1. Its Ending Can't Match Days Of Future Past's Or Logan's
20th Century Fox
By far Dark Phoenix's most stressful quandary was how it was going to end. For all that fans have greeted the prospect of the X-Men joining the MCU with open arms, let's not forget that Fox's X-Men series marked a major milestone in blockbuster cinema, and that it's commanded its own loyal following for almost a decade longer than the MCU has.
In its twilight, Fox's X-Men has managed to produce not just one, but two thematically resonant conclusions in their recent films. Days of Future Past brought a close the original X-Men timeline perfectly, producing a future untainted by the series' original Dark Phoenix saga, while Logan ended Hugh Jackman's years-long association with Wolverine in stunning fashion.
The sad reality is that Dark Phoenix was never equipped to follow suit. Yes, the new cast are well liked, but after a misfire in Apocalypse and both those earlier films having already brought the most important characters' stories to a close, everything about Dark Phoenix feels pointless.
The film closes with Charles and Erik playing a game of chess in the south of France, but it's a maudlin conclusion - empty, and without value.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
