Fans have been speculating about Jessica Chastain's character since it was confirmed that the It: Chapter 2 star would be joining Dark Phoenix. However, everyone strongly believes that the mysterious "Smith" might be the gender-swapped comic book supervillain Mastermind. Luckily, Simon Kinberg has finally addressed the rumors once and for all.
The Dark Phoenix director recently spoke to IGN about Chastain's role in the film. Although Kinberg admitted that Smith has "elements" of the villain who tormented Jean Grey in the comic books, he made it clear that the theory is wrong.
"I will say that Jessica's character is not Mastermind but there are elements of the way Mastermind manipulates Jean that Jessica's character does employ," Kinberg said. "For me, as you'll see, that Jessica's character has elements of a few different characters from the comics."
Kinberg offered more details about Chastain's character, admitting that she is an alien. He also confessed that the X-Men film will be drawing several key elements from the comics.
"She is from, let's say, not our planet, her character. I'll keep it relatively mysterious but it is a cosmic story in a way that is extraterrestrial, which is something we've never done in the X-Men movies before but is obviously something that is integral to the Dark Phoenix story so I felt we couldn't' do what we did on X3 and ignore that."
It certainly sounds like Chastain is playing a completely new character who hasn't been in the comic books. However, some are unconvinced and believe the director is trying to misdirect theories about the villain. There is little doubt that Kinberg's statement won't stop fans from making guesses about Smith. Nevertheless, we'll have to wait until the film premieres to get a direct answer.
Dark Phoenix hits theaters on February 14, 2019.
Related: Dark Phoenix: Kota Eberhardt Confirmed As Black Queen
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