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Revision as of 15:36, 28 July 2004 by Erolos (talk | contribs) (sp.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Jean Grey is a comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She has used the code names Marvel Girl and Phoenix during her career, and is a member of the X-Men. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, she first appeared in X-Men #1 (1963).
Jean Grey is a mutant born with the abilities of telepathy and telekinesis.
Fictional biography
As a teenager, she began attending Professor Charles Xavier's "school for gifted youngsters" and joined the X-Men under the name of Marvel Girl. During her tenure there, she fell in love with Cyclops.
Following a mission in space, Grey attempted to pilot a shuttle back to Earth during one of the worst solar storms in history. The shuttle was unshielded and Grey would have died were it not for the intervention of the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix force. Though at the time it was believed (and the storyline meant it to be) that the Phoenix imbued Jean with vast cosmic powers, this was later retconned that she was actually placed into a coma in a cocoon in Jamaica Bay and the Phoenix adopted her identity as a heroine.
Phoenix believed herself to be Grey, and she and Cyclops continued their relationship, until Phoenix lost control of her powers, and eventually committed suicide. The lengthy story of the decline and fall of Phoenix, by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, is regarded as one of the best comics stories of the 1970s.
Grey's survival was revealed when the original X-Men formed X-Factor, which she joined when she emerged from her coma. Cyclops, in the meantime, had married her double (later revealed as her clone), Madelyne Pryor. Pryor joined her creator, Mister Sinister, as the villainous Goblin Queen, and herself died sometime after the founding of X-Factor.
As a result, Cyclops and Grey were able to resume their relationship, and eventually married. Shortly thereafter, she resumed using the name Phoenix as an attempt to redeem both the entity and herself in her mind, and also to honor her "daughter" from a future parallel world, Rachel Summers, who at the time was believed to be dead. Later, she assumed the role of the Headmistress of the Xavier Institute.
However, a combination of her new duties as headmistress, her re-emerging Phoenix powers, and Scott's temporary merger with the evil mutant Apocalypse, drove a wedge between Grey and Cyclops. Emma Frost took advantage of this, initiating an affair with Cyclops, and then falling in love with him. This led to Cyclops briefly walking out on both Jean and the X-Men. Upon his return, the team's arch-enemy Magneto attacked the X-Men, and killed Grey.
In a dark future 150 years down the line, Grey is revived as an even more powerful version of Phoenix. While she removed that possible future from existence, it is not clear whether Grey is still "alive" in any sense in the present.
Television and film
Marvel Girl was a character in the mid-1990s X-Men animated series, and guest starred on at least one episode of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in the early 1980s.
In the X-Men film and its sequel X2, Grey was portrayed by Famke Janssen.
Also, in the animated TV series X-Men: Evolution Jean was voiced by Venus Terzo.
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