How would you have resurrected Jean?

[Tycon]

Oh 100%. Bringing Scott back via Extermination and then using him through Uncanny was questionable, and didn't do a lot to break away from the revolutionary (and controversial) Cyclops we were given in years prior. And despite being in a book where Wolverine, Havok, Emma etc. were all present, I don't think the reunions were done very well. There should definitely have been more tension and intensive conversation held there.

And think about the ambiguous place he was left off in terms of his changing ideology. He was a revolutionary who got together almost all of the mutants on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That Scott being brought back into a world by Xavier would’ve been significantly more impactful than having him weirdly backtrack and be Sadclops for 15 issues only to turn right back around in the final issue, rendering it all useless. They just should’ve waited.

Phoenix Resurrection I think had an interesting premise, in being a more grounded take and more of a character examination, but it quickly fizzled out and its execution wasn't all that great in the end. Ofc that book ended up transitioning over into X-Men Red, which was pretty spectacular as a whole (I've only a couple gripes with it) and I think it was a nice fresh take on Jean and I loved seeing how she interacted with her team there (both new and old members).

I wish X-Men Red was either bigger or they gave her a role in the other books. It was so jarring for her to just... show up in X-Men Gold without any noted reference or emotional scenes. Like I get that was the whole point of the event and her new book, but as one of the most popular X-characters who had been dead for over a decade, you’d think a lot more cohesion would go into the plans for her character (outside of Red). They dropped the ball heavy.

The Return of Wolverine/Hunt for Wolverine was pretty messy too and was a really lackluster way for one of Marvels most recognizable characters to return, so Logan's revival should have waited too. Can you imagine the fan reaction to Scott, Jean & Logan all coming back at once? Not to mention we could've had a good couple of years prior where a whole bunch of other characters could have risen up in their stead.

That whole thing was a mess. Instead of having the major things like Daken dying (again) or Betsy/Kwannon splitting or the Sinister database being done in minis that went nowhere towards the actual plot, they should’ve just had these done in the actual mainstream X-titles. Daken done in X-Men Blue, the split done in Gold, and the Sinister thing could’ve really gone anywhere. All these returns really were lackluster and it would’ve been one helluva first page to see all these major X-characters back for readers to try and find out what the hell got them to this point.

[Tugger]

I became a Jean fan even though she was 'dead' when I started reading Uncanny X-Men. I got to know her history by buying back issues.

I loved the concept of her original resurrection from the cocoon in Jamaica Bay. I thought it was really clever but more importantly believable and it's still one of my favourite X-Men moments.

Unfortunately, X-Factor became a soap opera and as others have said Scott was ruined by his actions and I never really took to Jean again as a result.

I wasn't reading at the time of her subsequent deaths / resurrections but I think those have also tarnished the character.

[spirit2011]

I became a Jean fan even though she was 'dead' when I started reading Uncanny X-Men. I got to know her history by buying back issues.

I loved the concept of her original resurrection from the cocoon in Jamaica Bay. I thought it was really clever but more importantly believable and it's still one of my favourite X-Men moments.

Unfortunately, X-Factor became a soap opera and as others have said Scott was ruined by his actions and I never really took to Jean again as a result.

I wasn't reading at the time of her subsequent deaths / resurrections but I think those have also tarnished the character.

That isn't Jean fault that Scott is a terrible husband

[Will Evans]

Archangel (with the Death seed) as the new Apocalypse kills off Cyclops, Iceman and Beast over the course of a year long storyline.

Then out of the blue we get a new Four Horseman: Iceman as Famine, Beast as Pestilence, Cyclops as War, and the final reveal of who the female Death is......



Yep, yep, I know, I know....cheesy.

[ARkadelphia]

That isn't Jean fault that Scott is a terrible husband

Her getting together with a married man doesn’t exactly make her admirable either, however.

[spirit2011]

Her getting together with a married man doesn’t exactly make her admirable either, however.

She never did that.

[CoCoBandz]

Archangel (with the Death seed) as the new Apocalypse kills off Cyclops, Iceman and Beast over the course of a year long storyline.

Then out of the blue we get a new Four Horseman: Iceman as Famine, Beast as Pestilence, Cyclops as War, and the final reveal of who the female Death is......



Yep, yep, I know, I know....cheesy.

Kate? Seems pretty obvious.

[CoCoBandz]

She never did that.

Scott, Jean, and Maddie tbh

[King_Thor13]

And think about the ambiguous place he was left off in terms of his changing ideology. He was a revolutionary who got together almost all of the mutants on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That Scott being brought back into a world by Xavier would’ve been significantly more impactful than having him weirdly backtrack and be Sadclops for 15 issues only to turn right back around in the final issue, rendering it all useless. They just should’ve waited.

Exactly! It would've come full circle if Xavier, whom Cyclops killed in AvX whilst possessing the Phoenix Force, had been the one to bring Scott back from death after all that time, and bringing him into this new era for the X-Men. It would've hit home that the whole revolutionary era actually helped bring about this nation of mutants too.

I wish X-Men Red was either bigger or they gave her a role in the other books. It was so jarring for her to just... show up in X-Men Gold without any noted reference or emotional scenes. Like I get that was the whole point of the event and her new book, but as one of the most popular X-characters who had been dead for over a decade, you’d think a lot more cohesion would go into the plans for her character (outside of Red). They dropped the ball heavy.

X-Men Red was a great book in itself, but we needed to have a Jean Grey solo alongside it or just more issues to spotlight her return and what that meant for her family, both her found family and her blood relations. And in that we could've had Jean interacting with Misty Knight & Jessica Jones, whom she has ties to, and the Avengers, which would've paved the way for them to come to her aid in X-Men Red. And it was gutting that once Red ended her leadership sorta fell to the wayside a bit and even now she seems to be playing second-fiddle to Logan & Hank in X-Force.

That whole thing was a mess. Instead of having the major things like Daken dying (again) or Betsy/Kwannon splitting or the Sinister database being done in minis that went nowhere towards the actual plot, they should’ve just had these done in the actual mainstream X-titles. Daken done in X-Men Blue, the split done in Gold, and the Sinister thing could’ve really gone anywhere. All these returns really were lackluster and it would’ve been one helluva first page to see all these major X-characters back for readers to try and find out what the hell got them to this point.

Daken dying was pointless as it never went anywhere. The Psylocke split could've literally been a oneshot. And the Sinister database could certainly have been in Blue, Gold, Red, Weapon X or Astonishing. I guess they were hoping the books having Wolverine in the title would sell well, so they went that route. And some of the stuff was obv a precursor to plans in DoX

As a whole, I certainly think that leaving all the resurrections until House of X would have been a really smart move, and so much more powerful. Not to mention in the interim with Scott, Logan, Jean etc. gone that other characters would've had to step up and it would have made a lot more sense for Ororo, Betsy and co. to step into leadership positions, and would have left room for the New Mutants, New X-Men etc. to graduate and be apart of the big leagues, at least temporarily of nothing else.