Anyone familiar with the first two "X-Men" films is painfully aware of the emotionally-charged scene near the conclusion of "X2: X-Men United," where mutant Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) meets her fate at Alkali Lake.
And even though the comic book version of "X-Men" allows for her to come back in a blaze of glory, Janssen told me in a recent interview that the idea of Jean Grey rising from her watery grave to be transformed into the pivotal character of Dark Phoenix in "X-Men: The Last Stand" was anything but a slam dunk.
"Even though we set it up at the end of the second one with the Phoenix outlining over the lake and my voiceover, saying, 'Evolution every so many years takes a leap forward' -- we didn't know if they were going to go for that storyline or if the third one was going to be made altogether," Janssen told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "There were a lot of variables that we weren't certain of."
Chief among them, of course, was the departure of beloved director Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two films in the series. Complicating matters was that Singer's replacement, Matthew Vaughn, who reportedly exited the film in pre-production for personal reasons.
But three years after the enormous success of "X2," "X-Men: The Last Stand" is here at last with Brett Ratner in the director's chair, and for fans of Grey, they've been reunited with one of the series' most endearing characters.
Endearing, at least, until now.
"The great thing about her obviously at the end of 'X2' is that she sacrificed herself to save her fellow X-Men," Janssen enthused. "I liked playing her because I thought she was very kind and a good person, which obviously changed a bit during the third one."
In "X-Men: The Last Stand," Grey is resurrected as Dark Phoenix, a mutant with formidable telepathic and telekinetic powers that have escalated far beyond her comprehension. Leaving her X-Men allies behind for Magneto's (Ian McKellen) Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Dark Phoenix is transformed into the ultimate mutant weapon posing as a danger to herself, her former X-Men comrades and the entire human race.
One of the biggest challenges for Janssen, her fellow stars and filmmakers of the "X-Men" film series has always been meeting the expectations of the comic book's fan base. For the lack of a better word, it has mutated into a pop culture phenomenon since its debut as a creation of Marvel Comics legends Stan Lee and Jack Kirby more than 40 years ago -- and each comic book reader has set in their mind what they want the think the screen version should be like.
"I know that I wanted to do justice to the character that had been in the comics, but in the end, you have to give your own interpretation and then you hope that the fans can go with you on that ride regardless," Janssen explained. "They're two-dimensional characters on the pages of a comic book. You're going to have to do something to turn them into three-dimensional characters. I can't always get what fans want, and everybody's ideas are probably different, too."
Admirers of the "X-Men" comics have no doubt witnessed over the past two films that the special effects have been spectacular -- and they'll no doubt be floored to see how much the visuals have leaped an evolution for "X-Men: The Last Stand." But what thrills Janssen more than the earth-shattering visuals is the fact that the films have maintained at their heart the very thing that made the comic book so beloved in the first place: great stories and characters.
In the case of the new film, that means Janssen gets the opportunity to draw on the complexities of the Jean Grey and Dark Phoenix, rather than playing a one-dimensional character reduced to out-and-out destructive force of nature.
"The way I saw Jean Grey in this film was that there was a struggle going on inside her, between the Jean Grey as we knew her as in the first two movies and the Phoenix -- the most powerful mutant -- as we've come to know her in this third installment," Janssen told me. "There were times when she would take over, and there were times when Jean Grey would fight back and would win. It was like playing a schizophrenic person in a way."
Of course, in the first two films, the struggle for all mutants has been the persecution for being "different" because of their special powers. But the third film adds a compelling dynamic -- a cure has been discovered to make mutants what the human race deems as "normal."
And since we all know very well what it's like to be an outcast, there's no question that the idea of changing somebody simply for who they are is going to resonate. Janssen said that's the single biggest thing she's "loved about the 'X-Men' movies."
"Probably the reason why the comic books have been around for so long and the reason why our movies have been quite successful is that it deals with a subject matter that most people can relate to -- feeling alienated from other people, feeling like an outsider and being different," Janssen said.
And while the objective of the film is to first and foremost entertain, Janssen is happy to know that inherently, "X-Men: The Last Stand" has the power to inform and spark debate, too -- debating a question such as, 'Who is to say what is 'cure?'"
The Brotherhood doesn't like it because they're afraid it will be forced upon them and will result in the eventual elimination of the mutant race. The X-Men, meanwhile, simply want mutants to have a choice, whether they agree with ethics behind the "cure" or not.
Ultimately, "X-Men: The Last Stand" leaves as many questions as there are answers.
"It asks, 'What if there were a cure and you no longer had to be different? Would you take it? How far would you be willing to go and what are the ramifications of that?' Obviously, the for some people, that decision is a lot easier than it is for others because they have differences that are much harder to live with," Janssen said. "That's a question for each person to answer differently."
Preview: 'X-Men: The Last Stand'
