The latest trailer for Dark Phoenix trailer that it can't help but seem like an intentional provocation.
Rumors regarding the final delayed by reshoots, pushing its release date back twice. This has prompted many to speculate that Fox had lost confidence in the filmmakers and had ordered the reshoots in a desperate bid to make the movie better. Others have speculated that the movie was being changed so as to integrate Fox's X-Men universe into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite repeated claims to the contrary.
Related: Why Dark Phoenix Isn't Being Made Into an MCU Film
In either case, the latest Dark Phoenix trailer seems to poke fun at how the X-Men have been acquired by the same studio that controls the MCU. The final scene of the Dark Phoenix trailer depicts several of the X-Men and Brotherhood of Mutants on a prison train, bound and shackled with power-neutralizing collars, just before Jean Grey comes to the rescue. All of the guards on the train wear uniforms featuring rather prominent patches declaring that they work for the "MCU".
This seems to be entirely intentional, as there is no preexisting organization called the MCU in the original X-Men comic books and no clear indication of what the acronym stands for. (Mutant Containment Unit, perhaps?) It's also hard to dismiss the provocative symbolic imagery of these classic characters, bound and powerless, effectively restrained from revealing their true selves. One of the larger concerns regarding the Logan. Given the issues auteurs like Edgar Wright had with changing their styles to better fit the house style required by the MCU, this would seem to be a valid concern and one well worth referencing.
On the other hand, it isn't like 20th Century Fox has been entirely innocent when it comes to micromanaging its creators either. Director Tim Miller left Phase 4 of the MCU. Still, for fans of Marvel's mutants, one thing is certain - this will not be the end of their favorite superheroes cinematic adventures.
