The Dark Phoenix Retcon

[Mike Murdock]

Perhaps one of the greatest X-Men stories of all time is the Dark Phoenix Saga. I'm sure everyone knows the basics, but just in case: Jean Grey, corrupted by the power of the phoenix becomes an uncontrollable menace and destroys a solar system, killing billions in the process. Originally, the plan was to just have her powers removed and that was it, but Editor Jim Shooter said this was basically the equivalent of removing the German army and leaving Hitler in power. Part of the reason is the writers didn't make Jean possessed by the Phoenix force, she was merely corrupted by it. While her good-natured side didn't make these decisions, she ultimately did make them. After a significant amount of debate, they finally decided the only solution was to kill off the character. In the end of the story, Jean sacrifices herself to save the galaxy from herself.

Years later, Marvel wanted to create an X-Factor spinoff, which would feature the original X-Men lineup. Of course, in order to do this, they would need Jean Grey. In order to get around Jim Shooter's editorial mandate that required Jean to be blameless, they completely retconned the story. Jean Grey was never the Phoenix. Instead, every moment from the point Jean Grey saved everyone in the plane (including her saving the universe with the M'Kraan crystal to tender moments between her and Scott) were done by a separate entity that copied Jeans form. Therefore, the evil was committed by this entity instead. Obviously, this was one of the biggest retcons in X-Men history (I'd say bigger than the many Wolverine has had given its importance to the story and the characters).

So what do you think? Was Jim Shooter right? Was the only way to resurrect Jean Grey to keep her blameless? Could/should she have been allowed to live free (de-powered) after what she had done? Was the retcon ultimately the right way to go or did it cheapen the original story? Is there a large group of fandom that refuses to accept the retcon?

 

[Mad Ones]

I personally refuse to acknowledge the retcon and I'm pretty sure most current writers do to.

I'm happy Jean came back, but they could have handled it much better.

 

[Havok83]

I grew up on the retcon as I didnt start reading till the mid 90s so it was the only canon I had. I didnt mind it. I think Marvel has reconciled it and this is how I currently view it.

Jean became Phoenix in Uncanny X-men 101. She was about to die and her powers evolved and allowed her to tap into a cosmic force. Bc of her injuries, she cloned and created a new body for herself while her original was placed in a cocoon to heal.

Jean would rejoin the X-men as Phoenix and the power corrupted her thanks to the Hellfire Club's manipulation. The DPS happened and in the end she chose to end her life to prevent any further destruction. However doing so only destroyed her physical body. Her essence still remained and the PF tried to return to the original body, which rejected it. It would then go and awaken the dormant Madelyne Pryor.

X-factor happened with Jean being found but she had no memory of anything she had done as Phoenix bc that part of her hadnt returned. Bc of this, to her and everyone else, it was a different person. However Inferno showed that she, Madelyne and Phoenix were all parts of the same person and all their memories given to Jean. She struggled for a while as they existed as 3 different personalities but eventually they all united as one person and became her history.

She would then remain as an Xmen for years and eventually took on the Phoenix codename and costume, first as a tribute to Rachel and later to accept its history and empower herself a she explored her powers. Kelly and Seagle were planning on doing something with this but it wasnt till Morrison came that it was re-explored as Jean's powers evolved again and she was once again able to tap into and utilize the PF. She died but this time the PF was fragmented into thousands of pieces. Its these pieces which have inhabited several people since then, while Jean resides in the White Hot Room

Anyway thats how Ive reconciled it all in my mind. I think its the simplest approach which acknowledges her original story and the retcon without contradicting each other. Most characters within the books dont differentiate between Jean and Phoenix I as the latter's history is referenced in relation to Jean.

Unfortunately AvX kind of spit on the Endsong plot which had Jean going about trying to collect the fragments but I kind of hope it hasnt been completely abandoned as Secret Wars is a perfect place to provide closure to it. The way I see it, the PF were dispersed across time and space and this could explain the various Phoenixes we see in multiple timeline. Jean's mission has taken longer bc of that. With us knowing the multiverse is combining with one new one remaining in its aftermath, they could have the fragments finally united with the White Phoenix of the Crown fixing it all and burning away what no longer works in the new 616 going forward

 

[CaptainWagner]

Personally, I rank it as one of the worst retcons in Marvel History. They were just too lazy to try and delve into the complex stories a "non-blameless" Jean would entail.

 

[Jordacar]

I've been trying to imagine Jean's return from the dead if it were done like Green Lantern: Rebrith, where 1) the return an epic event in itself, 2) It's retcons and revelations are much more character-driven, and 3) Jean actually has to live down the actions of the Phoenix, at least to some degree.

 

[slicer4444]

I tend to ignore the retcon as I'm reading the comics. I realize I'm in denial, but I thought the retcon (which I did read long after the fact) was stupid and Jean should have to deal with what she did. Plus, with Jean, Rachel, and whoever else tapping into the Phoenix Force without a clone coming into the equation, the thought of Phoenix Force making a copy of Jean in the first place sounds even more stupid. This is not to say I don't like that Jean came back, I just think it was done poorly.

 

[Sithborg]

Ehh, what they did with Jean in X-factor was far, far, far better than what they did to Cyclops. All of the issues people have with Cyclops in the past few years pales to him leaving his family.

 

[Duran Man]

I don't like the retcon. That woman was Jean, I'm not having any of that clone s***.

 

[Mulholland-Jr]

Personally, I rank it as one of the worst retcons in Marvel History. They were just too lazy to try and delve into the complex stories a "non-blameless" Jean would entail.

Same with the Cyclops/Madeline Pryor mess. I swear, some of these retcons read like a 10 year old wrote them.