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She later appeared to Cyclops in a dream, even though her presence was undetected by Emma Frost who only could see Scott dreamming about flying. Jean appeared using her original standard blue and gold training uniform, asking for Cyclops to remember, as a group of supreme beings called Evolutionaries soon arrive on Utopia claiming that Cyclops had lied to them and in a few seconds caused the global extinction of the entire subspecies known as "The Neo". | |||
==Powers and abilities== | ==Powers and abilities== | ||
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| Jean Grey | |
|---|---|
| File:JeanGreyPhoenix.jpg Jean Grey as Phoenix. Interior artwork fromAstonishing X-Men vol. 2, 1 (Sept 1999) Art byBrandon Peterson. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | X-Men #1 (Sep 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jean Grey |
| Species | Human Mutant |
| Team affiliations | X-Men Phoenix Corps The Twelve X-Factor X-Terminators |
| Notable aliases | Marvel Girl, Red,Phoenix, Dark Phoenix, White Phoenix of the Crown, Redd Dayspring |
| Abilities | Telepathy Telekinesis Phoenix Force grants:
|
Jean Grey is afictionalcomic booksuperheroine appearing in books published byMarvel Comics. She has been known under the aliasesMarvel Girl,Phoenix andDark Phoenix, and is best known as one of five original members of theX-Men, for her relationship withCyclops, and for her central role and transformation in the classic X-Men storyline, "The Dark Phoenix Saga".
Jean Grey is amutant born withtelepathic andtelekinetic powers. Her powers first manifested when she saw her childhood friend being hit by a car. She is a caring, nurturing figure, but she also must deal with being anOmega-level mutant and the physical manifestation of the cosmicPhoenix Force. She faces death several times in the history of the series, first in the classic "Dark Phoenix Saga" but due to her connection with the Phoenix Force, she, as her namesake implies,rises from death.
Jean is an important figure in the lives of other Marvel universe characters, mostly the X-Men, including her husband Cyclops; her mentor and father-figureCharles Xavier; her close friend and sometimes romantic interestWolverine; her best friend and sister-like figureStorm; and genetic childrenRachel Summers,X-Man,Cable andStryfe.
The character is present for much of the X-Men's history, and she is featured in all threeX-Menanimated series and several video games.Famke Janssen portrayed Jean in theX-Men films. She is a playable character inX-Men Legends (2004),X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (2005),Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009) andMarvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), and appears as an enemy in the firstMarvel: Ultimate Alliance.In 2006,IGN rated Jean Grey #6 on their list of Top 25 X-Men from the past forty years.[1]
Created by writerStan Lee and artist/co-writerJack Kirby, Jean first appeared asMarvel Girl inX-Men #1 (September 1963). As the original team's sole female member, Marvel Girl was a regular part of the team through the series' publication. Initially possessing the ability of telekinesis, the character was later granted the power of telepathy,[2] which would be retconned years later as a suppressed mutant ability.[3] She begins a relationship with Scott Summers, which persists as her main romantic relationship throughout theX-Men franchise, though she would also harbor a secret attraction to fellow teammateWolverine.[4]
Under the collaborative writing and artwork ofChris Claremont andJohn Byrne (respectively) in the 1980s, Marvel Girl would undergo a significant transformation from the X-Men's weakest member[5] to one of its most powerful in theUncanny X-Men extended storyline "The Phoenix Saga". In an attempt to save her fellow X-Men by piloting their damaged shuttle back to earth, Jean is exposed to fatal levels of radiation. Dying, but determined to save Scott and her friends, Jean's love pushes her to reach her full potential as a psychic, becoming a being of pure thought.[6] The ship lands in the Jamaica bay, with the other X-Men unharmed. She then reforms her body and reemerges in a new green and gold costume and adopts the new codenamePhoenix, now having gained immense powers.[6] This new identity and her immense abilities became the focus of another extended storyline, "The Dark Phoenix Saga", in which Jean becomes overwhelmed and corrupted by her god-like powers and transforms into a force of total destruction, now called "Dark Phoenix", consuming a star, inadvertently killing the inhabitants of the star's solar system, and jeopardizing the entire universe. The storyline ends in Jean Grey's suicide, in a moment of regained control, to ensure the universe's safety.[7] "The Dark Phoenix Saga" (including the earlier "Phoenix Saga") would become one of the most well-known and heavily referenced stories in mainstream American superhero comics, widely considered a classic.[8]
