Jean Grey was one of the original members of the X-Men and has remained an incredibly important character, even when she wasn’t alive.
The first issue of Uncanny X-Men introduced Jean to the other members of the team, as it showed the day she became a member of the X-Men.
As the years went by, she would eventually become the bearer of the mighty Phoenix Force and would be involved in some of the most important X-Men storylines of all time.
Jean Grey has one of the most unusual backstories in the history of Marvel Comics, which is partly due to several editorial mandates that have retconned parts of her life.
As such, it’s difficult to tell what is true or false about the life of Jean Grey, as the creators behind her existence have been forced to change the direction of her story on many occasions.
Was Jean Grey in control when the Dark Phoenix wiped out a planet? What is the true nature of her mutant abilities and what is the limits of their power? Is it even possible for Jean Grey to be defeated with the shadow of the Phoenix always lingering over her shoulder?
It’s impossible to answer these questions, as the explanation may change in the next issue of the X-Men comics.
We are here today to learn the secrets of the member of the X-Men who has undergone more changes than any other person on the team; from her peculiar relationship with her genetic family members to the truth behind her relationship with the Phoenix.
Here are the 20 Strange Details About Jean Grey’s Body!
There Is A Clone Of Her
The world at large believed that Jean Grey had perished when the Dark Phoenix took its own life. It was later revealed that she had been placed in a cocoon and hidden away.
A new woman who looked just like Jean Grey appeared in Scott Summers’ life. Her name was Madelyne Pryor and the two soon fell in love.
It was later revealed that Madelyne Pryor was a clone of Jean Grey who was created by Mister Sinister in order to create a powerful mutant child.
Scott Summers and Madelyne Pryor had a son, who would later grow up to the mutant called Cable.
Madelyne would later become a villain and Jean would return to life. This meant that Jean Grey took care of a child who was created from her own identical clone, yet she had never given birth.
This means that Jean Grey has several “clones-in-law,” as well as children from other timelines, like Rachel Summers.
Jean has always treated her unorthodox relatives as family members, which is as much a story of acceptance as the dream of Charles Xavier.
She can transform into a being of pure psychic energy
One of the enduring questions about Jean Grey is the true nature of her powers, as there have been numerous different explanations as to what they are, yet they keep getting retconned.
When Jean Grey was introduced, she was portrayed as only possessing the power of telekinesis.
As time went on, it was revealed that she was also a telepath, but Charles Xavier sealed this away at a young age due to trauma that Jean experienced when witnessing the demise of one of her friends.
The younger version of Jean Grey who appeared in the present day has demonstrated the ability to transform into a being of pure psychic energy, giving her access to a new range of powers that she could not use before.
This version of Jean Grey can also create psionic weapons in the real world, in the same manner as Psylocke’s blade.
She Has A Non-Biological Son
The reason why Mister Sinister went to the trouble of creating a clone of Jean Grey is due to the incredible potential of her DNA. Mister Sinister is obsessed with creating the ultimate mutant and has spent much of his life researching the secrets of genetics.
Mister Sinister believes that the bloodline of the Grey family and the Summers family has amazing potential, which is why he was so frustrated when Jean was believed to have perished.
In the Age of Apocalypse timeline, Mister Sinister had free access to both Jean Grey and Scott Summers, which allowed him to create an incredibly powerful mutant child, known as Nate Grey.
Sinister created Nate for the sole purpose of taking down Apocalypse, who was close to destroying the world.
Nate Grey wasn’t quite as powerful as Apocalypse during their only encounter, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. If he had been given more time to learn how to use his powers, then he may have been able to free the world from Apocalypse’s rule.
She Has Possessed Other Bodies
It’s possible for a suitably powerful telepath to cheat fate by using their ability to possess the body of another person.
This is how Charles Xavier survived being vaporized by the Phoenix in the third X-Men movie, as he was able to telepathically retreat into the body of his twin brother.
