WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Dark Phoenix. Ostensibly the final movie in the current X-Men saga, Dark Phoenix is out this weekend to somewhat lacklustre reviews. There’s one major beat fairly early-on in the film that some fans will already know about; after it was alluded-to in trailers (such as the one above) and also mentioned in some interviews. But it was still awkward in Kimmel’s studio this week when he let it slip.
Kimmel asked about the fact that Jennifer Lawrence’s character, Mystique, is killed.
The audience went silent as the question was asked, with the likes of Michael Fassbender looking very uncomfortable.
Kimmel had said “it’s not a spoiler”, but Lawrence said of the audience: “They’re like, ‘yeah it was!'”
Turner added: “I was told not to say that.”
But asked about the on-set emotions of the scene, Lawrence said: “I teared up a little bit watching Sophie in that scene.
“Her reaction to my death was so raw – I died with my eyes open – and it was so honest and real.
“And it was because she really was crying – because her dialect coach right before the take took her [electronic cigarette] away!”
Lawrence quipped: “She started genuinely tearing up. It was the performance of the year!”
Turner joked: “It’s how to act: take it away and give it back, and that’s happy and sad!”
Dark Phoenix has struggled with critics: it currently has a 22% score on Rotten Tomatoes, by far the lowest of the franchise.
The consensus reads: “Dark Phoenix ends an era of the X-Men franchise by taking a second stab at adapting a classic comics arc – with deeply disappointing results.”
However the 65% audience score suggests that it may perform well thanks to positive word-of-mouth.
Dark Phoenix is out now.