When the firsttrade paperback of "The Dark Phoenix Saga" was published in 1984, Marvel also published a 48-page special issue titled "Phoenix: The Untold Story." A reprinting ofUncanny X-Men #137 was published, with new artwork and dialogue with the originally intended ending by Claremont and Byrne. Along with the alternate ending were transcripts of the roundtable discussion between Shooter, Claremont, Byrne, editorsJim Salicrup andLouise Jones, and inkerTerry Austin about the creation of the new Phoenix persona, the development of the story and what lead to its eventual change, and also Claremont and Byrne's plans for Jean Grey had she survived.[8]
Claremont revealed that his and Byrne's motivation for Jean Grey's transformation into Phoenix was to create "the first cosmic superheroine" akin toThor.[9] The two hoped that like Thor had been integrated intoThe Avengers lineup, Phoenix would also become an effective and immensely powerful member of the X-Men.[9] However, both Salicrup and Byrne had strong feelings against how powerful Phoenix had become, feeling that she drew too much focus in the book.[9] Byrne worked with Claremont to effectively remove Phoenix from the storyline, initially by removing her powers. However, Byrne's decision to have Dark Phoenix destroy an inhabited solar system inUncanny X-Men #135, coupled with the planned ending to the story arc, worried then-Editor-in-ChiefJim Shooter, who felt that allowing Jean to live at the conclusion of the story was both morally unacceptable (given that she was now a "mass murderer")[8] and also an unsatisfying ending from a storytelling point of view.[8] Shooter publicly laid out his reasoning in the 1984 roundtable:
I personally think, and I've said this many times, that having a character destroy an inhabited world with billions of people wipe out a starship and then—well, you know, having the powers removed and being let go on Earth. It seems to me that that's the same as capturingHitler alive and letting him go live on Long Island. Now, I don't think the story wouldend there. I think a lot of people would come to his door with machine guns... .[9]
InThe Dark Phoenix Tapes, Claremont suggested that one of the creative team's questions that affected the story's conclusion was whether the Phoenix's personality and later descent into madness and evil were inherent to Jean Grey or if the Phoenix was itself an entity merely possessing her.[9] The unclear relationship between Jean Grey and the Phoenix would continue to be a topic subject to different interpretations and explanations by various future writers and editors at Marvel Comics following the story'sretcon in 1986. At the time of the Dark Phoenix's creation, Byrne felt that, "If someone could be seen to corrupt Jean, rather than her just turning bad, this could make for an interesting story."[10] Though Phoenix was written as being one and the same with Jean Grey, Byrne stated later in the "The Dark Phoenix Tapes" that he viewed Phoenix as an entity that entirely possessed Jean Grey, therefore absolving her of its crimes once it was driven out.[9] Conversely, Shooter viewed Phoenix as an inherent and inseparable aspect of Jean Grey, meaning that the character was fully responsible for her actions as Phoenix.[9] As a result, Shooter requested that Claremont and Byrne rewrite the last chapter of issue #137, to explicitly place in the story both a consequence and an ending commensurate with the enormity of Phoenix's actions.[9]
The original ending was published in the one-shotPhoenix: The Untold Story in April, 1984. In the original ending, Jean is overpowered, captured, and subjected to a "psychic lobotomy," permanently leaving Jean without any of her telepathic or telekinetic powers. The concept that Byrne and Claremont had in mind was that her powers ended up being permanently suppressed, but with the threat always in the shadows of Phoenix returning. In the end, Jean is allowed to return to Earth with the rest of the X-Men, "cured" of the power and madness of Dark Phoenix.[9] Later plans stated by Claremont and Byrne also involved Magneto offering Jean the chance to restore her abilities, but with Jean proving herself in a heroic moment by choosing to remain depowered and eliminate the threat of Dark Phoenix returning to power.[9] The one-shot also reveals the original splash page drawn forUncanny X-Men #138, which shows Jean and Scott in a happier time, contrasted with the splash page actually published in issue #138 that shows Jean's funeral.[9]
After several years, Marvel decided to revive the character, but only after an editorial decree that the character be absolved of her actions during "The Dark Phoenix Saga".[11] She reappears six years after "The Dark Phoenix Saga" inAvengers #263 (January, 1986) and is revived inFantastic Four #286 (January, 1986), with the events of "The Dark Phoenix Saga" being retconned. The events explain that instead of becoming a being of pure psionic energy, while near-death inUncanny X-Men #100, Jean makes contact with a cosmic entity called the "Phoenix Force".[12] The Phoenix Force offers to save Jean's life and that of other X-Men and takes on Jean's form.[12] Jean Grey imbues the copy with her essence, causing the Phoenix Force to believe that it truly is Jean Grey.[12] The Phoenix Force, now in the form of Jean Grey and calling itself "Phoenix", places the dying Jean Grey's body in a healing cocoon, which is lost during the events ofUncanny X-Men 101.[12] The duplicate continues on in the events fromUncanny X-Men #101, all the while believing itself to actually be Jean Grey up to its "death" at the conclusion of "The Dark Phoenix Saga".[12] Future issues would further explore the details of the interaction and connection between Jean and the Phoenix Force.[13][14] The real Jean Grey awakens from the cocoon when her injuries are healed (though with lost access to her telepathy) and with no recollection or involvement in the events that occurred after meeting the Phoenix Force.[12]
