shade at the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The upcoming sequel will be the final mutant adventure made under the Fox umbrella before the Disney and Fox deal goes through. There are some mixed feelings about all of the Fox properties heading over to Disney, but there is also a lot of excitement to see Marvel Studio gain those characters again. With that being said, writer/director Simon Kinberg might have added an MCU joke to help ease the sting.
Towards the end of the Dark Phoenix trailer, the mutants have all been captured and they are on a train, wearing shackles. Jean Grey comes to the rescue and brings some serious damage to the troops holding her fellow mutants hostage. Right before the action starts, one can see that the presumably villainous troops have the letters MCU on their arms. It probably stands for Mutant Containment Unit, or something like that, but it sure looks like a not-so-subtle dig at the MCU. Reading into it, this secen makes it look as though the 'MCU' has taken the X-Men hostage, and it's the reason this movie has seemingly 'gone off the rails', as we see the train do at the end of the trailer. Clever. Probably not a coincidence.
Deadpool 2 had a similar group, but they are called the DMC, which leads one to believe that Simon Kinberg knew exactly what he was doing when showing Jean Grey blow away the MCU. As to the reasoning behind the name of the government group, that is currently unclear. It could be a nod to the upcoming Disney and Fox deal, which could officially close by the end of next month after months of going back and forth. Or, it could just be a fun jab at Kevin Feige and the gang over at Marvel Studios. Regardless, it's pretty funny and seems way too obvious to be a coincidence.
Related: Why Is Storm Still Holding That Umbrella in the Dark Phoenix Trailer
For now, the future of Fox's Marvel properties is unknown. Disney CEO Bob Iger has stated that he wants to make R-rated movies, which is great for Deadpool fans. But it's unclear how franchises like the X-Men and Fantastic Four will be integrated into the MCU. Marvel Studios will more than likely recast and start from the ground up, which is more than likely the best idea for Kevin Feige. It's going to be pretty interesting to see how everything unfolds over the course of the next few years.
As for Dark Phoenix, the movie is set to hit theaters on June 7th. This will probably be the last time that we see these versions of the characters on the big screen before the franchise heads over to Disney and Marvel Studios. The trailer makes everything look like there's going to be a ton of action and a lot of Jean Grey's crushing powers. Hopefully this installment fares a little better with fans and critics than the last one. While we wait to find out, you can check out the MCU appearance in the trailer below, thanks to Reddit.
The MCU is trying to capture the mutants in the new X-men Dark Phoenix trailer pic.twitter.com/ZYsAdg0Glu
— The Apocalypse Posts (@Sinnik22) February 28, 2019
