Is this a good X-Men/Phoenix story... for RP turned anime series?

[GMikey]

Soooo... on Facebook, I asked the community about a predicament within a Marvel RPG group I'm involved with...

In my group, we were just gonna do a mass Marvel roleplay (we're at about 5k members now) to roleplay our own Marvel stories. However, our RP caught the attention of an animator who said she'd turn this into a short series, if good enough. Then the mods went bonkers, getting together a think tank to create base plots to make the RP run fluidly, yet structured. I was in that think tank and it all went to ****, when it got to the X-Men and the Phoenix Saga.

In short, we didn't know which direction to take where the Phoenix Saga was concerned, and then someone new came in and gave us the idea she's working on, for an all inclusive fan collab Marvel anime series. Below, I'm gonna share a post of mine from Facebook about the group's decision to refresh and rewrite Jean Grey and Phoenix, along with adding something new... Let me know your thoughts!
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Facebook Post:

AND THE VERDICT IS... something pretty awesome...!

(buckle up, this post is kinda long, sorry!)

Well after like what, 8 hours? [this debate was this past Saturday] each creative member shared their ideas in regards to the Phoenix, and who and why their pick for the new Phoenix host is best... I definitely got plenty of attention and I thank Brian Cherry, Eric Rose, and everyone else for their suggestions. The fact I proposed multiple ideas, definitely gain me points Keep in mind I did credit my suggestions to the respective originators.

I'll be honest... I really wasn't sure if the ideas I was proposing would win everyone over. The Jean fans weren't keen on the idea of Stryfe or Forge taking on the Phoenix, and several of them firmly suggested that it needed to be Rachel. Sapphire's ideas definitely won members that were non-Grey fans, but... yikes, those who were, absolutely HATED the idea of Remy being the Phoenix. Many of our Jean Grey fans even expressed they hate Gambit and said they would NOT participate in the RP if he was selected. I also pitched for Wanda Maximoff, Charles Xavier, and Psylocke, and... received moderate to mixed feelings on them.

So... anyway it was tense as ****. It didn't seem like we'd go anywhere with this. That was until the new girl was brought in. Her codename is "Loki's Mistress" and she came at the tail end just about and pitched this. And, I don't want to spoil her story, but will give as limited info as possible, to tell you all the final verdict.

So (I'm calling her Ms. Loki for now) Ms. Loki, who has her own Marvel groups and animated universe they are working on, offered that we create an adaptation of her story with the Phoenix, into our RP. Ms. Loki says she's no fan of Jean Grey's at all, simply due to being OP and "not well developed".

She changes her character quite a bit, a lot bit, and I must admit, from what she explained, I could actually like this version of Jean Grey. Can't get into spoilers but, this version she presented seems far more relatable and interesting, she's cool and a badass, and I really like her new personality and story.

The changes made to Jean Grey's character in Ms. Loki's multiverse (or whatever) offers a believable explanation to her and Phoenix's internal struggle, their mutual bond, and it offers something I don't think ANY of these comic writers have accomplished. [at least from what I know]

So yes I said it... Ms. Loki suggests to KEEP Jean Grey as the Phoenix... BUT... here comes a twist. And this twist is what I'll say won most everyone, and certainly won me. Sapphire wasn't happy at all with Ms. Loki's choice, until it was broken down.

After the Dark Phoenix, a new entity is arises, who uses one of the other X-Men as its vessel (I'm not gonna say who she picked, but you all are welcomed to guess ^_^). This entity has a power set that Ms. Loki came up with, that makes it, insanely, chaotically, dynamically powerful. Ms. Loki describes it as "meta-power" and "unnaturally powerful". No cosmic power, including the Phoenix Force, is seemingly able to control or combat this being using their powers alone.

This forces Jean as Phoenix to get creative with how she combats this strange entity. I freaking love the powers Ms. Loki came up with, and the mechanics of how they work, like... I've never heard of such a power set used like this, or look like her concept art for the cosmic being and its display of power. Ms. Loki is just as scientific, into mystics, astrobiology, math and **** as Sapphire, and that makes her concept all the better.

This cosmic creature (let's call it Entity) has a strange, unknown mission and origin that no one understands, except a shady intergalactic cult that seem to "worship" this being. The Avengers, X-Men and Phoenix work hard to fight Entity and its cronies (and fight each other doing so), and free the X-Man completely possessed and used by the Entity. The way this X-Man becomes the Entity's "one true host" and how they are bonded, totally blew my mind. I can't get into it cuz spoilers, but I love this character combo concept.

For Jean Grey, Ms. Loki gives her such a better story as to how and why she becomes the one true host of the Phoenix, and what establishes their bond. Its full of heart. And it ties directly into this "Entity", and its a very awesome, dynamic story and journey. The actual plot twist(s) between Phoenix and Entity were the best. I'm also crazy over the concept artwork shown of the Entity with its "one true host". And damn, I'm so in love with his new suit design 8D

The "Entity" then becomes the central plot device, while Phoenix works hard in this cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of this being, its true intentions, and combat how it constantly alters and modifies the very essence of the universe.

The finale ties so many heroes with the plight between the Entity and Phoenix, as well as the "Revelation" at the end.

Everyone loved the story, for the most part. Some Jean Grey fans didn't like the ending and felt... because of how Ms. Loki rewrote the Phoenix (which they actually liked)... they wished, the ending for the cosmic rivals was "flipped". They felt it would have completed Jean Grey's story, instead of having her remain with the X-Men at the end.

To me, that was a ridiculous criticism, I don't know why they wouldn't want Jean Grey to reunite with the X-Men, and let the Entity have the ending it has. But, whatever. I mean, the Phoenix needed to continue protecting the cosmos and restoring ****, it didn't need to have the "Entity's" ending. I actually love Jean/Phoenix reuniting with the team to pick up the pieces, and the Entity, does what it winds up doing. Beautiful, emotional ending to me...

One thing that Ms. Loki was really cool about, was including elements of other's suggestions or plots, into the narrative as Phoenix occurrences of future and alternate timelines, and such. She actually liked some of the ideas I proposed, and I told her that... for further info, I'll connect her with the originators of those plots

So... that's the verdict! Jean Grey will actually remain the (primary) Phoenix, while the story would introduce her kinda OC cosmic rival, who will serve as a cosmic level antihero, a foil of the Phoenix's, while focused on a mission of its own... all for a truly epic story that isn't like anything I recall coming from Marvel.

Ms. Loki is animating her story as we speak and will soon give us a release date to the first upload of her and her fans' Marvel fanime universe

[WebLurker]

Sounds interesting (and I'm kinda over Jean and the Phoenix already).

[GMikey]

-ignore this reply-

[GMikey]

Sounds interesting (and I'm kinda over Jean and the Phoenix already).

LOL I totally get ya. (So am I honestly)

But because this is an RPG starting from the very beginnings of everyone's story, that's why the Phoenix Saga became a discussion. Also... the Phoenix Saga would more be used as a segue into the story revolving around the new, rogue cosmic entity, its host and its character arc, DUE to Jean and Phoenix been done so much.

[K2Krew]

Sounds interesting! Do you have a link to the group? Are you guys still taking new members in?

[GMikey]

Sounds interesting! Do you have a link to the group? Are you guys still taking new members in?

Unfortunately the RP group I'm in isn't taking any new members, BUT...

The Marvel Anime group (which is where we adopted this Phoenix story from) is always welcoming new comers, and collaborators for their Marvel anime series. I don't remember the specific group but I'll contact her today, and post her information. Her fan collab anime series is set to release in a couple of weeks