Info About The Dark Phoenix Saga:
"
The Dark Phoenix Saga" is an extended
X-Men storyline in the
fictional Marvel Comics Universe, focusing on
Jean Grey and the
Phoenix Force, and ending in Grey's
apparent death. It
was written by
Chris
Claremont with art by
Dave
Cockrum and
John Byrne.
It is sometimes divided into two parts, with the "Phoenix Saga" (
The X-Men #101-108,
1976–1977) referring to Grey's seeming assumption of the Phoenix power and the
repair of the
M'Kraan
Crystal, and the "Dark Phoenix Saga" (
The X-Men #129-138, 1980)
referring to her corruption and fall. It is one of the most well-known and
heavily referenced stories in mainstream American superhero comics, and widely
considered a classic.
[1]
It was adapted for the
X-Men animated series, and alluded to in
the movie
X2: X-Men
United. A third movie,
X-Men: The Last Stand, released in
2006, contains some elements from the saga.
Wolverine and the X-Men
adapted the Dark Phoenix Saga at the end of its first season, though it changed
many elements of the story.
Plot summary
In comic books, readers know the
Phoenix as a psionic cosmic entity
linked to Jean Grey. This was not how the character was written in the original
story — there, the Phoenix actually
was Jean, at the very peak of her
power. Returning from a mission in space, the story told of Jean being exposed
to the deadly radiation of a solar flare, and briefly attaining her ultimate
potential as a telepath and telekinetic. In this moment, Jean became a being of
pure thought, and then reformed herself upon return to Earth with the new
costume, identity and power of "Phoenix".
[2] It was with this
incredible power that Jean repaired the fractured
M'Kraan Crystal, but voluntarily restrained
her powers afterward in order to keep them under control.
[3]
Her vast potential made her a target for the illusionist
Mastermind, who was attempting to
prove himself in order to join the prestigious Inner Circle of the
Hellfire
Club. With the help of a mind-tap device created by the White Queen,
Emma Frost, Mastermind (using the
alias Jason Wyngarde) was able to project his illusions directly into Phoenix's
mind. These illusions caused her to believe that she was reliving the memories
of her ancestor,
Lady
Grey, who in Mastermind's illusions, was Wyngarde's lover. Phoenix was
subverted into joining the Hellfire Club as their Black Queen, a decadent role
that would allow her to relish the extremes of human emotion and began to break
down the barriers that she had erected.
[4]
When the
X-Men came to her rescue, they
were captured by the Inner Circle, and Jean's true love
Cyclops faced
Mastermind in a psychic duel.
[5] When Mastermind
killed Cyclops' psychic image, it served to break his hold over Jean's psyche
and shattered the final barriers on her power. Experiencing this power in its
totality, along with the decadent role she had just played, overwhelmed Jean
entirely, and she renamed herself the "Dark Phoenix".
[6] The X-Men battled
her, but were easily defeated by her power before she departed for the heavens.
Intent on satiating her hunger, Dark Phoenix created a
wormhole and transported herself to a distant galaxy.
Without a thought of the consequences, she dove into the heart of the
D'Bari star and devoured its energy,
causing the star to go
nova — killing
billions of innocent aliens in the process. Dark Phoenix was then attacked by a
Shi'ar vessel to prevent her from
destroying other stars. Dark Phoenix easily defeated her foes, but not before
they were able to alert the Shi'ar Empress
Lilandra.
[7] Gathering a host of
intergalactic associates, including the
Kree
and
Skrull empires, the council
concluded that Dark Phoenix was an even more serious threat than the
planet-consuming
Galactus and must
be destroyed because she had the power to destroy the entire Universe.
On Earth, the X-Men were greeted by
Avengers member (and former X-Man)
Beast. He had designed a
device which would neutralize Phoenix's powers long enough for them to defeat
her. Dark Phoenix returned to Earth, to her family's home, and was subsequently
attacked by the X-Men. During a vicious psionic battle with her mentor,
Charles Xavier, he was able to
rebuild the psychic "circuit-breakers" in her mind which reduced Dark Phoenix's
powers to more reasonable levels and allowed Jean's personality to reassert
control, curtailing the destructive impulses of Dark Phoenix.
[8]
The Shi'ar then abducted the X-Men, told them of Dark Phoenix's casual
genocide, and indicated that she must
be put to death because of it. Xavier, who was romantically involved with the
Shi'ar Empress, challenged Lilandra to Arin'n Haelar, a Shi'ar duel of honor
that cannot be refused. After conferring with her allies, who insisted the
contest be staged to ensure a guaranteed victory on their part, Lilandra ceded
to Xavier's demand.
The next day, the X-Men and the
Shi'ar Imperial Guard were teleported
to the
Blue
Area of the Moon where they would do battle, with the victors deciding the
fate of Phoenix. The Imperial Guard, led by
Gladiator, was able to defeat all of the
X-Men, leaving Cyclops and Phoenix alone to make a final stand against them.
