The following contains spoilers for Jean Grey #1, now on sale from Marvel Comics.
The X-Men have always been forced to juggle their incredible powers with a level of restraint. In a world that hates and fears them, the mutant heroes have always relied on this core ideal to keep from becoming too dangerous or terrifying for the world at large. This has largely been shown to be for the best, as embracing darker paths can lead to far worse results.
Jean Grey #1 (by Louise Simonson, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo, and VC’s Ariana Maher) effectively plays out like a dark issue of What If…?, showcasing how things could have changed for the original X-Men if they had decided to retain their knowledge of the future. It’s a grim showcase of how dark Jean Grey could have become in the early days of the team. But it’s also a startling reminder of just how those dark methods are some of the only ways the surviving X-Men have been able to make it through Fall of X.
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Jean Grey’s Darkest Reality, Explained
Jean Grey #1 explores the internal response to the titular mutant’s sudden demise during the events of the Hellfire Gala. As she explores the memories that define her, Jean decides to poke some of the events of her life and see how things play out if she took different paths. Jean Grey #1 specifically focuses on the original five X-Men returning to their proper place in the timeline following their time in the present-day. In this new telling, Jean elects to keep the X-Men’s knowledge of future events, convincing her teammates to go along with this and severely altering the developing timeline in the process. Jean’s efforts initially impact the universe in positive — albeit harsh — ways. They respond to emergencies and become more popular heroes in the world. But when the team goes to counter Magneto’s early terrorist acts, Jean forcibly prevents his growth as a villain by wiping his mind. While Xavier spends months repairing the damage to his former friend’s mind, the X-Men become beloved heroes.
But their proactive efforts to push pro-mutant sentiments lead to cover-ups of the damage caused by some mutants gaining powers. Bolivar Trask exposing these secrets advances the Sentinel program in this timeline, forcing the X-Men on the move. Under Jean’s command but increasingly wary of her tactics, the team forcibly “recruits” future heroes like Kitty Pryde, Sam Guthrie, and Dani Moonstar. Jean proves willing to wipe the minds of their families to cover their tracks, a serious ethical breach. Using her Omega-Level telepathic powers, Jean wipes the minds of mutant enemies and even goes so far as to force some of them to commit suicide — even turning on Beast and severely hurting him when he stands up to her. Terrified of what Jean is doing and the impact it could have on the world, the X-Men move to counter her. Using modified Magneto-style helmets, Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, Xavier, and a redeemed Magneto confront Jean while Beast remains behind to protect the new students of the Xavier Institute. But Jean — having willingly embraced the Phoenix Force in this world and fusing it with far earlier than in regular continuity — becomes enraged with their efforts to fight her, and lashes out. Jean kills all of them, forcing her to realize this was never the right path.
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Jean Becoming Like Magneto Would Doom The X-Men
Jean Grey’s exploration of how things could have played out upon their return to the past is an interesting what if scenario, showcasing how embracing darker methods in the name of positive results could doom the X-Men to a grim direction. It imagines what would happen if the early X-Men would retain their motivations, but embrace the more ruthless approach that characters like Magneto over the pacifism and restraint preached by Charles Xavier. It’s a fascinating showcase of how powerful characters like Jean Grey really are, recalling the kind of deadly impact a morally-free X-Men had on the grim Sins of Sinister timeline.
Jean initially claims her harsh tactics will stop at simply removing people they know to be threats from active work, but it soon devolves into overt murder at her psychic command. Jean’s embrace of Magneto’s tactics allows her to become the Phoenix long before she ever went into space, highlighting how her darker elements were always present in the character long before she got a cosmic-level boost. In fact, the issue suggests that Jean’s evolution into the Dark Phoenix was something inherent to the character even without any external corrupting influence. This seems to confirm the dark descent of other Jean Grey variants, who became multiversal level threats without the kind of restraint she finds with the X-Men. Jean’s ambitions and drive made her capable of some truly horrifying acts, to the point where even her loved ones become obstacles to eliminate instead of friends to rely on. It’s a horrifying portrait of what the X-Men could be like — and highlights just how dark things have become in modern stories.
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Fall Of X Is Pushing The X-Men To Dark Places
Fall of X has been a particularly dark direction for the X-Men. Orchis’ ultimate efforts to wipe out the mutants has resulted in massive death and destruction across the Marvel Universe. Most of the mutant race has been lost, adrift in mysterious deserts or across unexpected mystical realms. Those who remain have largely been forced to move underground in a desperate bid to stay ahead of their enemies. Some have even been forced to accept increasingly dark directions — such as Kate Pryde, who used her darker trainings to eliminate an entire squadron of Orchis soldiers before they could realize the full severity of the danger they were in.
Jean’s dark descent into harsher tactics might have been horrifying in earlier eras of the Marvel Universe, but it’s a necessary survival tactic in the modern day. Jean’s Omega-Level abilities make any such transition a horrifying prospect for the entire world, as even her friends and family might just be kindling for the fire she sets upon the world. Fall of X could see Jean find a way to restore herself to the current continuity in a bid to combat Orchis, and there’s a chance these dark visions of what could have been prevent her from lashing out with similar moves. But if she takes a darker lesson from these experiences, it could bring the X-Men to an even darker place in Fall of X.
Jean Grey #1 reveals a grim potential timeline where Jean accepted a darker path to heroics — and how it would have doomed the X-Men. Read More