The director of Dark Phoenix explains what the cracked face of Jean Gray means

The X-Men and the cinephiles were entitled to the first trailer of Dark Phoenix this week, which slowly shows Jean Gray succumbing to the great power in it. The last picture in the trailer featured Jean with bright eyes and a cracked face, which apparently meant she was losing her battle of wills. According to director Simon Kinberg, this look should mean the first phase of Jean's transformation into Phoenix and show how literally his control over himself is literally cracking. He said in a recent interview:

According to director Simon Kinberg, Jean Gray's transformation into Phoenix will have more than one phase at least. The author-director broke the first trailer of Dark Phoenix for Empire, bringing a little light on what Jean is going to live in the superhero movie. The cracked face is symbolic of the fact that Jean Gray is losing control of the power in her and that she is literally pushing herself out of her. Over the course of the film, John will continue to develop and this will have a physical effect on his body.

The cracked face is only the first stage of John's transformation as Phoenix Force (the cosmic entity that takes it under his control in the comics) fights for dominance. Jean will not become more powerful as the film progresses, but we do not know what will be his last appearance in the film. I imagine that it will involve a lot of fire in the form of a bird.

Taking place nine years after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix finds that the X-Men are forced to fight against one of their own because an incident in the space makes Jean Gray slowly succumb to the unstoppable power that lurks in it. Can the X-Men find a way to reach John or will they have to take more drastic action to end his growing threat? The film stars Sophie Turner, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and Jessica Chastain as an alien entity unknown.

Dark Phoenix has been postponed a few times now, but its theatrical release is scheduled for June 7, 2019. To learn more about the film, here's all we know so far about Dark Phoenix.