Why X-Men: Dark Phoenix Failed

1. The Disney Deal

A lot of the issues talked about already - particularly the marketing issues - come down to one of the most exciting developments for Marvel fans in recent years. Not so long ago, rumours started to swirl that Disney wanted to buy Fox and would be able to bring key Fox-owned Marvel characters like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four into the MCU. Naturally, we all lost our minds at how exciting it would be to have an X-Men Vs Avengers movie.

For insiders at Fox, the impending deal was more nightmarish. The looming deal led to big changes at executive level, particularly in the marketing department, meaning the film-makers were stuck dealing with a revolving roster of executives. That's far from ideal when you want to get a clear advertising message out.

And then there's the way the Disney deal impacted fans too. As soon as we started to think about the possibility of an X-Men movie in the MCU, both Dark Phoenix and New Mutants became inherently redundant. They weren't the X-Men movies fans really wanted to see, because those ones - we were repeatedly told - wouldn't be made for years. But they were still coming and their shadows still loomed large over two movies that looked like little more than unwanted hangovers for Disney.

Whether it's anywhere near the truth or not, Dark Phoenix became a loose end in fans' eyes and while some might have seen it as a free swing for the fence with no stakes going forward that ultimately ended up being an issue for it too. We were basically presented with a strange situation where we knew a reboot was coming, but the thing being rebooted hadn't even been released yet. That was never ideal, frankly.

What did you think of Dark Phoenix? Share your thoughts below in the comments thread.