Okay, kidding about the shock part since this spoiler had been floating around for a while. Jean Grey died for the final time most recently 10 years ago in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run. She also famously died in the original Claremont/Byrne X-Men.

But it’s time for renewal and Legacy so Grey is back with a five issue mini,  PHOENIX RESURRECTION, written by Matthew Rosenberg (Secret Warriors, Punisher) and drawn by Leinil Yu (Secret Empire). This resurrection will roll out with a full pageant of homage -y variant covers by tippity top names like Arthur Adams.

Phoenix’s first and most iconic death was caused by editorial fiat, and, unusually for a comic book character, she stayed dead for many years, with a return from Reichenbach Falls expressly forbidden, leading to many clones, dreams and hoaxes, and eventually revival and a new, permeable death.

And now she’s back!

Strange events are no surprise to the X-Men, but when events start occurring that are more specific and strange than usual, the group is forced to confront the truth: could Jean be alive after all? And how will this Jean Grey deal with a world that is now so different from the one she left years ago?

“Matt came to us with a really interesting and unique approach to bringing Jean back,” said senior editor Mark Paniccia. “It’s not what we expected, and plays to Matt’s biggest strengths as a storyteller. This is very cool mystery building to a mind-warping climax. And it has plenty of what you’d expect from an X-MEN epic of this magnitude. Action, romance, sacrifice, lots of X-Men and five great artists.”

Rosenberg expressed asimilar degree of enthusiasm. “It’s such a mind-blowing honor to bring back the original Jean Grey,” said series writer Matthew Rosenberg. “I’ve been an X-Men fan my whole life and Jean is, in my mind, the true soul of the X-Men. So we aren’t taking this lightly. We’re going for that perfect balance of universe shaking epic and intimate personal drama that only the X-Men ever truly achieve. This is all hands on deck for the X-Men as every available member heads into battle for the soul of their team and maybe even the fate of the Marvel Universe.”

“This is just the beginning,” teased Paniccia. “Something this big will leave quite a footprint on the Marvel Universe. Jean will have a startling new role after this, and you’re left wondering, how will the rest of the X-Men respond? What will happen to young Jean Grey?”

PHOENIX RESURRECTION goes on sale December 27th just in time to celebrate the new year.

PHOENIX RESURRECTION: THE RETURN OF JEAN GREY #1
Written by MATTHEW ROSENBERG
Art by LEINIL YU

PHOENIX_RESURRECTION_VARIANT_CVR_ARTHUR_ADAMSPHOENIX_RESURRECTION_REMASTEREDPHOENIX_RESURRECTION_CVR

7 COMMENTS

  1. Its funny the only returning hero from Marvel isn’t a white male haha…. But anyway, unless Teenage Jean and the other 4 originals aren’t sent back to the past then no thanks. I can see it now – Teen Jean will defeat Phoenix with 1 punch …. ugh

  2. Well it’s a lot easier for them to bring an old market-tested character back than to do all of the work and take the risk of introducing a new character. Personally I think it’s a lazy way to write and it’s one of the reasons I laugh when ever anyone dies in comics. And when death has no impact, what is the point of having the characters in danger?

  3. Writers won’t create new characters so they have to re-use old ones. The most disappointing part of this announcement was the part about five different artists on a five issue mini-series.

    LL

  4. Oh, this is the teased return of a major character for Legacy? Not Reed and Sue, not Captain Marvel or Adam Warlock? Turns out they picked the most boring possibility.

  5. Phoenix is an excellent choice (given their options from a business and marketing perspective). Great villains never go away forever. Next up: Evil Steve Rogers becomes the Red Skull. SECRET EMPIRE certainly has many flaws, but turning Hydra Cap into the Red Skull is good soap opera.

    LL

Comments are closed.