WriterKurt Busiek is credited as coming up with the plot to revive Jean Grey.[11] At the time, Jim Shooter ruled that the character could not be revived unless she was absolved of her genocidal actions.[11] Busiek, a fan of the original five X-Men, was displeased with the character's death and formulated various storylines that would have met Shooter's rule and allowed the character to return to the X-Men franchise.[11] He eventually shared his storyline idea with fellow writerRoger Stern who mentioned it to Byrne, who was both writing and illustrating theFantastic Four at the time.[11] Both series writerBob Layton and artistJackson Guice, who were developing the seriesX-Factor—a team of former X-Men—had yet to settle on their fifth team member, initially consideringDazzler.[15] Layton opted to fill the open spot with Jean instead, and both he and Byrne submitted the idea to Shooter, who approved it.[11] Jean Grey's revival became a crossover plotline between theAvengers under Stern,Fantastic Four under Byrne, andX-Factor under Layton.[11] Busiek later found out that his idea had been used thanks to Layton, and was credited inFantastic Four #286 and was paid for his contributions.[11] The decision to revive Jean Grey was controversial among fans, with some appreciating the return of the character and others feeling it weakened the impact of the "Dark Phoenix Saga"'s ending.[11] Busiek maintains that the idea that lead to Jean Grey's official return to Marvel Comics was merely a case of sharing his ideas with friends as a fan, and that he cannot be blamed by those who disliked her return because he neither formally pitched the idea to anyone nor gave it the final go ahead.[11]
In the comics, having been fully established as separate from the "Jean Grey" copy created and taken over by the Phoenix Force, Jean is "absolved" of involvement in the atrocities of "The Dark Phoenix" storyline, and she returns in the first issue ofX-Factor (1st Series) only to find that the other members of the original X-Men have retired.[16] Jean convinces the retired X-Men to found a new team,X-Factor, to respond to growing anti-mutant sentiment and reuses the "Marvel Girl" codename.[16] The series also reunited Jean with Cyclops, who abandons his wife,Madelyne Pryor—a woman who looks uncannily like Jean—and their infant son,Nathan Christopher, to run the X-Factor team.[16] Upon discovering that her former lover had established a family during her absence, Jean encourages Cyclops to return to his wife and child.[17][18] However, finding their home abandoned, he believes Madelyne has left him and taken Nathan with her, prompting Scott to return to X-Factor and continue his relationship with Jean.[18]
The team's adventures continue throughout the series, culminating in the line-wideInferno crossover. Madelyne resurfaces, now nearly insane and with powers awakened by a demonic pact, calling herself the Goblyn Queen.[19] During the crossover, the X-Men discover that Madelyne was a clone of Jean created byMister Sinister and brought to life by the Phoenix Force after the events of "The Dark Phoenix Saga". Sinister created her with the purpose of having a child with Scott Summers, as their genetic pool carried the potential to produce powerful mutant offspring. This drives her completely insane and she plans to sacrifice her son to achieve greater power and forge her own destiny.[20]Inferno reunites Jean with the X-Men, who are happy to learn that she is alive, particularly Wolverine, reminding Jean of her unaddressed feelings for him. At the conclusion ofInferno, Jean and Madelyne confront each other, with Madelyne attempting to mind meld with Jean and kill them both. Jean manages to survive only by absorbing the remnant of the Phoenix Force housed within Madelyne, giving her both Madelyne's memories and the Phoenix's memories from "The Dark Phoenix Saga".[21]
Claremont later commented on how Jean's revival affected his original plans for Madelyne Pryor, stating that the relationship between the two women was intended to be entirely coincidental.[22] He intended Madelyne only to look like Jean by complete coincidence and exist as a means for Cyclops to move on with his life and be written out of theX-Men franchise, part of what he believed to be a natural progression for any member of the team.[22] Claremont expressed dismay that Jean's resurrection ultimately resulted in Cyclops abandoning his wife and child, tarnishing his written persona as a hero and "decent human being", and the "untenable situation" with Madelyne being dealt with by transforming her into aprolicidal demonic villain and killing her off.[22]
