Jean Grey / Phoenix Appreciation 2024

[Mercury]

And Thursday? Lol

Oop. Forgot X-Men 97 drops on Wednesdays. lol.

Just got this Lucas Werneck piece in the mall that I wanted to shareAttachment 139382

GORGEOUS! Happy for you! Frame and hang it.

Jean was superb in the new episode. This makes up for a lot of my feelings that she hasn't been handled well. Love seeing the length of her hair and no more ponytail. I do wish her powers were pink though because that complements her Marvel Girl costume way better than blue powers. The Jean/Storm scenes were excellent and proof that Beau understands these two. If Jean is the heart of the team, Storm is the soul. Both bound together in mind and spirit, with Storm's remark about how while she was away, Jean was the one she thought of.

Beau totally gets not only Jean but all of these characters. And that quote by Ororo was just... ::chef's kiss::

Her fight with Sinister was her best showcase yet. He had to cheat to win by controlling Cable. Cable's disdain for Jean is so obvious in this show and I'm wondering if that's partly from Sinister's control over him. Hope that changes sooner rather than later.

Oh, she handled Sinister, and. she's not even at full strength yet. I think Cable's disdain also stems from Madelyne bonding with him before letting him go with Bishop. It seems natural that he would inherit her disdain for Jean.

Jean using her psychic bond for Scott to see her battle with Cable almost gave me vibes of her suicide from TDPS. Although I'm sure it won't end that way especially after Rogue's sass about Jean dying not being a big deal. I am wondering, especially after all the Phoenix references, if the fight with Cable doesn't spark her transformation into Phoenix. Especially since Beau loves Bastion, OZT, and X-Men: Next Dimension and we all know a certain ending where Jean defeats Bastion.

I think she allowed Cable to overpower her out of fear of killing him if she cut loose. The Rogue line was priceless.

The Jott moments were lovely overall. I do hope she plays a part somehow in saving Logan from what Magneto does to him, like she did in the comics, although with them in different places, I don't know how.

Yes to the "saving Logan" part!

I'm really happy with the quantity and quality of Jean we've been getting in X-Men '97. It helps make up for how the original show did her dirty. Episode 9 doesn't just give her moments to shine with her powers but also in her relationships with others.

All of this.

Yes, exactly. The Jean/Storm relationship was more or less nonexistent in the original show. Storm and Rogue were more flying gal pals back then so I'm really glad this series has emphasized the sisterly bond between the two. Feels very Claremontian. The midair hug seemed a reference to this.

All of this.

The exchange between Jean and Ororo is like a quotable moment. I'm surprised the 2 lines (I won't spoil in case some haven't watched it yet) have never been said to each other in the comics before (as far as I know).

Yes! When I first saw this scene, I legit teared up. (I felt so silly but NOT.)

EXACTLY.

I loved that line between them. It's so clever and seems so obvious too. I've never heard it in the comics before. Beau needs to write for the comics and the movies now as well.

It really is a perfect exchange.

[Phoenixx9]

I can’t say much, but I think Jean fans are going to be happy tomorrow and Thursday.

Oooh, you will have to tell and show us, lol!

[jwatson]

I was bored this morning so got X-men forever 3 and i guess we all called it. spoilers:

jean won't have a role until the last pages if that. i guess at least she is coherent and got a line though.

end of spoilers

[Soulsword323]

I'm not always fond of Tom's opinion's on X-Men, and the franchise in general, but I did appreciate his comments on Jean and her upcoming series. Seeing the Jean has always been Phoenix comment was pretty cool.

X-Men 97 was filled with cool moments for Jean. Her fight with Sinister was awesome, and I also loved those moments featuring Jean and Ororo. Hate that the comics really haven't focused much on Jean's friendships unfortunately. So I very much appreciate Beau for remembering the sisterhood. Particularly with how the original series seemed to favor Rogue and Storm randomly.

[Saturius]

I was bored this morning so got X-men forever 3 and i guess we all called it. spoilers:

jean won't have a role until the last pages if that. i guess at least she is coherent and got a line though.

end of spoilers

Seriously. I'm sorry, I don't know what Gillen was smoking when he said this series was going to be great for Jean. Her doing something in the final issue of this series is no way going to make up for her bleeding out on the floor for how many months/issues? I'm extremely disappointed.

[Exodus]

Seriously. I'm sorry, I don't know what Gillen was smoking when he said this series was going to be great for Jean. Her doing something in the final issue of this series is no way going to make up for her bleeding out on the floor for how many months/issues? I'm extremely disappointed.

She will be cosmic again, after the series ends. So, to a certain degree, Gillen was right. this series is marvelous for Jean Grey. ;-) patience, just a few weeks more.............lol yes, I'm also very annoyed that her mini series actually already spoiled her new status quo months and months ago and not a lot more came out of Gillen's take on the character in X-Men Forever...the first cover was cool though! =)

[brightnessatmidnight]

Any predictions now about how Hope is going to relate to Jean because that's where Gillen is going now with that last page. At the very least this plotline is finally getting resolved, which was probably the intention of this series in the first place.

[Jeanspryde]

Any predictions now about how Hope is going to relate to Jean because that's where Gillen is going now with that last page. At the very least this plotline is finally getting resolved, which was probably the intention of this series in the first place.

He’ll probably reveal the connection between Jean and Hope (probably confirmation that Jean created Hope).

