Ms. Marvel actor Iman Vellani has explained why the notorious comic book flop X-Men: The Last Stand "failed" and should have been a trilogy.
Speaking on the Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday Official Podcast that highlighted Fox's X-Men films – a key text on the road to Doomsday – Vellani first took aim at The Last Stand disposing of James Marsden's Scott Summers, before moving on to the treatment of Jean Grey and the adaptation of the Phoenix Saga storyline as a whole.
"He's integral to Jean's story in the Dark Phoenix Saga. To get rid of him in the first 10 minutes completely eliminates any emotional resonance this movie could have had," Vellani said.
If you're familiar with Vellani's Letterboxd account, you'll know she openly isn't a fan of all of Fox's X-Men movies. The Last Stand received a 2.5 score alongside X-Men 2 (ouch), with 2000's X-Men faring slightly better at 3.5.
Much of Vellani's dislike for The Last Stand is how it handles the iconic Dark Phoenix Saga arc. In Marvel's comics, Jean Grey was slowly – and tragically – transformed by the Phoenix Force, an entity that could have wiped out the entire universe. In truth, The Last Stand's abridged version didn't do it justice.
"It's so reductive of that entire storyline," Vellani said. "If they wanted to do the Phoenix Saga properly, it should have been three or four movies, even, and really milk it. There's so much that happens – it's so thrilling, cosmic, and expansive. To stuff it into one movie with 'The Cure' storyline, oh my god. This movie failed the minute they made Jean's story also secondary."
For more Phoenix Force-level hot takes, we have our own ranking of the best X-Men movies. Then, discover what else is coming to the MCU after Avengers: Doomsday with our guide to upcoming Marvel movies.