Soon after the beginning publication ofX-Factor, Marvel also reprinted and released the originalX-Men series under the title "Classic X-Men". These reissues paired the original stories with new vignettes, elaborating on plot points. One such issue,Classic X-Men #8 (April 1987), paired the originalX-Men #100 (August 1976) story of Jean Grey's disastrous return flight from space immediately preceding her transformation into Phoenix ("Love Hath No X-Man...") with the new story "Phoenix". The story further supported the retcon establishing Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force as two separate entities. The vignette elaborated on the events betweenX-Men #100 andX-Men #101: facing certain death from radiation poisoning, Jean Grey cries out for help to save the lives of her fellow X-Men. Hearing her cry and sensing her intense passion for life and love for Scott and her friends, the Phoenix Force—the "sum and substance of life"—responds, offering to save her by bonding to her, coupling her humanity with its incredible power. Jean accepts and immediately finds her consciousness in a duplicated body. She places her former dying body, still containing a spark of her soul, in a healing cocoon. The duplicate, now calling itself Phoenix, proceeds to the events depicted in the originalX-Men #101 (October 1976) story "Like A Phoenix, From The Ashes!" with the cocoon sinking to the bottom of the Jamaica Bay to be discovered in '"Avengers #263.[13]
Following the conclusion ofInferno, Jean continues to be a mainstay character throughout the rest ofX-Factor, rejecting a marriage proposal from Scott and meeting her alternate future daughterRachel Summers, whom she also rejects out of the feeling that they both suggest her life is predetermined.[23][24] She also regains her telepathy during a battle with the villainPsynapse.[25]
X-Factor (1st Series) ended its run featuring the original X-Men withX-Factor #70 (September, 1991), with the characters transitioning over toUncanny X-Men, explained in continuity as the two teams deciding to merge together. The fourteen X-Men divide into two teams—"Blue" and "Gold"—led by Cyclops andStorm, respectively. Jean is added to the Gold Team beginning inUncanny X-Men #281 (October, 1991).[26] During this time, she is no longer given a codename, instead referred to by her full name,Jean Grey. InUncanny X-Men #308 (January 1994), Jean proposes to Scott and the two marry inX-Men #30 (March, 1994).[27] Jean and Scott were immediately featured in the four-part miniseriesThe Adventures of Cyclops & Phoenix, where the two were psychically transported 2000 years into the future to raise Scott's son Nathan, who had been transported to the future as an infant in hopes of curing him of a deadly virus. The series depicted the couple assuming the names Redd (Jean) and Slym (Cyclops) and raising Nathan Christopher for twelve years before being sent back into their bodies on their wedding honeymoon. Before their return, Jean learns that Rachel had transported them to the future to protect Nathan, and per her request adopts the codename "Phoenix" once again to establish it as a symbol of good after all the bad it had caused.[28]
Jean continued to appear as a mainstay character in bothX-Men andUncanny X-Men including franchise-wide crossovers like "The Phalanx Covenant" and the line-wide crossoverOnslaught, which featured the manifestation of Charles Xavier's dark half. The crossover revisited long untouched issues between Xavier and Jean, including Xavier's secret love for Jean mentioned in the originalX-Men comic series decades earlier.[29][30] Jean also meets another alternate future child of hers and Scott: the immensely powerfulNathan Grey, who accidentally revives the psionic ghost of Madelyne Pryor, leading to another confrontation between the two women.[31] While appearing inUncanny X-Men andX-Men, Jean grows more comfortable with her immense psychic powers and begins using the iconic green and gold Phoenix costume again.[32] She also brings together a quick team of X-Men in the three-issue revival of theAstonishing X-Men title.[33]
Following Cyclops' possession by the mutant villainApocalypse and disappearance in the conclusion of the crossover storyline "Apocalypse: The Twelve,"[34][35] Jean loses her telekinetic abilities and is left with increased psychic powers, the result of the "six month gap" in plot across theX-Men franchise created by theRevolution revamp. During theRevolution event, allX-Men titles began six months after the events ofApocalypse: the Twelve, allowing writers to create fresh situations and stories and gradually fill in the missing events of the previous six months of continuity. Due to editing decisions following the success of the 2000X-Men, which depicted the character of Jean Grey with both telepathy and telekinesis, an explanation for Jean's altered powers in the comics was never explicitly made, though writer Chris Claremont revealed in interviews that it was intended to be an accidental power switch between fellow X-ManPsylocke, explaining Psylocke's new telekinetic powers as well.
