Originally Posted by
powerpax
They haven't preferred her dead 'since the '80s' - Marvel literally forced the X-books to bring Jean back in the late 80s and after Shooter (the architect of her demise and the man who resurrected her) was forced out, they made her the central heroine of the franchise during its most profitable decade.
They did keep Jean dead for a remarkably long stretch in the 21st century, but she remained an integral character to the mythos who was utilized through a variety of stories and counterparts (Jeen, Hope, various Phoenix stories) and major movies, cartoons and merchandising until the original finally returned to great PR fanfare. She has never not been important, even in death. The reason she stayed dead for as long as she did is because a) the new paradigm in place with other characters became popular and b) some people have always thought the character is more impactful dead than alive. I certainly did. But she's back now and that's fine, because the X-Men franchise is not as myopic and poorly written as it was for most of the 90s.