They're about to miss a gigantic opportunity. Currently in Ultimate X-Men, they have alluded to retelling what has become the quintessential X-Men story, The Dark Phoenix Saga. Instead of going the familiar route that fans have come to expect, now is the time to veer off into uncharted territory.
In the past, Marvel harbored no qualms about addressing pertinent topics, especially those relating to teenagers. An epidemic now looms over teens and claims fifteen percent of the nations teenage girls. This woe of society is teen pregnancy. Marvel needs to step up to the plate and tell a responsible story about the effects of children having children. And it would have the most impact if the vehicle for that story was an interregnal character, Ultimate Jean Grey. This is a story of true drama and suspense. Its not about Sentinels attacking the Mansion or Magneto latest megalomaniac scheme. It is a sincere human story about a girl who happens to be a mutant and how her life is forever changed when she happens to become pregnant.
At the conclusion of a story arc, Jean and Scott share a post coital conversation. Jean becomes less and less interested in Scotts pillow talk and increasingly distressed. She turns to Scott and in a dramatic moment, she says, as much to her as him, Im pregnant? The two conspire to keep this from the rest of the team, and after much debate, Scott finally convinces Jean to have an abortion. Scott drives her to the clinic and drops her off. As the rest of the team are off on a mission of global importance, Jean sits alone making a personal decision. For an entire issue, she impatiently waits as she gets registered, frets in the waiting room and is finally called back to meet the doctor. She undresses and puts on the gown and sits in the stirrups as the doctor prepares for the procedure. Suddenly, from her belly comes a faint voice, projected via thought saying mommy.
Mind you, this is not a pro-life or pro-choice story, but a pro Jeans choice. This is not saying that all embryos have the ability to think, just this one, this mutant, this Rachel. Jean decides to have her baby. And Scott, responsible Scott, makes the decision that many teenage daddies make, and he splits.
Think of the possibilities. We follow Jean and baby Rachel as she carries her full term. As a telekinetic, she can float around upside down when her back and feet ache. As a telepath, she is in constant communication with the child that grows inside her. We even have the chance to play with the psychological question of the nature of thought. Can we have thought without words and language? Every parent has looked into their babys eyes and wondered whats going on behind them. We have a glorious opportunity to show what babies are thinking and how they process information. We also have an opportunity address the theme of motherhood, the bond of mother and child and Stan Lee's favorite theme of responsibility as we follow Jean through this tumultuous transition from adolescence into womanhood. And we have the grand opportunity to seize headlines of the national media and appeal to the huge demographic of preteen and teenage girls. Ultimate X-Men already has a huge female fan base, and this story will be sure to increase it exponentially while captivating the male audience as well.
Seriously the preview looks great, I just hope after all this planning he actually escapes from the Triskelion entirely.