Jean was next featured in the six-issue miniseriesX-Men Forever written byFabian Nicieza, which was designed to tie up remaining plot lines. During the series, Jean revisited many of the events involving the Phoenix Force and the series introduced the concept of "Omega level mutants", a category for mutants with unlimited potential, which includes Jean herself.[36] Cable and Jean were the central characters in the 2001 miniseriesX-Men: Search for Cyclops where the two believe Cyclops to be alive. The two track Cyclops down and Jean is able to psychically free him from Apocalypse's possession. The couple then return as mainstay characters inX-Men (2nd Series) once again.[37]
In June 2001,X-Men was retitled asNew X-Men under writerGrant Morrison. The title consisted of a smaller team featuring Jean, Cyclops, Beast, Wolverine,Emma Frost, and Charles Xavier. The overarching plot focused on the team assuming the roles of teachers to a new generation of mutants at the Xavier Institute while navigating their personal relationships and dealing with newly emerging pro- and anti-mutant political sentiments.[38] The series sees the return of Jean's telekinesis, her emerging ability to tap into the powers of the Phoenix Force once again, her assumption of the duties as headmistress of the Xavier Institute, and the failing of her marriage to Scott following his traumatic experience being possessed by Apocalypse.[38] Jean and Wolverine address their long-unspoken mutual attraction, deciding it is best not to act on their feelings, while Scott begins feeling further alienated from Jean and seeks consolation from Emma Frost to address his disillusionment and his experiences while possessed by Apocalypse.[38] These interactions lead to a "psychic affair" between Scott and Emma. Jean's discovery of the psychic affair results in a confrontation between her and Emma, though ultimately Jean realizes that her marriage to Scott has run its course.[38] Jean also makes minor appearances in other titles during theNew X-Men run, such as Chris Claremont'sX-Treme X-Men, occasionally lending support to the characters.[39]
New X-Men concluded with Jean fully realizing and assuming the powers of the Phoenix under her complete control. However, in the final chapters ofNew X-Men, she is killed in battle by Magneto,[38] though Marvel later retconned her killer's identity to that of animposter.[40] The series also explored a dystopian future caused when Scott chooses not to run the Institute with Emma following Jean's death. This alternate future timeline, called "Here Comes Tomorrow", was the closing chapter of Grant Morrisson's run onNew X-Men.[38] The story is eventually resolved by a resurrected Jean becoming the fully realizedWhite Phoenix of the Crown and using the abilities of the Phoenix Force to reach back in time and influence Scott to accept Emma's offer to run the school together.[38] Scott and Jean's relationship ends with her death and he and Emma assume the duties of co-headmaster and co-headmistress of the Xavier Institute under writerChuck Austen's take over ofNew X-Men and its change over toX-Men under the editorialX-Men ReLoad decision.
