When Jessica Chastain was first announced as being in talks for 20th Century Fox’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix, initial reports claimed that she would be portraying the character of Lilandra, Empress of the Shi’ar Empire.
However, Chastain subsequently denied the report, with later rumours then suggesting that she’ll be portraying a Skrull character. That seemed to have been supported by a character description last month which described her as a “shape-shifter”, and now it has been revealed by Fox that Chastain’s character is called ‘Smith’.
Presumably the name Smith is an alias, although it remains unclear whether Chastain’s villain will indeed be a Skrull character. There has been some speculation that Smith could be a gender-swapped version of Jason Wyngarde / Mastermind, who played a crucial role in The Dark Phoenix Saga by manipulating Jean Grey using his mutant abilities to create complex telepathic illusions.
At this point though, it’s all theories, and if as expected there is some kind of big reveal about the character, it would seem unlikely that we’ll get any official confirmation until the movie hits this November.
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After the X-Men team is dispatched to space for a rescue mission, a solar flare hits the X-Jet and the surge of energy ignites a malevolent, power-hungry new force within Jean – the Phoenix.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is set for release on November 2nd, 2018. Simon Kinberg is directing a cast that includes franchise veterans Michael Fassbender (Magneto), James McAvoy (Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver) alongside new additions Jessica Chastain and Lamar Johnson.
Originally published January 4, 2018. Updated April 19, 2018.
