Since the first X-Men movie all the way back in 2000, the architects of the franchise have been dropping in small nods and references to the comics that inspired the films. Dark Phoenix continues the tradition with some big and not-so-big Easter eggs for the eagle eyed and comics versed. Here are some you may have blinked and missed on your first watch.
And if you haven’t seen the movie, here’s your warning: Spoilers are ahead.
Dark Phoenix opens with a tragic scene set in 1975, a pivotal year for the X-Men with the release of Giant-Size X-Men #1, an issue that single-handedly revitalized a flagging Marvel franchise by bringing on characters including Nightcrawler, Colossus and Wolverine, a guy you might have heard of.
Before the scene turns tragic and the Greys crash their car, an argument over what’s on the radio leads to two significant songs being played as Jean telekinetically turns the dial. The first is the 1967 Glen Campbell version of “By the Time I Get To Phoenix,” which, uh, should be pretty self-explanatory. The other is a little deeper in its meaning. It’s “Werewolves of London” by Warren Zevon, which was released three years later in 1978 making it an anachronism .
It’d seem to be a reference to the first issue of Excalibur, titled “Warwolves of London.” That series saw a ragtag team of former X-Men, including the Rachel Summers version of Phoenix and Nightcrawler, carrying on in the United Kingdom after they believed the rest of the team to be dead. Excalibur also stars Kitty Pryde, who seemingly makes a very quick cameo phasing through a wall late in the movie.
The movie’s “present day” setting, as it were, is 1992, the year the popular X-Men cartoon series started. But while the early ’90s weren’t exactly associated with disco, we still get an appearance from the disco-dancing mutant, Dazzler. Keep watching the video to see more easter eggs you Missed In X Men Dark Phoenix!
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Significant songs | 0:23
Bedazzled | 1:33
The D’Bari and Vuk | 2:14
Bishop Power | 3:19
Genosha? | 4:09
The MCU strikes | 5:02
The Jean Grey School | 6:15