News: Snapchat Mutates X-Men Fans via Augmented Reality to Sell Tickets for 'Dark Phoenix' Movie

Snapchat Mutates X-Men Fans via Augmented Reality to Sell Tickets for 'Dark Phoenix' Movie

Augmented reality is often likened to granting superpowers to mere mortals, but what about mutant powers?

Based on the new Snapchat augmented reality experience promoting X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which debuts in theaters on June 7, the answer is a resounding "yup."

Images by Tommy Palladino/Next Reality

Appearing in the Snapchat Lens carousel on Tuesday, the augmented reality experience, triggered by users raising their hands, simulates the flaming aura and possessed eyes of the titular character, played by Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner, via the front camera.

In the rear camera view, tapping the screen fills the scene with mutant energy and summons a ghostly vision of the Dark Phoenix.

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine may or may not appear in 'X-Men: Dark Phoenix,' but he definitely makes a cameo in this capture of the Snapchat AR experience. Images by Tommy Palladino/Next Reality

Once they are done marveling at their new mutant powers (and perhaps sharing the results with others), Snapchat users can buy tickets for the movie online directly through the app, as facilitated by Snapchat's Shoppable AR platform.

Augmented reality has taken the movie industry by storm, but the technology is particularly well suited for the superhero genre. The Avengers, Spider-man, Black Panther, Iron Man, Venom, Deadpool, and The Incredibles are among the properties that have had their likenesses and superpowers brought to life by the technology.

Snapchat's Shoppable AR, recently leveraged for the superhero/horror crossover film Brightburn, draws the added benefit of translating fans' entertainment into an immediate call to action to fill the box office coffers of the movie studios sponsoring the experiences.

Dark Phoenix is presumably the final chapter for the Fox version of these characters, with the film rights being re-absorbed into the Marvel juggernaut via Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. Snapchat could help the movie go out in a blaze of box office glory until it rises from its ashes within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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Cover image via 20th Century Fox/YouTube

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