Rachel Summers / Askani / Bright Lady 2024 Appreciation

[Askani's Flame]

It wasn't confirmed but I think killed because that's what Xavier wanted to do to Moira.

I think she's maimed or dead. If that above cover is an indication of things to come she'll likely need to be dead to help restart the Phoenix as a former host and it's true child

[Havok83]

now Color

So Jean is God the creator. Hope is Jesus the Messiah. Rachel is the Holy Ghost

[GoingGreen]

So Jean is God the creator. Hope is Jesus the Messiah. Rachel is the Holy Ghost

I would think the allegory is:

• Jean = The Father
• Rachel = The Son
• Hope = The Holy Spirit

Edit: Yes, Hope is called the Messiah and all. Yadda yadda. But otherwise, Rachel doesn't make a ton of sense...

[Havok83]

I would think the allegory is:

• Jean = The Father
• Rachel = The Son
• Hope = The Holy Spirit

Edit: Yes, Hope is called the Messiah and all. Yadda yadda. But otherwise, Rachel doesn't make a ton of sense...

She does in context with the current story. She is more like a spirit guiding and overseeing everyone from her place outside of time and space. Hope isn’t in a position to exert any influence on anyone the way Rachel is. I think Hope is still a Messiah as Jean is able to act through her and as seen at the end of JG #4, Hope pretty much became an extension of her

[PhoenixStudies]

I concur with GoingGreen and Havok83

Originally, Rachel should be in the Son (Daughter) position. She was the Phoenix child before Hope was. But they gave that position to Hope. Now, Rachel is more in the Holy Spirit position.

Really, in a way they are all children of the Phoenix.

The Phoenix said that it was aware of Jean since her conception. We saw the Phoenix as an aspect of her childhood mind. Death told her that she was an avatar of the Phoenix because her fire/spirit was most closely carved from it. Sublime-Beast said her birth introduced cosmic strands into the genepool. He got Phoenix power from her blood. Mother Righteous created a dominion from her Phoenix blood. She said Jean was of the Phoenix and they influence each other in a circle without end. Dark Beast said that every cell in her body was a separate center of power and connected to white fountains of cosmic energy, She's been referred to as the prime host and the most powerful and influential host. She is a White Phoenix of the Crown. Rachel has said that Jean is the Phoenix made flesh. In Endsong Jean and the Phoenix saw each other as missing pieces of a whole. Her Phoenix Work includes healing the M'Kraan Crystal, destroying D'Bari (lol), building towers in the afterlife, helping to defeat a Celestial to save a planet, cutting away a dystopian future, healing an alternate reality, and saving a planet from Galactus.

Rachel said the star song (euphemism for the Phoenix) was with her since her conception. She was said to be the starchild, young Phoenix (sometimes called Kid Phoenix or Baby Phoenix). Its been said that the Phoenix is in every cell in her body. The Phoenix is drawn to her spiritual strength as well. Rachel has said the Phoenix knows her and likes her. She is Mother Askani, Keeper of the Sacred Timeline. She can draw from Phoenix fire from the Multiverse. For a while after the Phoenix (in Jean's form) went back to the WHR and Jean was still disconnected from it, Rachel was considered the one true Phoenix. Her Phoenix Work includes sending herself and others through the timeline, challenging the Beyonder, defeating Necrom the Anti-Phoenix, helping to heal an alternate world (along with Meggan's elemental empathy), being a vessel for the Phoenix to fight Galactus, becoming Mother Askani, wielding the Blue Shadow/Echo of the Phoenix, and becoming Keeper of the Sacred Timeline.

Hope was shown to have the Phoenix in her eyes as a months old baby. She's been called the Messiah and the Phoenix Child. The Phoenix referred to her as "my child" and all mutants as its children. She was able to appear as the White Phoenix and send the Phoenix away. Her Phoenix Work includes helping Wanda to undo the "no more mutants" spell and bringing back mutantkind.

Next up their Phoenix Work is to resurrect the Phoenix and fight the Enigma/Sinister Dominion.

I would have preferred it if Jean and Rachel remained the truest Phoenixes but Hope is Jean's granddaughter and Rachel's niece, so I grudgingly accept her. lol I'm sure Cavewoman/Firehair Phoenix is their ancestor or previous incarnation (or both lol).

[Havok83]

^^^^ Great writeup!

I think we can all agree though that in 2024 its lovely that Rachel is not only included in the Phoenix plotline, but her experience and expertise is being called on

[Cerridwen]

They should've just made Hope the baby version of Rachel during the Messiah Complex. Cable taking care of baby Rachel and being her adoptive father wouldve made it full circle.

[Askani's Flame]

They should've just made Hope the baby version of Rachel during the Messiah Complex. Cable taking care of baby Rachel and being her adoptive father wouldve made it full circle.

But then it wouldn't be Rachel, right? Because the child would need to be born to Jean and Scott, especially if it's a 616 Rachel. And then what would have happened to our Rachel? Because this child would be Rachel in name, but not experience. It was going to be Jean, but they decided it was a bad move so we got Hope.

I'm very interested in seeing how Rachel goes from outside the WHR, which she can access without dying anyways, to being inside and now with Jean and Hope. As Rachel and her niece don't have much of a relationship aside from a few panels before and during Krakoa, it will be nice to see more of them together.

[Thirteen]

I would think the allegory is:

• Jean = The Father
• Rachel = The Son
• Hope = The Holy Spirit

Edit: Yes, Hope is called the Messiah and all. Yadda yadda. But otherwise, Rachel doesn't make a ton of sense...

now Color

Surprised I haven't seen any MAIDEN/MOTHER/CRONE analogies...

[Will Evans]

Rachel’s one hot crone.

[Thirteen]

Rachel’s one hot crone.

Hey! Mother Askani was still serving it in her twilight years...

[Askani's Flame]

Hey! Mother Askani was still serving it in her twilight years...

I was like this isn't the Mother Askani I read about lol, and then I realized these are all taken from the X-Men '92 series which I didn't read. She looks like a blend of Sanctity and Askani there ha!

[Subliminal]

100 is the new 40 in Rachel's case.

I'm not sure what restarting the Phoenix will do, it doesn't seem like that much of a threat anymore. Didn't a lone inventor from Earth build a weapon to disrupt and split the Phoenix in just a few days? Even a powerful telepath (or a group of them) could just send it away. The mutants have a handful of reality warpers and power enhancers that could be a better solution. Magic vs Tech is another alternative. I'm surprised there aren't more mutants that have evolved anti-machine powers with the threat that Sentinels and Orchis have posed. Or cuteness powers similar to a Panda, so humans band together to protect them.

How far we've gone from this relationship...

[Havok83]

The mutants have a handful of reality warpers and power enhancers that could be a better solution.

No they dont. The whole point of Fall of X is that Krakoa has fallen and the mutants are fragmented. Alot of the more powerful mutants are off the table and/or unaccounted for. The Resistance group is lacking in their man power and have slowly been building it up. Xavier doesnt have access to most of the mutants he may have relied to for that

[juan678]

- A Betsy Braddock and Rachel Summers adventure by the writer who brought them together—EXCALIBUR scribe Tini Howard! Joined by rising star Phillip Sevy, Howard pits the hot new couple against the Omniversal Majestrix, Opal Luna Saturnyne! Just about everyone in the Marvel Universe is invited to the vow renewal… except for Saturnyne. And she’s not happy. But why is she taking it out on Betsy and Rachel?