Jean and her connection with the Phoenix Force was examined again one year after the conclusion of Morrison's run onNew X-Men inX-Men: Phoenix – Endsong written byGreg Pak in 2005.[41] In it, a fragmented Phoenix Force attempts to resurrect Jean, resulting in a struggle between herself and the X-Men as she attempts to control the "Dark Phoenix" persona. The miniseries concluded with Jean resolving her relationship with Scott and moving on to a higher plane of existence with the Phoenix Force.[41] The Phoenix Force as its own entity continued to be explored in other later titles, such asX-Men: Phoenix – Warsong (2006) andMatt Fraction's run onUncanny X-Men, with brief references to Jean.[42] At the 2010San Diego Comic-Con X-Men panel, when asked whether or not Jean would return, editor Nick Lowe responded by saying, "She's dead."[43]
Regarding Jean's actual return to theX-Men franchise, Marvel indicated that Jean's eventual return is being discussed, but also stated that the return of Jean Grey was "a story Marvel does not want to rush."[44] Marvel also loosely tied questions regarding Jean Grey's eventual return to the events in 2007'sX-Men: Messiah Complex in which a mutant girl namedHope—who has red hair, green eyes, and immense mutant powers—is born[45] and 2010'sX-Men: Second Coming which sees both Hope's return as an adult and the return of the Phoenix Force.[46][47]
Jean's mutant powers of telepathy and telekinesis first manifest when her best friend is hit by a car and killed. Jean mentally links with her friend and nearly dies as well.[3] The event leaves her comatose, and she is brought back to consciousness when her parents seek the help of powerful mutant telepath, Charles Xavier.[27] Xavier blocks her telepathy until she is old enough to be able to control it, leaving her with access only to her telekinetic powers.[3] Xavier later recruits her as a teenager to be part of his X-Men team asMarvel Girl, the team's sole female member.[48] After several missions with the X-Men, Xavier removes Jean's mental blocks and she is able to use and control her telepathic powers.[3] She begins a relationship with fellow teammate Cyclops (Scott Summers), which persists as her main romantic relationship, though she also develops a mutual secret attraction to later addition to the team,Wolverine.[4]
During an emergency mission in space, the X-Men find their shuttle damaged. Jean pilots the shuttle back to Earth, but is exposed to fatal levels of radiation.[9] Dying, but determined to save Cyclops and her friends, Jean calls out for help and is answered by the cosmic entity, the Phoenix Force.[12] The Phoenix Force, the sum of all life in the universe,[14] is moved by Jean's dedication and love and takes the form of a duplicate body to house Jean's psyche.[12] In that instant, the Phoenix Force is overwhelmed and believes itself to be Jean Grey and places Jean's dying body in a healing cocoon.[13] The ship crashes in the Jamaica bay, with the other X-Men unharmed.[49] The Phoenix Force, as Jean Grey, emerges in a new green and gold costume and adopts the new codenamePhoenix, with immense cosmic powers.[6] Meanwhile, the cocoon containing the real Jean Grey sinks to the bottom of the bay, unnoticed. Phoenix continues her life as Jean Grey with the other X-Men, joining them on missions and saving the universe. During the "The Dark Phoenix Saga", Phoenix becomes overwhelmed and corrupted by her first taste of evil and transforms into a force of total destruction, called "Dark Phoenix", consuming a star, inadvertently killing the inhabitants of the star's solar system, and jeopardizing the entire universe.[7] However, Jean's personality manages to take control and Phoenix commits suicide to ensure the universe's safety.[7][12]
Upon its suicide by way of a disintegration ray, the Phoenix Force disperses into its original form and a fragment locates the still-healing Jean at the bottom of the Jamaica bay.[20] In trying to bond with her, Jean senses its memories of death and destruction as Dark Phoenix and rejects it, causing it to bond with and animate a lifeless clone of Jean Grey created by the villain Mister Sinister.[20] Sinister created the clone to mate with Cylcops to create genetically superior mutants. Named "Madelyne Pryor", the unaware clone meets Cyclops in a situation engineered by Sinister and the two fall in love, marry, and have a child, Nathan Christopher Summers. Meanwhile, the cocoon is discovered and retrieved by the Avengers and the Fantastic Four.[12] Jean emerges with no memory of the actions of the Phoenix/Dark Phoenix.[12] The Avengers and Fantastic Four tell her of what happened and that she was believed dead until now.[12] She is reunited with the original X-Men, and convinces them to form the new superhero team X-Factor.[16] Jean learns that Cyclops has romantically moved on with Madelyn, who is angered over his decision to lead X-Factor and neglect his family.[16] Though Jean encourages Cyclops to return to Madelyne, he finds their house abandoned and assumes that Madelyne has left him and taken their infant son;[17] Cyclops returns to X-Factor and he and Jean continue their relationship.[18]
