When Does the Film "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (2019) Take Place?
"Dark Phoenix" (sometimes released as "X-Men: Dark Phoenix") is a science fiction superhero film written by Simon Kinberg [adapting "The X-Men" #99-#101 v1 (1976) as well as "The Uncanny X-Men" #135-137 v1 (1980) and "The Uncanny X-Men" #387 v1 (2000), all by Chris Claremont] and released June 7th, 2019.
It takes place on an alternate timeline of the fictional Marvel Cinematic Universe in the year:
We know this because the opening of the main action is a launch of the real-world Space Shuttle Endeavor with an African-American woman astronaut on-board. The second shot of the scene includes a title card over the footage of the space shuttle that clearly says, "1992". The Endeavor launched twice in 1992 AD, an inaugural flight on May 7th, 1992 and then once again on September 12th, 1992 with Mae Jemison, the real-world first African-American woman to leave Earth's atmosphere. This launch scene is never referred to as an inaugural flight so it is clearly in September of 1992 AD. (Though, the events that are seen happening to the shuttle immediately after launch are fictitious.)
1992 AD
We know this because the opening of the main action is a launch of the real-world Space Shuttle Endeavor with an African-American woman astronaut on-board. The second shot of the scene includes a title card over the footage of the space shuttle that clearly says, "1992". The Endeavor launched twice in 1992 AD, an inaugural flight on May 7th, 1992 and then once again on September 12th, 1992 with Mae Jemison, the real-world first African-American woman to leave Earth's atmosphere. This launch scene is never referred to as an inaugural flight so it is clearly in September of 1992 AD. (Though, the events that are seen happening to the shuttle immediately after launch are fictitious.)
Additionally, there is a prologue showing us a few days of Jean Grey's childhood marked with a white-on-black time setting title card as the first shot that reads "1975".
It is a chronologically early film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the third-earliest chronological film featuring the X-Men characters [fourth counting the time travel parts of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)] and can be watched at its timeline point.
This Bustle article examines its setting in relation to the other X-Men films.
