Producer Simon Kinberg recently revealed that the next X-Men sequel will take place during the ’90s, which is fairly unsurprising given that it follows the decade-by-decade pattern of the recent trilogy. That doesn’t tell us much about their plans for the next chapter of the X-Men saga, but Bryan Singer has put forth an idea that may give us a hint about where the story is heading.

While speaking with Fandango about Apocalypse, Singer was asked about the next X-Men sequel, confirming the ’90s setting while also suggesting that it could introduce an alien element:

Another thing that’s been introduced in the comics is a big alien, interstellar tenant within the X-Men universe that hasn’t been explored. And to me, that might be kind of fun because I’m a huge Star Wars and Star Trek fan, and exploring the X-Men universe and being able to utilize that would be exciting, visually.

Singer might be hinting at a revisit of the Dark Phoenix arc, which was previously — and disappointingly used — in X-Men: The Last Stand. It’s a popular X-Men story in which Jean Grey is exposed to extraterrestrial radiation that unlocks the full potential of her powers, transforming her into a wholly psychic being known as Phoenix. Jean creates mental barriers to control it, but the villainous Mastermind tricks her into breaking them, and she becomes Dark Phoenix.

That’s when she heads back to space, and, driven by the hunger for more power, consumes the energy of a star, unwittingly wiping out an entire race of aliens on a neighboring planet. A galactic council convenes and decides Dark Phoenix is more dangerous than Galactus and must be destroyed.

If Singer wants to go to space and introduce an “interstellar tenant,” he could be referring to this particular arc. Just last month, a rumor suggested that the follow-up to X-Men: Apocalypse would revisit The Dark Phoenix Saga, and when Simon Kinberg was asked about it, he said that “it would absolutely be a story we could tell in a different way” now that the timeline has been rebooted by Days of Future Past.

There are a few subtle things to further suggest this possibility in X-Men: Apocalypse, which you can see for yourself on May 27.

 

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