'Dark Phoenix' Went Through Re-Shoots Because it Was Too Similar to Another Movie

Dark Phoenix, the final entry in the Fox X-Men franchise, will hit theaters in just over a week--though the film was originally intended for an earlier release date of Nov. 2018, but it required extensive re-shoots, delaying the film until this June. This week, the reason for these delays emerged. According to stars Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, the film had to be re-shot because its ending was too similar to another superhero film.

Though the stars were coy about naming the film, according to ComicBook.com McAvoy claimed, “The finale had to change. There was a lot of overlap and parallels with another superhero movie that came out... a while ago. And we had no idea that we were.” Fassbender then joked, “They had spies on set, and [they] basically stole our ideas!"

In truth, they suggested, the similarity was because the films were likely adapting elements of the same Marvel comic book, meaning they drew similar narrative inspiration. “We were basically trawling through the source material, it seems,” said McAvoy.

The original ending, per Comicbook.com, was to have a more political theme, with the X-Men allying themselves with an alien race while also protecting humans. This idea would mesh with the early rumors that the Skrulls were to appear in the film--meaning that Dark Phoenix would have been rather similar to Captain Marvel.

Previously, director Simon Kinberg has remarked to ComicBook.com that he drew closely from the original Dark Phoenix Saga storyline, and has said that the film is a dark culmination of the past 19 years of X-Men films. It's unclear how much of this remains or was added during the shooting of the new ending.

While it may never come out just which film Dark Phoenix would have been competing against, we’re excited to test our theories when it releases in theaters on June 7.