The Phoenix Force is Coming Back in New JEAN GREY Comic Series
In case anyone reading this is wondering... yes, the old Jean Grey is still dead. It's the young Jean Grey from the past who got sent to the future who has to deal with the Phoenix this time, but could this time be different?
The new Jean Grey (or old depending on how you view time) is very much trying to be her own Jean Grey. Jean Grey knows the other Jean Grey's past and doesn't want to make the same mistakes that Jean Grey made. Wow... That sounded confusing. From now on, we'll just call them Classic Jean and Jean Jr.
Jean Jr. has a history of Classic Jean and knows where her history is headed, but despite that, she wants to be her own person. She doesn't want to deal with dating Cyclops and being possessed by Phoenix, and all that other stuff. She doesn't want to follow in footsteps already walked. And she isn't the only one. The writers, Dennis Hopeless and Victor Ibanez want this Jean to be different.
The first issue already deals with Jean coming to terms with her other past/possible future. It kinda makes it obvious that the original Jean was kinda two dimensional. She was either a love interest, the heart of the team, or a big bad villain. We have never really seen Jean do things by herself. Go solo as it were. This issue gets to show us who Jean wants to be and it's kind of fun. I especially like the Wrecking Crew being an intimidating yet really not that scary enemy. Sure, they've tangled with the likes of Thor and won, but here they're just some bumbling dudes trying to get some quick cash. It's enjoyable.
But what is truly interesting and what makes me excited to see what happens next, is the end of the issue. Spoilers... but then again, the title mentions the Phoenix so, whatevs. Near the end of the issue, it is revealed that Jean Grey is hearing the voice of the Phoenix and by the end, she straight up warns the rest of the X-Men that Phoenix is coming back. This could be good, or bad. Not just in the world of Marvel, but also in a narrative sense. It still feels like not a lot of time has passed since Phoenix was visiting Earth trying to get some of that sweet sweet Hope action. You know, the first Mutant after all the Mutants went away. Then it missed Hope and split itself into Cyclops, Colossus, Emma Frost, Magik, and Namor. Yeah, the fish dude. By the end, I thought Hope got it under control again, but maybe not.
I'm ok with Phoenix coming back but let's not make a HUGE deal about it. Let's not do a special arc with a bunch of different comics all combining. If it's self-contained I think it could be great. Hopeless has promised that the coming issues will show that Jean wants to do something different with the Phoenix. Just what that is, we'll have to see. Phoenix has usually been a scary and bad thing, but has at times been good. If Jean Jr. really wants to distance herself from Classic Jean's history, what could she end up doing with Phoenix? We'll have to see as the other issues are released.