With Jessica Chastain in talks to appear in the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix (coming out November 2, 2018) as none other than Lilandra, Majestrix of the alien Shi’ar Empire, excitement for the next chapter of the X-movies has grown. For the inclusion of Lilandra surely must mean that the X-Men are heading to space!
Now we’re talking more arcane character mining – although not for any dedicated X-fans who are well-acquainted with the Shi’ar and Lilandra’s relationship with Charles Xavier. But for those of you that aren’t up on the latest “Charlandra” gossip (hey, I just made that up!), let’s take a look at the comic book history of this impressive Empress…
Her full name is Lilandra Neramani, and as the Empress of an entire civilization, she naturally has the protection of a dedicated warrior army known as the Imperial Guard. They’re headed up by the Mohawk-sporting Gladiator or Kallark, who was named after the Philip Wylie book that partly inspired Siegel and Shuster in the creation of Superman (fun fact: there are lots of references to the Distinguished Competition’s Legion of Super-Heroes in the Imperial Guard).
Lilandra is not a superhero per se, but a powerful and influential alien being with abilities a little beyond those of a normal human or comparable humanoid. She does, however, share some of her erstwhile husband Charles Xavier’s (more on that soon) skills in telepathy, although not nearly to the same extent as Professor X himself. Lilandra is also not one to simply sit on a throne and let others take care of business for her – she’s capable of fighting for herself, and she also knows her way around a spaceship cockpit.
She first turned up in 1976, created by the team of Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum for X-Men #97. One of three sisters (Lilandra, X-Men villain Deathbird, and a third unknown sibling) from Chandilar, home Aerie of the bird-like Shi’ar, Lilandra was a Grand Admiral in the Imperial Guard when she decided to overthrow the evil D’Ken, one of your typical garden variety maniacs who ruled the Empire at the time. She turned to Earth for help and located an ally in Professor Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men and headmaster at the School for Gifted Youngsters in Westchester County, New York.
With the help of the outcast mutants and a band of ragtag space brigands known as the Starjammers (don’t they come up with the best group names?), Lilandra overthrew D’Ken – in fact, it was Phoenix herself who proved to be instrumental in the defeat of that overlord. Lilandra and Xavier were married, and she assumed her position as Empress Majestrix, eventually presiding over the proceedings that led to the death of Phoenix; she also played a part in putting Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four on trial for saving Galactus’ life. Clearly, she has had no small role in Marvel cosmic history.
Lilandra lost her throne to meddling sister Deathbird and her Badoon and Brood supporters, so for a time she operated in exile with the Starjammers. When war broke out between the grand Marvel Universe empires of the Shi’ar and the Kree, Lilandra temporarily deployed the nega-bomb and set up a new power structure after victory, with her sister Deathbird as viceroy with the Kree, and Deathbird’s daughter Deathcry (can they use a different modifier maybe?) as protector of Earth. The bodiless parasite called Cassandra Nova later controlled Xavier and Lilandra, and let’s just say that after some attempted murder, their marriage was annulled; it happens. Most recently, Lilandra was deposed again, rejoined the Starjammers, and was then killed (!) by a controlled Darkhawk (this controlling thing comes up a lot) while Gladiator cradled her and raged against the dying of the light… or Lilandra, anyway. Ultimately, the takeaway is that she has a convoluted backstory.
Lilandra has turned up in other media before, popping up in animated series and video games voiced by several different actresses. Obviously her inclusion in X-Men: Dark Phoenix would see to indicate that the X-film series is finally willing to go big and cosmic. Of course, it remains to be seen just how big and cosmic.Plus, considering that 20th Century Fox currently has the film rights to Fantastic Four as well as X-Men, who knows... maybe the trial of Reed Richards is something we could someday see on the big screen as well. Hey, you never know!
At any rate, Lilandra's presence in the new film might give James McAvoy a bit of romantic action before all is said and done!
Find Arnold T. Blumberg on Twitter at @DoctoroftheDead.
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