Madelyne eventually resurfaces with powers awakened by a demonic pact, calling herself the "Goblyn Queen".[19] Learning of her true identity and purpose as a clone drove her completely insane and she plans to sacrifice Nathan Christopher to achieve greater power and unleash Hell on Earth.[20] While attempting to stop her, Jean is reunited with the other X-Men, who are happy to learn that she is alive, particularly Wolverine, reminding Jean of her unaddressed feelings for him. Jean and Madelyne confront each other, and Madelyne attempts to kill them both. Jean manages to survive only by absorbing the remnant of the Phoenix Force housed within Madelyne, giving her both Madelyne's memories and the Phoenix's memories from "The Dark Phoenix Saga".[21]
While continuing on X-Factor, Cyclops proposes to Jean and she meets her alternate future daughter Rachel Summers (who goes by the codename “Phoenix” as well and is also able to tap into the Phoenix Force), but she rejects them both out of the feeling that they indicate that her life is predetermined.[23][24] When X-Factor unites with the X-Men, Jean joins the Gold Team, lead by her best friend Storm.[26] During this time, she no longer uses a codename, instead being referred to by her civilian name. After some time, she makes up with Rachel, welcoming her into her life, and proposes to Cyclops and the two marry.[27][50] On their honeymoon, the couple is immediately psychically transported 2000 years into the future to raise Cyclops's son Nathan, who had been transported to the future as an infant in hopes of curing him of a deadly virus. Jean adopts the identity of "Redd" along with Cyclops (“Slym”) and they raise Nathan Christopher for twelve years before they are sent back into their bodies on their wedding honeymoon. Jean learns that a time-displaced Rachel had used her powers to transport them to the future to protect Nathan, and per Rachel’s request, Jean adopts the codename "Phoenix" once again to establish it as a symbol of good after all the bad it had caused.[28] Meanwhile, her psychic and telekinetic abilities begin to grow and she begins using the iconic green and gold Phoenix costume again.[32]
Following Cyclops's possession by the mutant villainApocalypse and apparent death,[34][35] Jean continues with the X-Men, but is distraught by the loss of her husband. She later learns that she is an "Omega-level" mutant, a term used to describe mutants with unlimited potential.[36] Jean begins to suspect that Cyclops may still be alive and with the help ofNathan Christopher (now the aged superhero “Cable”), is able to locate and free Cyclops of his possession by Apocalypse.[37] The couple return to the X-Men as part of the Xavier Institute's teaching staff to a new generation of mutants.[38] While Jean finds she is slowly able to tap into the powers of the Phoenix Force once again, her marriage to Scott begins to fail.[38] Jean and Wolverine address their long-unspoken mutual attraction, deciding it is best not to act on their feelings; Cyclops grows further alienated from Jean due to her growing powers and institute responsibilities and seeks consolation from the telepathicEmma Frost to address his disillusionment and his experiences while possessed by Apocalypse.[38] These therapy sessions lead to a "psychic affair" between Scott and Emma. Jean's discovery of the psychic affair results in a confrontation between her and Emma, though ultimately Jean realizes that her marriage to Scott has run its course and that Emma truly loves him.[38]
In a final confrontation with a traitor at the institute (the X-Men's teammateXorn, posing as Magneto) Jean fully realizes and assumes complete control of the powers of the Phoenix Force, but is killed in a last-ditch lethal attack by Xorn.[38] Jean dies telling Scott "to live." However, after her funeral, Scott rejects Emma and her offer to run the school together. This creates adystopian future where all life and natural evolution is under assault by the infectious, villainous, sentient bacteria “Sublime”. Jean is resurrected in this future timeline and becomes the fully realizedWhite Phoenix of the Crown, using the abilities of the Phoenix Force to defeat Sublime and eliminate the dystopic future by reaching back in time and influencing Cyclops to accept Emma's love and her offer to run the school together.[51] Jean then reconciles with Cyclops and fully bonds with the Phoenix Force and ascends to a higher plane of existence called the "White Hot Room".[41] Though she has yet to fully return, the Phoenix Force continues to manifest itself, particularly through the red-haired, green-eyed "mutant messiah"Hope Summers,[52] and Jean briefly appears in a vision to Emma Frost from the White Hot Room, telling the X-Men to "prepare."[53]
She later appeared to Cyclops in a dream, even though her presence was undetected by Emma Frost who only could see Scott dreamming about flying. Jean appeared using her original standard blue and gold training uniform, asking for Cyclops to remember, as a group of supreme beings called Evolutionaries soon arrive on Utopia claiming that Cyclops had lied to them and in a few seconds caused the global extinction of the entire subspecies known as "The Neo".
