Dark Phoenix is the seventh and the final movie in the main X-Men franchise (that doesn't include the spinoffs). The movie is directed by Simon Kinberg, who has been creatively involved in the X-Men franchise for long, as a script consultant and producer. With Dark Phoenix, Kinberg is making his debut as a director. The movie is a direct sequel to the 2016 film X-Men: Apocalypse, that brings the First Class team to the '90s. X-Men: Dark Phoenix Movie Review: James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender Try Hard to Save this Sinking Ship.

With Fox selling all its properties to Disney, the X-Men is expected to be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That also means that the mutant superhero and villain teams will be going through a whole revamp. This gives Dark Phoenix a huge responsibility of ending the X-Men franchise (the main canon, that is) that begin with the 2000 film X-Men, on a fitting note. The fact that it lets down the franchise is a different story altogether!

Dark Phoenix, being the culmination of the X-Men franchise as we know it, therefore doesn't have any mid or post-credit scenes. So those who expect to see a glimpse of its MCU future or at least, Wolverine's adamantium claws in the epilogue, would be asked to rein in their expectations!

As for Wolverine, played admirably by Hugh Jackman, he is nowhere to be seen in the movie. The fan-favourite mutant had been a staple character in all the X-Men movies, either as a main character or in cameos (First Class and Apocalypse) or as tributes and Easter Eggs (Deadpool series). There is no mention of him though, in Dark Phoenix, even though in that timeline, Wolverine was alive and seeking for his lost memory. Dark Phoenix: 5 Major Problems Created for the Film by Continuity Issues in the X-Men Franchise!

In an interview, Simon Kinberg had said that the reason why Wolverine was not there in the film, is because it had a young Jean Grey (Sophie Turner, instead of Famke Jansen in the original trilogy). Considering the huge age-gap between Jackman and Turner (this isn't a Bollywood film), Logan's one-sided love for Jean Grey would have been awkward. That didn't stop them from having a moment in Apocalypse, though.

The real reason why Wolverine doesn't make an appearance in the film is because of Logan the film. Logan was Hugh Jackman's swansong in the X-Men franchise, a fitting conclusion to his journey in the mutant saga. Bringing him back to Dark Phoenix purely for fan-service would ruin the emotional conclusion of the other movie, even if the events of the new film precedes that of Logan's.

So have you watched Dark Phoenix? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 05, 2019 05:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).