5 Ways Marvel Has Totally Changed the X-Men’s Jean Grey For the MCU

Sadie Sink’s character in Spider-Man: Brand New Day is none other than the X-Men’s very own Jean Grey, marking the third time the redhead has graced the big screen. The famous mutant telepath goes from an antagonistic force to a victim of circumstances in the film, then becomes an ally of Peter Parker by the end. Longtime Marvel fans are more than familiar with the character, so when Kevin Feige and the crew behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day were bringing Jean Grey to the big screen, they had to make some radical changes to her character to fit the universe the MCU has set up.

While her powers, appearance, and personality are roughly the same as her comic counterpart, there are a few elements that fans of the character can point out after a careful viewing. And with these changes to the elements, Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey becomes wholly unique yet fitting in the MCU, inviting a new appreciation for the films’ adaptation process.

5) Jean Grey’s Origin Is Far More Gruesome in the Comics

In the MCU, Jean Grey’s origin is kept to a minimum. It focuses only on the aspects necessary for her journey in the film. But from what fans can gather, Jean Grey lived a relatively normal life before developing her psychic powers. After developing her powers, she and her sister Sara are kicked out by their mother, Elaine Grey, forcing them to fend for themselves. Sometime after that, Damage Control gets involved, taking Sara away and instigating the plot of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

In the comics world of Earth-616, Jean Grey actually has a much more traumatic past. Living with her mother Elaine Grey and father Professor John Grey, Jean has a normal life before witnessing the tragic accident that took her best friend Annie Richardson’s death. The shock of the incident triggers Jean’s mutant powers, creating a psychic link to the dying Annie and making Jean experience the sensation of dying in real time. This incident sends Jean into a deep depression and isolation, until she meets Professor Xavier. It’s unlikely the MCU will take this strict an adaptation of Jean’s backstory, considering she’s seemingly already gone through a decent amount of sadness before being introduced to audiences. This adaptation decision simplifies Jean’s backstory in a way that’s more quickly digestible to fans, but leaves the trauma intact.

4) Jean’s Sister Wasn’t Telepathic

Sara Grey is the elder sister of Jean Grey, introduced in X-Men #136 by Chris Claremont. Unlike her sister, Sara has no mutant powers or secret identity. Instead, she serves as a piece of worldbuilding for Jean that was eventually kidnapped by the warlord Attuma and killed by Cameron Hodge. When creating the character, there was a plan for her to be a part of the original X-Factor and a mutant with the ability to activate the latent power of other mutants, but that never panned out.

In the MCU, Sara, played by Olivia Booth-Ford, is given a far greater role. Acting as Jean’s older sister and protector, she, too, has the same telepathic powers as Jean. She teaches Jean how to use her powers to hop into and control people’s minds. She’s the main motivation of Jean’s arc in this film, as after she’s captured by Damage Control and tortured to death, she accidentally sends a final message to Jean that motivates her to hunt down Damage Control. The likely change for this was to give Jean a much more personal connection to the film and connect her with Peter, who had recently lost his only remaining family member as well.

3) Jean Grey Starts Out Morally Gray

Don’t get it twisted, Jean isn’t a paragon of good. In the comics, she has a dark side driven by her strong sense of justice. She embodies what it means to love something so much that it hurts. She’s kind, temperamental, and passionate. But when she’s first introduced in X-Men #1, which recently broke a huge auction record, Jean is far more peaceful. She’s got spunk, like when she throws Beast away after he attempts to kiss her, but overall, as Marvel Girl, she’s tame.

The MCU’s introduction to Jean Grey is far different. In the film, she toys with Spider-Man and repeatedly puts people in harm’s way, even causing a man to be hit by a car. It’s revealed that she’s doing it all for her sister, so it’s understandable. Damage Control is the main villain of the film at the end of the day, but, interestingly, the MCU chose to introduce Jean in this fashion, and it may be a sign of how they introduce other famous X-Men characters in the future. This adaptation decision also lends support to the idea that Jean may have to redeem herself in future appearances to make up for the New York incident, or that there will already be some bad blood between mutants and the average citizen due to Jean and Damage Control’s decisions.

2) Jean has No Connection With the X-Men

The X-Men are a pivotal faction in the mutant world. Started by Charles Xavier to help promote peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants, the team is filled with iconic characters like Cyclops, Beast, and Wolverine. Jean Grey was part of the initial team, commonly known as the “First Class,” and is one of the mutants the world of Marvel first became accustomed to. The MCU, however, is just beginning to lean into the mutant phase of its narrative, which is currently taking a back seat to the Avengers and their battle against Doom and the multiverse – meaning it lacks an X-Men team for Jean to be part of and iconic mutant characters to meet. Instead of interacting with her teammates, Jean spends more time interacting with Spider-Man, the Punisher, and the Hulk.

This adaptation change initially worried mutant fans, but after the film was released, it’s clear why Marvel made it. They are focusing on a slow introduction to the prevalent mutants. Letting audiences get accustomed to their introduction to the world before focusing on their team’s assembly. Charles Xavier may create the team after Avengers: Secret Wars, in response to characters like Jean having no place to go, but that remains to be seen and is a stark contrast to the comics, where Jean and Xavier knew each other previously. Either way, the MCU has left the X-Men open for future storytelling, and some fans are excited to see where they go with it.

1) Jean Is Hunted Not Out of Fear But For Control

In the original X-Men comics, the mutants are hunted out of fear of their powers and how different they are from humanity. It’s a major theme of the comics and their adaptations. But that theme only works if the mutants were part of the universe from the get-go and without any major retconning; the MCU had no clean way to introduce mutants. That is, until Damage Control reveals their secret plan involving Jean and establishes a dynamic that may be the groundwork of the future relationships between the government and mutantkind.

Damage Control seeks out Jean and her sister not because they’re different, but because they want to control and duplicate their powers. This relationship could be the trend in how the antagonists hunt down mutants in a post-Avengers world where superpowers are generally celebrated by the masses, what with Spider-Man being a celebrated hero and the Avengers being a hot commodity, as seen in other MCU movies. This change by the team at the MCU could lead to more unique stories being told in the X-Men side of the MCU.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is now in theaters.

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