Jean Grey has also demonstrated this ability, as she once possessed the body of Emma Frost when her own body was injured.
This happened when Trevor Fitzroy and his sentinels attacked Emma and her Hellions, as part of the Upstart’s plan to earn points by slaying prominent mutants.
This possession brought all of Jean’s powers along for the ride, which meant that she retained her telekinesis while still in Emma’s body.
She Can Prevent Others From Accessing Their Powers
The X-Men are all about creating a world where humans and mutants can live in peaceful co-existence.
This means that they often come into contact with mutants who want to start a war with humanity or simply want revenge against those who had oppressed them in the past.
Jean Grey has a distinct advantage against mutant opponents, as she has the ability to telepathically place “psychic inhibitors” within the minds of her enemies, which prevent them from accessing their special powers.
This ability is used sparingly by the writers, as it’s something that would allow Jean to defuse most encounters in the space of a few pages.
It’s also possible for opponents to resist her telepathy to a certain degree, depending on their own abilities and level of training, so it isn’t always guaranteed to work.
She’s An X-Assassin
The vast majority of superheroes will not slay their opponents, regardless of how much of a threat they pose.
This is less to do with morality as it with awesome villains like the Joker being written out of the Batman stories after a single story.
The X-Men aren’t as picky when it comes to permanently taking down their foes and they never seem to face any consequences for these actions.
Jean Grey has caused the demise of several X-Men villains, such as the time when she smashed Prism of the Marauders into pieces.
Prism was made of a crystalline substance that allowed him to amplify and control light. Jean thought he looked tougher than he was and she accidentally broke him into shards when she threw him at a wall.
Jean Grey also caused the demise of a mutant called MeMe (who had no relation to memes) by literally shutting off his brain with her telepathy.
Spock Can Sense Her
The Star Trek and X-Men franchises have been closely linked for a long time, with many actors appearing in both franchises.
There have been several Star Trek/X-Men crossovers that have taken place in comic books and novels.
The ’90s version of the X-Men once arrived on Captain Kirk’s Enterprise during the events of Star Trek/X-Men, which infamously featured the scene where Wolverine was defeated with a Vulcan nerve pinch.
When Jean Grey attempted to use her powers on the Enterprise, she immediately revealed her presence to Spock, who is more attuned to psychic energy than his crewmates, thanks to the limited telepathic abilities of the Vulcan race.
This allowed Spock to track the X-Men and easily defeat Wolverine in combat.
She Can Switch Other People’s Minds
Telepathy is one of the most intrusive superpowers that are commonly used in comic books.
Nowhere was this more apparent than in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man, when Jean Grey switched the minds of Spider-Man and Wolverine without telling them first.
Spider-Man and Wolverine had to live out a day in each other’s bodies, which culminated in them teaming up to defeat the Shocker, so they had to quickly become adjusted to the limitations of their current form in a battle situation.
The reason why Jean switched Spider-Man and Wolverine’s minds was as a punishment for Wolverine hitting on her the night before.
The X-Men played it off as a prank, even though Spider-Man was furious for being used in such an awful way, as he had done nothing wrong.
Her Powers May Be Even Stronger Than The Phoenix Force
Jean Grey’s powers were never allowed to develop at a natural rate, as the trauma she suffered as a child forced Charles Xavier to put blocks within Jean’s mind in order to stop her from ever losing control.
The recent X-Men comics have revealed that the Phoenix Force was acting in a similar manner.
Jean was subconsciously holding back for a long time, as the presence of the Phoenix within her mind (both literally and figuratively depending on the period of time) meant that she was always restricting her abilities without realizing it.
Now that Jean Grey is free from the influence of the Phoenix, she is now able to use her powers at a previously unknown level.
Jean has made it clear that the Phoenix has actually been holding her back this whole time, which means that she may possess a power that is even greater than the Phoenix Force.
She Placed Mental Blocks In Jessica Jone’s Mind To Prevent The Purple Man From Controlling Her
The Alias comic book series went into a great deal of detail concerning the period of time when the Purple Man enslaved Jessica Jones and used her as his henchman.
