Marvel has created some of the greatest heroes in the history of superhero stories. One of the reasons that Marvel’s heroes have worked so well over the years is because the publisher’s creators have always been able to find the person behind the legend. Look at Spider-Man; while Spider-Man fans love to see the Wall-Crawler in action, a huge part of the appeal of Spider-Man is who he is as Peter Parker. Captain America is great in a fight, but we all understand who he is underneath it all, and that’s a huge part of why we love him. Look at all of the greatest Marvel characters; you’ll find characters who are easy to understand, and this has allowed readers to connect with in ways that they can’t with other characters. However, there are definitely some popular Marvel characters who are misunderstood and still loved, and there is no character more misunderstood than one of the most powerful X-Men.
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Even beyond the X-Men, Jean Grey is easily one of Marvel’s most powerful characters of all, and has been at the top of the X-Men pecking order for decades. However, Jean is also arguably more popular for what she can do and what she represents than who she actually is. Jean has been a problem for years now, and it’s all because of her most important story — the iconic tale known as “The Dark Phoenix Saga”.
“The Dark Phoenix Saga” and Its Retcons Have Damaged Jean Grey
Let’s be real for a second — most of Marvel’s Silver Age women were barely characters. They were usually there as love interests who had cool powers, and Jean Grey was another example of this. Much like Invisible Woman, Jean Grey was the most powerful member of her team, and her entire personality was defined by her relationship to her teammates. After the X-Men rose to prominence again, Jean was brought back to the team with the power of the Phoenix Force, and her powers became her defining feature again. Jean struggled to control her powers and keep her humanity, a fight she ultimately lost. Jean Grey killed billions as the Dark Phoenix, and Marvel made the right decision to kill her off because there was no way to redeem her after that.
However, Marvel could never keep a character as important as Jean Grey dead forever, and when she was resurrected, an interesting retcon was made in order to clear her of any wrongdoing — that Jean Grey wasn’t actually the person who became Dark Phoenix. Instead, the Phoenix Force created a simulacrum of Jean Grey to experience humanity, and that was the person who actually destroyed an entire solar system. This was a bit complicated, but it did the job. However, Marvel couldn’t leave well enough alone, and the Phoenix became the defining characteristic of Jean Grey. Creators established that the Phoenix Force was drawn to her, and that she was the perfect host for it.
The biggest problems came in recent years, when Marvel retconned the Phoenix retcon. I’ll be honest — I’m not exactly sure what’s going on with Jean Grey and the Dark Phoenix anymore, despite having read nearly every comic Jean has appeared in since her return to life. This is a huge problem. The Phoenix retcon might have been complicated, but it did everything it needed to do. However, Marvel couldn’t keep the Phoenix from Jean, and as time went on, creators wanted to link them more and more.
So, they’ve been retconning the whole thing ever since. Phoenix is Jean’s most recognizable form, and I feel like Marvel thinks that establishing that Jean was never the Phoenix was a huge mistake, and hurt their supposition that Jean was the perfect Phoenix host. However, continually retconning Jean’s relationship with the Phoenix has taken a character that makes sense and made her completely misunderstood. I’m sure there are some people out there who understand the relationship between Jean Grey and the Phoenix, but all of the changes over the years have made it way harder to understand than it needs to be.
Marvel Needs to Pick a Jean Grey Idea and Stick With It
In Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, Jean Grey fully manifested the Phoenix Force for the first time since “The Dark Phoenix Saga” (because of the old retcon, it was technically the first time that Jean became Phoenix). While everyone was scared that she would lose control, Jean was able to control the godlike power and went to the White Hot Room of the Phoenix Force after her death, where she chose to make Cyclops let go of his love of her. This was the perfect way to make sense of the whole thing, but Marvel couldn’t leave well enough alone. Creators ignored the retcons they didn’t like, and made everything even more confusing. The end of the Krakoa Era saw the return of the Phoenix to Jean Grey, and that’s when everything got muddy. Now, Jean was always the Phoenix, or some such, and the old retcons didn’t count anymore.
The fact that the whole situation is so confusing is a massive problem for the character. At this point, it’s pretty easy to misunderstand Jean Grey as a character. Was she the Dark Phoenix and what does that mean for her as a character? It’s impossible to say, because creators are constantly changing the history so they can fit Jean into whatever Phoenix-shaped hole they need for their story.
Who do you think is Marvel’s most misunderstood character? Sound off in the comments below.
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