Jean Grey is no stranger to resurrections – in fact, she is perhaps the one character who has died and been resurrected the most in the entire 60 year publication history of X-Men comics. Jean’s first canonical death occurs in Uncanny X-Men #101, in which Jean Grey, after shielding her teammates from deadly solar rays, crashes a space shuttle into Jamaica Bay. The surviving X-Men briefly mourn their fallen teammate, believing that there was no way she could have survived the crash, before Jean triumphantly emerges from the water, declaring herself Phoenix in what is now considered one of the most iconic comic book pages of all time.
The legendary “Dark Phoenix Saga” builds to a climactic ending where Jean Grey once again makes a heroic sacrifice when she chooses to end her life after succumbing to the power of the Phoenix force and becoming the malevolent Dark Phoenix. Jean also dies towards the end of Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run, and most recently Jean Grey died during the tragic events of the last Hellfire Gala during “Fall of X” as the Krakoa era came to an end. Heroic sacrifices, monumental deaths, and glorious resurrections are consistent aspects of Jean Grey’s overall narrative arc throughout the books.
Much like a mythological Phoenix, Jean Grey also rises from the ashes time and time again, only to burn brighter each time she returns. In “From the Ashes,” Jean Grey is once again bonded to the Phoenix Force, and this new run of Phoenix by Stephanie Phillips sees Jean Grey embarking on cosmic adventures that find her crossing paths with characters such as Nova and Rocket Raccoon and crossing swords with villains such as Thanos and the Black Order. In the current arc of Phoenix, Jean Grey is confronted by a shadow of her past, her long-dead sister Sara Grey, who was murdered by anti-mutant bigots acting under the orders of Cameron Hodge. Sara’s body was also absorbed by the Phalanx after her death, as revealed in X-Men #36.
Jean is overjoyed by Sara Grey’s miraculous return from the dead until Cable arrives and informs her in Phoenix #13 that “Sara” is not actually the resurrected Sara Grey, but was actually created when a wave of psychic energy was sent out by Jean to stop the Shadow Realm and Dark Gods (see Phoenix #10 for more details). Jean realizes that she connected herself with the universe and that Sara is a living personification of the link that she established. According to Cable, if Sara’s existence is allowed to continue, it will lead to the destruction of the universe, unless Jean does something to prevent the apocalyptic future from becoming reality.
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In Phoenix #14, Jean Grey insists on finding a solution to the problem that will save the universe without sacrificing Sara. Jean already lost her sister once before, and isn’t prepared to watch her die again. This is also a sensitive issue for Jean as the Grey family was obliterated in Uncanny X-Men #467 by the Shi’ar Empire. Phoenix #4 revealed that Gladiator, commander of the Imperial Guard, ordered the attack on Jean Grey’s entire family. After experiencing that kind of loss, it is understandable why Jean would want to hold on to Sara as long as she possibly can, and if someone has the power of a god, why wouldn’t they use that power to bend the universe and the cosmos to their will? Jean pledges to use her power to force the universe to accept Sara Grey despite Cable’s urging that Sara’s continued existence cannot go on jeopardizing the fate of the universe.
Jean’s efforts to protect Sara are complicated by the intervention of a cosmic entity called the In-Betweener, who bears the responsibility of preserving the equilibrium of all opposing forces in the universe. Jean Grey’s actions and the creation of Sara Grey have upset this balance, and the In-Betweener must now act accordingly to correct this mistake. However, Jean isn’t going down without a fight and is prepared to go to war for Sara. The issue ends with the In-Betweener summoning other cosmic entities to their aid, and in turn, various former Phoenix hosts, including Quentin Quire, Rachel Summers, and Hope Summers, come to Sara’s defense. With the stage set for an epic showdown, the war for Sara Grey is about to begin.
We will see the conclusion of this story in Phoenix #15 next month, which will also be Stephanie Phillips’ final issue of Phoenix, as she recently revealed in a TikTok, confirming that while her time on the book is ending, she has an exciting new project coming up that she hopes she can talk about with fans soon. The news that Stephanie Phillips will be ending her run with Phoenix #15 is interesting, as that will also be the final issue before the “Age of Revelation” event in which Stephanie Phillips will be writing a new title, Binary, which, based on solicits, may still continue the story of the Phoenix Force, but possibly without Jean Grey. The solicitations so far do not confirm what role, if any, Jean will play during the “Age of Revelation”, and it will be very interesting to see where Jean Grey will be after the event concludes.
Phoenix #14 finds Jean Grey in a precarious predicament where she must choose between the good of the universe and the living memory of her sister, Sara Grey. While this issue has plenty of action, the real strength of this issue is the emotional weight of Jean trying so desperately not to lose her sister again, even if it means putting the entire universe into jeopardy. The issue does a great job of setting up what is sure to be an exciting and climactic end to Stephanie Phillips’ run of Phoenix.
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