Jessica was helped in overcoming her trauma by Jean Grey, who used her powers to reach into Jessica’s mind and befriended her within her own psyche.
It turned out that Jean Grey would act as a savior to Jessica Jones at a later point in her life, as she had prepared Jessica for her next encounter with the Purple Man.
When the Purple Man returned to reclaim Jessica, it was revealed that Jean Grey had placed special blocks in Jessica’s mind that would allow her to regain control of her body if it was being controlled through chemicals, which is how the Purple Man’s powers operate.
This allowed Jessica to resist the Purple Man and finally give him the beating that the audience had been waiting for.
She Refused To Use A Secret Identity
The X-Men have always been fuzzy on their secret identities, with some of them even operating without masks, such as Jubilee and Rogue.
Jean Grey was one of the worst when it came to maintaining a secret identity, as there was a long period of time when she didn’t use one.
Jean Grey made even less of an attempt to hide her activities during the early days of the X-Men, as she used to work as a bikini model on the side.
When Charles Xavier was believed to have perished at the hands of the being known as Grotesk, the X-Men decided to go their separate ways.
In Uncanny X-Men #48, Jean decided to become a bikini model in order to have an excuse to explain to her parents why she wouldn’t return home.
She Is An Omega-Level Threat
The scariest thing about mutants is that any person could one day wake up with superpowers.
There aren’t many radioactive spiders running around, nor many people with the knowledge of how to make an Iron Man suit, so they don’t pose as much of a threat to the world as a teenager with the power to turn everything around them to dust.
There are certain official designations given to the most powerful mutants in order to determine their threat to the world at large.
The highest designation is “Omega-Level” and it is a group that contains the likes of Iceman, Legion, and Nate Grey.
Jean Grey is classed as an Omega-Level mutant, even without the power of the Phoenix Force.
Her telepathy isn’t that far behind the level of Charles Xavier, while she also has incredible telekinesis at her disposal.
She Had A Rejected Go-Go Costume
Jean Grey has mostly avoided wearing revealing costumes throughout her career. She started out with the standard X-Men uniform, before moving to an outfit with a very short skirt.
This was about as revealing as her outfits got, as the Phoenix outfit covered her body, while the horrible blue and orange number that she wore through the nineties was pretty bulky.
When the second generation of the X-Men was being designed, there was a decision made to give some of the older team members some new outfits.
Dave Cockrum was tasked with updating Jean Grey’s outfit in order to make her look more interesting.
Dave Cockrum’s design was rejected for looking too much like a go-go girl, which is what he was going for in the first place.
This was an odd choice, as the outfit looked similar to the one that was eventually given to Storm.
The Phoenix Is No Match For The Office
The shadow of the Phoenix will always linger over Jean Grey, even though the terrible actions performed by Dark Phoenix were not her fault.
There is always the fear that the Phoenix will return and cause havoc, with the threat of the destruction of the universe always being there, so long as Jean is still around.
Jean Grey was planned to regain the power of the Phoenix Force back in 1998, during Steve Seagle’s run on Uncanny X-Men.
His original plan was for Jean to gain the Phoenix Force, instead of being replaced by the Phoenix, and see whether she would succumb to evil and become the Dark Phoenix.
The idea of Jean gaining the power of the Phoenix was heavily hinted in several issues of Uncanny X-Men, but the storyline had to be dropped when a change of direction for the series forced all of the earlier plans to be scrapped.
She Appeared In A Mature Manga
DC and Marvel may be incredibly valuable entertainment properties, but the comics themselves don’t sell well, even with the popular cinematic universes backing them up.
In contrast, manga sells a lot more than superhero comics made in the West, which is why Marvel tried to capture a piece of the market with their short-lived Marvel Mangaverse.
This was a line that reimagined many Marvel characters with the manga aesthetic.