When a stray bolt of energy hit Cyclops, Jean Grey's panic overrode the psychic
circuit-breakers Xavier had placed within her mind and the full might of
Phoenix's powers was once more unleashed. At this point, Lilandra abandoned the
delicate approach and ordered Plan Omega, which would consist of destroying the
whole
solar
system in hopes of eliminating Dark Phoenix in the process.
With events spiraling out of control, Xavier ordered the X-Men to subdue Jean
to preempt Lilandra's emergency measure. The team battled her until she regained
her senses. Running to a back alley on the moon, Jean, struggling to keep
control, activated a Kree weapon and disintegrated herself after an emotional
good-bye to Cyclops.
[9] He later
deduced that Jean had planned her sacrifice from the moment they had landed on
the moon.
This pivotal story ends with
Uatu the
Watcher commenting that "Jean Grey could have lived to become a god. But it was
more important to her that she die...a human."
[9]
Editorial controversy
The ending of the story was a matter of intense controversy with the
editorial staff. Jim Shooter's recollections on his blog relate that the
original intent of the Dark Phoenix storyline was to introduce Dark Phoenix as a
cosmic adversary for the X-Men who could serve as a secondary archnemesis after
their primary foe, Magneto. This was what had been discussed originally amongst
the creative team and Shooter, and this was the story development that had been
approved. When
Uncanny X-Men issues 136 and 137 were in the final artwork
stages, Shooter happened to look at the proofs for the issues and noticed that
the story included the destruction of an inhabited solar system, with an
explicit mention of billions of lives lost, and that it ended with Jean being
permanently depowered by the Shi'ar and released into the custody of the X-Men.
Shooter disagreed with this development both from a storytelling standpoint as
well as, secondarily, a moral standpoint, likening the ending to "taking the
German army away from Hitler and letting him go back to governing Germany," and
doubting highly that Storm and the other X-Men could remain on anything
approaching friendly relations with a being who had committed genocide.
[10]
Shooter, during a conversation with Claremont, suggested a scenario where
Jean would be permanently imprisoned as a compromise, and Claremont responded
that such a scenario was unfeasable since in his opinon, the X-Men would want to
continually try to rescue Jean from imprisonment. During a heated argument
between Shooter and Claremont, Claremont reportedly then suggested that Jean
either be killed or die by her own hand, and that the death be permanent.
Although Shooter claims that the suggestion was a bluff by Claremont, playing on
the unwritten rule that main characters were not to be killed permanently, he
accepted the idea. Ultimately, it was decided by Byrne and Claremont to have
Jean commit suicide after her Dark Phoenix persona resurfaces at the climax of
the fight against the Imperial Guard.
[10] The
original ending ultimately saw print in 1983 in a special edition reprint of
Uncanny X-Men #137 called
Phoenix: The Untold Story. Besides
reprinting Byrne and Claremont's original version of
Uncanny X-Men #137,
it featured a transcript of a round-table discussion between (among others)
Claremont, Byrne, and Shooter, discussing the story behind the original ending
and why it was changed. The interview is also important for an exchange which
shows how early Byrne had hatched plans to resurrect Jean.
Jean Grey
and Phoenix as separate entities
Shortly before the publication of
Uncanny X-Men #137, future freelance
writer
Kurt Busiek, then
still a college student, heard about the upcoming events through the fan
grapevine, as did fellow future comics pros
Carol Kalish (who would go on to head up Marvel's
Direct Sales Department for years) and
Richard
Howell (artist of the
Vision and The Scarlet Witch 12-issue
limited series, among
others). The three of them also heard that Marvel editor-in-chief
Jim Shooter had declared that
Jean Grey could not be revived unless it was done in such a way as to render her
guiltless of Dark Phoenix's crimes. Taking this as a creative challenge, all
three then-fans decided to come up with their own resurrection scenario.
Busiek's involved the discovery that Jean Grey was still on the bottom of
Jamaica Bay in suspended
animation following the original shuttle crash and that the Phoenix entity had
used her body and mind as a lens, creating an immensely powerful duplicate of
Jean, but one which grew more corrupted and distorted the longer it remained
separate from the true Jean.
[11]
In 1982, Dark Phoenix resurfaced in the DC Comics/Marvel Comics
intercompany
crossover one-shot
The Uncanny X-Men and The
New Teen Titans, written by regular
X-Men writer
Chris Claremont. The
story (which is not part of DC or Marvel canon) has the cosmic villain
Darkseid resurrect Jean Grey in her
Dark Phoenix persona as part of his quest to discover the secret of the
Anti-Life
Equation. In the end, Dark Phoenix is betrayed by Darkseid and sacrifices
her life yet again to stop Darkseid.
In 1983, X-Men writer Claremont introduced character
Madelyne Pryor into the
X-Men.
