This is Chris Claremont’s Greatest X-Men Comics Story Arc of All Time

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Chris Claremont is one of the most influential comic writers in the industry. His work has, quite literally, gifted fans with some of the most genre-defining stories in the world of superheroes. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that without him, the X-Men wouldn’t have half of their most famous characters. A vast majority of them can be traced back to Claremont’s work, and most of them come from his most important stories. The question needs to be asked then: Which of his storylines was the best out of all his work? Truthfully, any opinion on the matter is valid and probably has more than sufficient evidence to back it up. However, “The Dark Phoenix Saga” has captivated so many storytellers to this day, across numerous mediums.

The story arc itself not only established Jean Grey as one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe, but also introduced many of the characters that people associate with the core group of the X-Men in the modern day. The story also challenged future writers to find creative solutions to complicated problems left behind by the saga’s narrative in an attempt to revive Jean in a way that would redeem her character. Most importantly, “The Dark Phoenix Saga” is timeless and still being adapted to this day, with several notable attempts being made in both film and television.

One of the Darkest X-Men Stories

“The Dark Phoenix Saga” is what established the concept of the Phoenix Force in the first place, giving the Marvel Universe a fascinating bit of cosmic lore for future writers to play around with in later storylines. As the story goes, during a mission in space, Jean Grey was exposed to solar radiation that unlocked her full potential as the Phoenix.

Recognizing how dangerous her new powers were, she voluntarily placed limits on her abilities to keep them under control. Around the same time, Mastermind attempted to mentally manipulate Jean into falling in love with him so he could bring out her dark side and get her to join the newly introduced Hellfire Club. The plan works for a time, overriding Jean’s true personality with a new one known as the Black Queen. This caused the barriers she placed to start collapsing, and they were destroyed completely when she believed Cyclops to have been killed in front of her.

This awakened a new personality in her that christened itself the Dark Phoenix. Seeking to suppress Jean’s innate goodness, Dark Phoenix tried to destroy the X-Men and fled the Earth. However, the journey proved more taxing than she anticipated, and she was forced to consume the energy of a star to regain her strength. This triggered a supernova that wiped out the entire solar system, as well as the population of the only civilized planet within it. Her actions caught the attention of the Shi’ar Empire, who notified their empress, Lilandra. This forced a summit of the major powers in the galaxy, even briefly uniting the warring Kree and Skrull due to the danger posed to the entire universe.

The Dark Phoenix returned to Earth, but was subdued by the X-Men, specifically by Charles Xavier, who managed to place psychic “circuit-breakers” that weakened Dark Phoenix’s powers so that Jean could reassert control. While this brought Jean back, it did not undo the casual genocide she committed, and the Shi’ar demanded her death for the safety of all. Xavier, unwilling to sacrifice his student, who he knew had no control over her actions, challenged the Shi’ar to a ritual duel of honor.

The battle took place on the moon between Jean, Cyclops, and the Shi’ar champions. Though the X-Men had the upper hand for a moment, when Cyclops was seemingly killed, Jean’s powers activated. Terrified by what she was capable of, Jean intentionally sacrificed herself to spare the universe the horror she would unleash if the Dark Phoenix ever came back. The story ends with the X-Men mourning Jean’s death, and Uatu the Watcher noting that Jean could have been a god, but chose to die a human.

The story is undoubtedly a classic, not just because of the world-shattering change to the status quo of the X-Men, but because of the long-lasting impacts it had on its cast. This story alone was responsible for the introductions of characters such as Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, Emma Frost, and the entire concept of the Hellfire Club.

These characters would withstand the test of time, filling the hole left behind by Jean’s absence as they slowly evolved into their own independent characters that, today, fans could not possibly imagine the X-Men without. The aftermath of “The Dark Phoenix Saga” left writers with an interesting creative challenge.​​​​​

In comics, characters rarely stay dead for long, especially beloved ones like Jean Grey. People quickly began to wonder what it would take for Jean to come back from this. The way she died left her responsible for the destruction of an entire solar system and one that had a sentient population.

Having heard that Marvel’s editor-in-chief would not allow Jean to come back unless there was a way for her to be blameless of these crimes, future comic book pros Kurt Busiek, Carol Kalish, and Richard Howell began developing their own ways to resurrect Jean in such way that she could be redeemed or absolved of the Dark Phoenix’s crimes. The Fantastic Four ultimately found Jean alive and in stasis at the bottom of Jamaica Bay following the original shuttle crash. The Dark Phoenix had just used its power to create a copy of Jean, sparing her the guilt of its original crimes.

Going over it all, this story had incredible consequences for Jean Grey going forward. The power within her was still barely understood and would be explored more once her character returned, but the moral conundrum left in her wake would also inspire future writers to find extraordinary ways to bring back a much-missed character while also setting the stage for future storylines involving the aftermath of her absence. After all, Cyclops had to move on with his life after Jean’s seeming death, and the drama from that alone would cause shockwaves throughout the X-Men line of comics.

The Story Is Still Being Adapted to This Day

What’s especially impressive about this saga is that it is nearly fifty years old and is still being adapted to this day. There is no generational gap, no cultural or political views that make it difficult to adapt. “The Dark Phoenix Saga” is a tragedy written in the stars that takes advantage of Marvel’s cosmic lore.

It crafts a heartbreaking tale of too much power in one person’s hands, how the universe reacted to such a thing, and how she chose to handle it. At its core is the horror and pain between loved ones as they watch someone they care about become a monster against her will, overwhelmed by something completely outside her ability to control. It’s no wonder that such a story has been adapted numerous times over the years.​​​​​​

Two later TV shows would have their own versions of the saga, those being X-Men: The Animated Series and Wolverine and the X-Men. Had there been a fifth season of X-Men: Evolution, they too would have adapted Jean Grey’s descent into the Dark Phoenix, though they did hint at it in the ending of their fourth season.

Later movies such as X-Men: The Last Stand would incorporate elements of it, and in 2019, The Dark Phoenix movie would try to adapt the story in its entirety. Of course, it only managed the Hellfire arc of the story since the saga is one of the longer segments of Claremont’s writing.

Overall, “The Dark Phoenix Saga” was a turning point for the Marvel Universe. Things changed radically after that. New faces were introduced and characters were altered forever. Jean may have come back from the dead, blameless of the Dark Phoenix’s actions, but the looming threat of her true potential and the darkness within it was always there now.

Suddenly, the X-Men were becoming more than just a persecuted group of people with extraordinary abilities. Their potential evolution could now be godlike, and many characters would feel the consequences of this years later, even those who weren’t written by Claremont himself. That is truly the mark of a good story like the Dark Phoenix Saga; when it can motivate other creators to build off the works of past greatness.

“}]] Scribe Chris Claremont guided the X-Men for decades, though this particular Marvel Comics saga had consequences that are still felt to this day.  Read More