The latest trailer for X-Men: Dark Phoenix contains a startling revelation.

Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique approaches Sophie Turner’s Jean Grey, who has been overtaken by a strange force. Rather than hug the problem out, Grey unleashes her power and seemingly kills Mystique.

Director Simon Kinberg has since confirmed that Mystique has died, revealing to EW why they decided to show the death in the trailer.

“Well, the thought process behind that was to primarily show that this is a movie that is unlike other X-Men movies,” he said.

“It’s a movie where shocking things happen, where intense, dramatic things happen. People don’t just fall off buildings and dust themselves off and walk away. There’s a reality to this movie and a consequence to this movie. Even more than that, it was to show that Jean/Dark Phoenix is genuinely a threat to everyone, including the X-Men.”

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Kingberg added that Mystique’s death was a tough decision but was the “most dramatic thing for the movie, and sometimes you have to make those kinds of hard decisions to service the larger story”.

“Mystique is someone who in our universe has been part of the X-Men and has been part of Magneto’s world,” he added. “Her death impacts literally everybody.”

The director – who has produced every X-Men affiliated film since First Class and co-wrote The Last Stand, First Class, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse – added that fans can expect more casualties in the film.

A follow-up to X-Men: Apocalypse, the latest in the franchise has become the subject of intense speculation after its release date was pushed back, moving from 2 November 2018 to 14 February 2019 and then to the 7 June.

Though the classic 1980s Dark Phoenix storyline of the comics has already been adapted once before, in 2006’s largely maligned X-Men: The Last Stand, this new attempt promises to be more faithful to the original arc.

Set ten years after Apocalypse, in 1992, the X-Men are now national heroes. However, during a rescue mission in space, one of their team, Jean Grey (Turner), is nearly killed when she is hit by a mysterious cosmic force.

Upon returning home, the X-Men discover that not only does this force make Jean infinitely more powerful, it also makes her far more unstable. As she starts to spiral out of control, the very fabric that holds the X-Men together will be put to the test, as a mysterious shapeshifter (Jessica Chastain) starts to take an interest in Jean’s powers.

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Other actors to appear in the film include Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Alexandra Shipp, Evan Peters, and Tye Sheridan.