Jean Grey is anOmega-level mutant, and is one of the physical hosts of thePhoenix Force.
When her powers first manifest, Jean is unable to cope with hertelepathy, forcingProfessor X to suppress her access to it altogether. Instead, he chooses to train her in the use of hertelekinesis while allowing her telepathy to grow at its natural rate before reintroducing it.[54] This is why in Jean's debut appearance as Marvel Girl, she is only capable of using her telekinetic powers.[citation needed] When the Professor hides to prepare for theZ'Nox, he reopens Jean's telepathic powers, which was initially explained as Xavier 'sharing' some of his telepathy with her.[55]
Jean's telepathy allows her to read, influence, control, and communicate with the minds of others, project her mind into theastral plane, and generate telepathic force blasts that can stun or kill others. Jean is one of the few telepaths skilled enough to communicate with animals (animals with high intelligence, such asdolphins,[56]dogs,[57] andravens[58]). She can also telepathically take away or control people's natural bodily functions and senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or even mutant powers. A side effect of her telepathy is that she is gifted with aneidetic memory.[59] Jean was able, through telepathic therapy with the comatose Jessica Jones, to grant Jessica immunity to the Purple Man's mind control abilities, despite his powers being chemical in nature rather than psychic.[volume & issue needed] When Jean absorbsPsylocke's specialized telepathic powers, her own telepathy is increased to the point that she can physically manifest her telepathy as a psionicfirebird whose claws can inflict both physical and mental damage. Phoenix discovers that she can telepathically enhance the powers of other mutants.[volume & issue needed] She briefly develops a psychic shadow form like Psylocke's, with a gold Phoenix emblem over her eye instead of theCrimson Dawn mark possessed by Psylocke, Jean briefly lost her telekinesis to Psylocke during this exchange, but her telekinetic abilities later came back in full at a far stronger level than before.
Her telekinetic strength and skill are both of an extremely high level, capable of grasping objects in Earth orbit and manipulating hundreds of components in mid-air in complex patterns. She uses her telekinesis to often lift herself and others giving her the ability of levitation and flight. She also uses her telekinesis to create durable shields and energy blasts. She later manifests a "telekinetic sensitivity" (called "the Manifestation of the Phoenix"[38]) to objects in her immediate environment that lets her feel the texture of objects, their molecular patterns, feel when other objects come into contact with them, and probe them at a molecular level.
When possessed by or bonded with thePhoenix Force, Jean's powers escalate to an incalculable level, allowing her to rearrange matter at a subatomic level, fly unaided through space, survive in any atmosphere, manipulate electromagnetic and cosmic energies for various effects and atmospheric disturbances. At this level, she is powerful enough to easily defeat a herald of Galactus.[60] She can also createstargates that can transport her to anywhere in the universe instantaneously.
As the Phoenix, Jean can resurrect herself after death and is unaffected by the passage of time. Though initially perceived as "borrowing" the powers of the Phoenix Force, due to her original status as a host for the Force, they are entirely her own;Death itself has said that Jean is the rightful owner of those powers.[14] She later becomes one with the Phoenix Force (as opposed to serving as its host) due to her status as an Omega-level mutant with unlimited potential, in which it was revealed that Jean holds the unique role of "White Phoenix of the Crown" among the many past, present, and future hosts of the Phoenix.[51] As the White Phoenix, Jean can manipulate and control whole timelines, as seen when she brought the alternate future ofHere Comes Tomorrow into the White-Hot Room.[51] The Phoenix Force allows Jean to revive, absorb, rechannel, and preserve the life-force of any kind of life-form, meaning that she can take life energy from one person and give it to others, heal herself with the same life energy, or even resurrect the dead, since the Phoenix is the sum of all life and death.[14]
Jean Grey is also a college graduate from Metro College with a select education inpsychology.[volume & issue needed] Years later she finished her masters in Columbia University during her membership with the original X-Factor.[volume & issue needed]
As a fictional character in theMarvel Universe, Jean Grey appears in various alternate plot lines and fictional universes.
Jean Grey also appears in various media, such as animated programs, video games, films, and is sometimes referenced in pop culture.
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