A popular actress has just been added to the growing roster of "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" and she will be playing the villain in the latest chapter of the "X-Men" series.
It was recently announced that Jessica Chastain will be joining the production of "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" which will be coming out towards the end of next year. Chastain will be playing the adversary and although her character has yet to be revealed, she is rumored to be portraying Lilandra Neramani, the empress of an alien kingdom called Shi'ar.
In the comics, Lilandra tried to imprison and execute the Dark Phoenix, which eventually led her and the Phoenix Force into a collision course with Charles Xavier and the X-Men. Her powers include superhuman strength and stamina. She also has limited telepathic abilities and is excellent at hand-to-hand combat.
However, the overarching aspect about Lilandra is her leadership and political aptitude. This implies that the movie may portray her to be a political antagonist and one who may influence the X-Men to do her bidding. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how much producers will borrow from the comics and apply it to the upcoming movie.
The Dark Phoenix story arc in the comics was adapted into the 2006 film "X-Men: The Last Stand." Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) rebelliously overextended her powers to the point of losing her control to the Phoenix Force and became evil.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" also explored the Phoenix Force when a young Grey (Sophie Turner) focused all her power into defeating Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac); thereby showing a glimpse of the Phoenix power which was fortunately controlled.
Fans will have to wait for the film to see if Grey will become fully evil and wreak havoc against the X-Men and if she can be saved in the end.
The upcoming movie will bring back Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Beast (Nicholas Hoult).
"X-Men: Dark Phoenix" will arrive in theaters on Nov. 2, 2018.
