Vuk and D & # 39; Dark Phoenix Phoenix: Evil Villains Explained

By Scott Collura

Warning: Complete spoilers follow for Dark Phoenix.

In X-Men's latest film, Dark Phoenix, there are many mysteries surrounding Jessica Chastain's villainous character. We now know that she plays the character of Marvel Vuk, member of the extraterrestrial race D'Bari. But before the release of the film, the director Simon Kinberg would only recognize that she was playing an alien, while maintaining its true mysterious identity. But beyond that, it was only a big question mark. Or a big X mark in this case.

But Dark Phoenix has now arrived and the truth is here! While the White Queen, or Lilandra of the Shi'i Space Empire, or even Cassandra Nova were popular theories on which the villain Marvel Chastain could have played, the revelation that she would appear as the little little Vuk known to the foreign race the D & # 39; Bari is a little disappointing.

Yeah, it's rather random. But that makes sense if you dive into the mythology of comics …

In the movie Dark Phoenix, we learn that the native world of D'Bari was destroyed by force Phoenix at some point in the past. As a result, most D'Bari were killed, but a few followed the Phoenix into space. This is how Vuk and his other survivors meet on Earth after the fusion of the force with Sophie Turner's Jean Gray.

These kind of pieces take up the story of Dark Phoenix drawn from comic books, where the universe of D'Bari is wiped out after the Phoenix has consumed the star at the heart of its solar system. Only in this case, this cataclysmic event has occurred after Jean had merged with the Phoenix force. His unquenchable thirst for power had led to madness and genocide.

But Vuk does not appear in this comic book story. Indeed, the D'Bari are seen only in one of the panels of the classic 1980 issue of Uncanny X-Men, where their world was reduced to nothing. And yet, the character of Vuk had made his debut 16 years earlier in the first issue of the Avengers that starred Captain America, long ago in 1964.

In this story, Vuk works for Namor, the submariner, who was arguing with the most powerful heroes on Earth at the time. He uses his "ray gun" to turn the Avengers into stone, and Cap – who has just lost his decades of sleep in the ice – must save his teammates who will soon be. In addition, Vuk has not even called this in this issue. He claims that his name "would mean nothing" for Cape Town, because "the languages ​​of the Earth can not even pronounce it". In fact, he is rarely quoted in his comic appearances. Which, if you think about it, is also a little the way it works in the movie.

Also, Vuk, who is a guy in comics, looks like an asparagus of space. Jessica Chastain … not so much. Again, since this version of Vuk is an extraterrestrial-looking wood before taking on the human form of Chastain, maybe the actress is play a male Bari.

So yes, his character and the other D'Bari of Dark Phoenix can change their form, which their comic counterparts can not. (Whatever you do, do not confuse them for Skrulls …)

But let's go back to the comics. Eventually, it turns out that Vuk had survived the destruction of his world, being out of the world at that time. In the space, he had met characters like She-Hulk, Rocket Raccoon and even Wolverine. (An issue of She-Hulk's story is particularly strange, as author-writer John Byrne – who co-wrote and penciled the iconic Dark Phoenix from years earlier – half of the book, most often a satire of the young artists of the period.)

Finally, Vuk returned to Earth, seeking revenge for Jean Gray, kind of what's happening in Dark Phoenix … donning a big ass armor and calling himself Starhammer, Vuk was defeated when John used some psychic cunning to convince him that he was succeeding in his quest to destroy it.

In the film, Chastain's Vuk tries to exploit the power of the Phoenix itself, rather than lame armor. And in response, John removes Vuk, and apparently all of the remaining D'Bari, from his existence, thus completing the work that the Phoenix Force began, even involuntarily.

Things went better for Vuk in comics. Finally, he appeared again on Earth, this time to attack the daughter of John by another future, Rachel. But Rachel and his former team-mates of the excalibur mutant supergroup managed to transport Vuk and the Bari survivors to another dimension where there was still a flourishing Bari world. Yay for happy ends!

To learn more about the latest X-Men movie, find out if Dark Phoenix has a scene after generic. Or know everything about Dazzler, this singer and brilliant mutant who makes an appearance in the film!

Talk to Scott Collura, Editor, on Twitter at @ScottColluraor listen to his Star Trek Podcast, Transport Room 3. Or do both!