One of the most infamous Marvel Mangaverse series was called X-Men: Phoenix - Legacy of Fire. The first issue of this series ran with a PG label and was later moved to Marvel’s MAX label, which is reserved for comics with a more mature theme.
The problem with X-Men: Phoenix - Legacy of Fire was due to the unbelievable amount of fanservice that it contained, as it include very mature versions of Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor.
She Has To Encounter The Phoenix Force To Save The World
The X-Men have been treated poorly compared to most of the other superheroes in the Marvel universe due to the fear of mutantkind that is still present among humanity.
The X-Men were vital to the safety of the universe, as they prevented Emperor D’Ken from using the power of the M’Kraan Crystal to try and become a god, which would have resulted in the destruction of the universe, if not for the intervention of the Phoenix.
There are alternate realities where Jean Grey never encountered the Phoenix Force, which meant that D’Ken’s plans were allowed to go forward.
This happened in the Age of Apocalypse reality, which was originally destroyed (before a retcon), as Jean Grey wasn’t available to save the universe.
She Wasn’t As Strong In Video Games
The Phoenix may be one of the most powerful beings in the universe, but that means little when it comes to fighting games, as she was added as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.
This meant that the Phoenix could be defeated by the likes of Chris Redfield from Resident Evil and Ryu from Street Fighter.
While the Phoenix wasn’t as powerful as her comic book counterpart, she was still considered to be one of the best characters in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
This was due to the fact she could heal herself by turning into the Dark Phoenix, which also drastically increased the power of her attacks.
Phoenix was nerfed in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, as her maximum health was decreased and some of the combo potential of her moves was removed in order to prevent her from trapping the opponent in a string of moves that they couldn’t escape from.
She Was Meant To Replace Beast
The comic book version of Jean Grey is presented as an intelligent woman, but she is not a doctor or a scientist like some of the other members of the X-Men.
The movie version of Jean Grey from the first series of X-Men movies was actually a doctor and was skilled in the science of genetics.
The reason why Jean Grey was turned into a doctor was so that she could replace the hole in the story left by Beast.
The early drafts of X-Men had wanted to include Beast as a founding member of the team, but the technology didn’t exist to properly represent his body back when the movie had entered pre-production, so he had to be written out of the story until the third film in the series.
She Wore A Controversial Outfit During Her Time With The Hellfire Club
The Hellfire Club was a group of villains who were responsible for accidentally creating the Dark Phoenix. The individual members of the Hellfire Club should all look familiar, as they are based on prominent actors, such as Harry Leland looking just like Orson Welles.
When Jean Grey became the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club, she donned a black corset along with long black boots and gloves.
Chris Claremont has admitted that the Black Queen’s outfit was inspired by an episode of The Avengers (the British spy show, not the one with Captain America and Iron Man), which was considered controversial during its first showing.
The episode of The Avengers in question is called “A Touch of Brimstone” and it involves Emma Peel wearing a revealing black outfit while infiltrating a cult.
This episode wasn’t shown at all in America and was only aired in a censored form in Britain.
The Phoenix Was Changed From Being An Outside Force To Being A Part Of Her Mind
The Phoenix and Dark Phoenix storylines are some of the most popular X-Men tales of all time, so it must have been tempting for the creators of the X-Men movies to try and adapt them for the big screen.
The problem with a straight adaptation of the Phoenix storylines is that they involve intergalactic empires and races of visually diverse aliens, which would be expensive to try and replicate in a movie.
This is why the actual attempts at including the Phoenix in the X-Men movies have removed the cosmic element from its origin.
Bryan Singer had wanted to adapt the Phoenix storyline as early as the second movie, but he was talked out of it by Zak Penn.
Singer had wanted to do the cosmic version of the Phoenix, which may have happened if he had remained on the series.
When he left, the Phoenix was changed to being a dark aspect of Jean Grey’s mind, rather than an outside force.
Can you think of any other interesting facts about Jean Grey’s body? Let us know in the comments!
