'X-Men: Dark Phoenix' release date, plot rumors: X-Men film could be held back in favor of 'Nutcracker'

Shown is a promotional photo for "X-Men: Apocalypse." Its sequel, "X-Men: Dark Phoenix," is set for a November 2018 release.  20th Century Fox

The movie probably will not be scrapped as opposed to early rumors, but the merger between Walt Disney Pictures and 20th Century Fox might cause a little delay in the release of "X-Men: Dark Phoenix."

This could give way to Disney's other upcoming 2018 film "The Nutcraker and the Four Realms" starring McKenzie Foy, Kiera Knightley, and Morgan Freeman.

As the films are now under the same roof, the Nov. 2 release date of both movies might pose a problem for Disney as the two will no doubt clash with each other and divide moviegoers which would greatly affect their respective box office numbers, and Disney definitely would not want that to happen.

Both "X-Men: Dark Phoenix" and "The Nutcraker and the Four Realms" are gunning for the top spot at the box office rankings but only one can take the spot, so the world can expect Disney to move either one of these movies to avoid being dealt a crushing blow. The company already shelled out a huge amount of money with the Fox purchase and they would not want to lose much more.

So far, there are no reports as to whether one of the two titles are targeted for reschedule.

Other rumors regarding the latest X-Men movie is the appearance of the Skrulls. The shapeshifting alien race has given the Marvel universe its fair share of troubles — most notably staging a secret invasion of Earth by kidnapping and replacing many of the planet's superheroes, causing dissention among their ranks while the aliens prepare a planetary assault.

There is still very little information on how Marvel plans to fit the Skrulls into Dark Phoenix, especially since both are huge storylines from the Comics and many fans are worried that a two-hour movie will not be enough to do justice for both, although comic book fans have long been wanting to see the green-skinned invaders on the big screen.

The rumors began since the casting of Jessica Chastain, with her character's description being "an alien with shapeshifting abilities."

"X-Men: Dark Phoenix" is the sequel to 2016's "X-Men: Apocalypse" starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Sophie Turner.