[12] Madelyne was a
commercial airline pilot who survived with no injuries from an airliner crash
that happened on the same day Jean Grey died, and who was the mirror image of
Jean Grey. Madelyne met Cyclops when he went to visit his grandparents in Alaska
and found himself drawn to Madelyne. The villainous
Mastermind,
seeking revenge against the X-Men for being driven mad by Dark Phoenix,
manipulated the team into thinking Madelyne was Dark Phoenix reincarnated.
Ultimately, Mastermind's scheme was defeated and Cyclops and Madelyne were
married and soon had a son,
Nathan Christopher Summers.
Also in 1983, shortly after beginning a freelance writing career, Kurt Busiek
attended a comics convention in
Ithaca, New York, staying at the home of
Marvel writer
Roger Stern.
In conversation, both writers' longtime interest in the X-Men came up, and Stern
expressed regret that there was no way to bring Jean back, not while satisfying
Shooter's edict. Busiek told Stern his idea, not expecting it to amount to more
than idle conversation. Later, Stern told the idea to
John Byrne,
then writer/artist of
Fantastic Four.
[11][13]
In 1985, Jim Shooter greenlit a new series that would reunite the original
X-Men into a new team called
X-Factor, to be written by
longtime freelancer
Bob
Layton. Hearing of this, Byrne called Layton and suggested Busiek's idea as
a means of raising Jean Grey from the dead while satisfying Shooter's demands
for total absolution for Jean.
A three-part crossover was planned to launch
X-Factor, involving the
Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the debut issue of
X-Factor, thus
involving
Avengers writer Stern,
Fantastic Four writer/artist
Byrne and
X-Factor writer Layton. Busiek, by that time, was working at
Marvel as a freelance assistant editor on
Marvel Age Magazine. He was paid and credited
for the idea,
[14] and edited a
series of interviews for
Marvel Age promoting the new series. Ironically,
everything in the interviews pertaining to Jean's resurrection was marked out
with black tape to create an air of mystery about the revelations that the
crossover would involve, and Busiek thus found himself taping over the names of
the writers giving him credit for the idea.
In other media
Television
- The Dark Phoenix Saga, along with the Phoenix Saga, was
adapted in X-Men. During the Phoenix Saga, the X-Men had to help the Shi'ar fight Lilandra's deranged brother, D'Ken. Jean
Grey's powers fully manifest during the Dark Phoenix Saga, turning her
against her comrades. The X-Men, with the help of the Shi'ar, defeats the Dark
Phoenix.
- The Dark Phoenix Saga was foreshadowed in X-Men: Evolution. In "Power Surge", Jean
loses controls of her powers, making her dangerous around others. At the end of
the episode, Rogue
absorbed some of Jean's mind, defeating her. At the end of the series, Professor Xavier saw Jean transforming into
the Dark
Phoenix when he was under Apocalypse's control. The Dark Phoenix Saga
was going to be adapted in Season Five. Unfortunately, the saga did not appear
after the series was cancelled in 2003.
- The Dark Phoenix Saga was adapted at the season finale of Wolverine and the
X-Men. In the three-part episode "Foresight", the Hellfire Club kidnaps Jean
after the X-Men saved her from the Marauders. Wolverine finds out Emma Frost was in league with the
Hellfire Club and locks her in a containment unit. Cyclops released Frost, enraging Wolverine.
While the X-Men went to Genosha to
fight the Sentinels, Frost tells Jean about the Phoenix Force. Later, Frost
tells Cyclops of Jean's whereabouts when the X-Jet was crashed by the Sentinels.
The two went to Jean's location, where the Hellfire Club betrays Frost and
imprisons them. Selene reveals to Cyclops that Frost was the
one who triggered Jean's powers when the Xavier Institute was
destroyed. After the Hellfire Club was defeated at the hands of Jean, she and
Scott left Frost after finding out Frost was trying to unleash the Phoenix Force
within her. After saving the X-Men from the Mutant Response Division, Wolverine
found Frost at the Club's hideout. Reluctantly, he releases her, and the two
went to find Scott and Jean. After Magneto and the Sentinels were defeated, Jean
unleashes the Phoenix Force. Frost absorbs the Phoenix Force into her body,
seemingly killing her in the process.
Film
- The Dark Phoenix Saga was alluded at the end of X2. After Jean supposedly dies while protecting
her teammates from drowning, a sign that bears a striking resemblance to the
Phoenix Force is seen at the final scene.
- Despite being an original story and not a strict adaptation, the plot of the
film X-Men: The Last Stand contains
elements of the Dark Phoenix Saga. In this film, the Phoenix is adapted as a
repressed dual personality of Jean's psychological status which was awakened
when Jean cocooned herself in telekinetic energy to survive the collapse of
Alkaline Lake. Throughout the film, the Phoenix acts irresponsibly and has no
control over her decision-making, including scenes where Jean succumbs to
exposing her sexual desires for Wolverine, siding with Magneto and murdering
Professor X. The Phoenix is destroyed when Jean is euthanized-by-stabbing by
Wolverine.
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