[Mercury]

She will be cosmic again, after the series ends. So, to a certain degree, Gillen was right. this series is marvelous for Jean Grey. ;-) patience, just a few weeks more.............lol yes, I'm also very annoyed that her mini series actually already spoiled her new status quo months and months ago and not a lot more came out of Gillen's take on the character in X-Men Forever...the first cover was cool though! =)

Exactly. Gillen is treating Jean like a true primal force, as Claremont always intended. She transcends the bounds of spacetime and human logic altogether. She is contradictory, multitudinous, and infinitely, perpetually paradoxical. Gillen is making us take her in one mortal breath at a time. He made the strategic move to slow down everything around and concerning her. His treatment of her has been like that of a photographer or filmmaker pointing their instrument at the rising sun or orbiting planets, letting their subjects show us how incomprehensibly massive, majestic, and mysterious they are.

I honestly have no words.

[Mercury]

As for DeMayo, words can't express how much he's done for not only Jean but all our favorite mutants. Jean's moments with Ororo, who recognized her sister in heart and spirit with words that continue to leave me wordless...words that show she recognizes her like no other:

"I thought of you while away...of when my sister faced her darkness and emerged...stronger, a survivor...a PHOENIX. All this change...it's all the same. Let us do what we do: BELIEVE. Not in a dream, or our gifts, but in each other."



I cried.

[Mercury]

And her fight with Sinister, who she pummeled to a pulp, and Cable, who she held herself back from destroying...the son she was deprived of by the abuse of a madman...



I cried again.

[Mercury]

[whitecrown]

That explains it. Hopefully Jean and Nathan will have a better relationship coming out of this.

[whitecrown]

As for DeMayo, words can't express how much he's done for not only Jean but all our favorite mutants. Jean's moments with Ororo, who recognized her sister in heart and spirit with words that continue to leave me wordless...words that show she recognizes her like no other:

"I thought of you while away...of when my sister faced her darkness and emerged...stronger, a survivor...a PHOENIX. All this change...it's all the same. Let us do what we do: BELIEVE. Not in a dream, or our gifts, but in each other."



I cried.

This has to be my favorite scene in this entire series. And Beau confirmed on Twitter that Storm's words about the more things change, the more they stay the same come straight from X-Men #1. Imo, one of the most classic X-Men lines of all time.

[Mercury]

Agree with everything you wrote, whitecrown, but had to get this off my chest in Scott’s thread and feel it’s relevant to this thread, too:

With Jean you alway have to worry about some new writer trying to push his Jogan agenda, with Emma, Scott seemed to have a love interest of his own and attached to his name only. You wouldn't have to worry about shit. And they were so compatible together, she was kinda like Scott's own catwoman.

I have to play devil’s advocate here. Emma (1) had a fling with Namor, (2) repeatedly pressed Scott to keep “no secrets,” certainly more than Jean ever did (Jean wouldn't even read his mind when he pushed her to in order to “know” his feelings in New X-Men; instead, she pushed him to share his feelings), (3) tried reading his mind against his will (Jean actually trained him to create his own “psychic little black box,” which even Emma couldn't penetrate), (4) mind-controlled teenage Scott and tried rewriting his personality, which teen Jean stopped her from doing, and, quite frankly, the list goes on.

What did Jean do? Mostly get kissed by Logan, for which she blasted him off his feet and on his ass the first time around. Later, she was caught off guard by him while he was dying, and she didn't have the heart to hurt or push him away. And after that, another sneaky kiss by Logan until New X-Men, when she purportedly kissed him, even though she was talking about missing her husband. Frankly, because of the positioning of their bodies, I always interpreted that scene as Logan, again, having spun her around to kiss her, which she didn't fight off. But even if she had kissed him, so what? At least she had been honest with Scott about her ambiguous feelings for Logan.

Scott got over Jean pretty quickly when he thought her dead the first go around and got with Colleen. Years later, he lied to Jean for months about Madelyne, after which he pursued Jean when they thought Madelyne was dead, and Jean gave in, only for him to inculcate Jean in his guilt when they learned Madelyne was alive, which is what turned Jean against Madelyne for a brief period. (Jean was Madelyne’s FIRST advocate, after all, and remained so longer than anyone else.) Years after that—after their marriage—he allowed himself to be licked by Betsy/Kwannon, never pushing her away or at least saying something. And, of course, he trusted the facilitator of his wife’s abuse and trauma before trusting literally any of his other friends, like Ororo or Hank, and then engaged in a hot and heavy psychic affair with her, all the while the two fetishisized one of the most traumatic periods in Jean’s life.

Frankly, I was thrilled Jean FINALLY consummated her passion for and best-frienship with Logan during the Krakoan era, and that Scott went along with it even though he hated it, like he told Emma during the penultimate Hellfire Gala, which is also puzzling, considering the fact it was implied they were messing around, too. Anyway, Scott supporting Jean’s sexual freedom with a man who adores and reveres her showed me he was a REAL man and knew his wife deserved to enjoy the privileges he not only took for granted without her consent but that she also afforded him when she ascended to do the work she was always meant to do as White Phoenix. She did let him have his cake and eat it too, after all. “Ha. Live. Live, Scott. Live.”

For the longest time, I wanted Jean as far away from him as possible, because I felt he not only disrespected her in the most profound ways but also dragged her down. Now? After Krakoa? I feel they have a shot. They're even. They respect and, of course, never stopped loving each other. It reminds me of the story Duggan shared about his parents, who divorced and remained separated for 17 years before remarrying and staying together until the end. Those kinds of messy, rocky love stories are real. Ultimately, they have the opportunity to be one of the realest, most inspiring, beautiful pairings, as they've always been at their best. But we have to stop blaming either of them to boost or exonerate the other. Maybe we should be as forgiving of them as they are of each other. Food for thought.