Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Where do we even begin?
If you are one of the $1.1 billion worth of people who’s seen “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” you might be wanting to learn more about Jean Grey. Sadie Sink stars in the film as the mutant character (whose name and identity were scrubbed from all marketing), one of Marvel Comics’ biggest heroes and one of the movie’s primary antagonists.
If you’re still new to the world of mutants and X-Men, you may be looking to learn more about Jean Grey and her place in the Marvel universe. Well, buckle up — the X-Men is nothing if not lore-heavy. For now, here are the highlights.
Who is Jean Grey?
Introduced in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s “The X-Men #1,” Jean Grey is one of the original five members of Marvel’s premiere mutant team (joined by Angel, Beast, Cyclops and Iceman). This places her at the forefront of the Marvel universe as one of the first Silver Age characters alongside the likes of the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor and Iron Man.
Jean has had a few aliases over the years. She started off in “The X-Men” going by Marvel Girl, but would later adopt the name Phoenix when she came into contact with the Phoenix Force in Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum’s 1976 “X-Men #101.” This name would get twisted to Dark Phoenix for a time when the Phoenix Force became corrupted.
Though Phoenix is certainly Jean’s most common mutant alias, she is the rare case of a mutant who most frequently simply goes by her full name. The character has been played a few times on the big screen before, with Famke Janssen taking on the role for the original “X-Men” movies and Sophie Turner taking over for “X-Men: Apocalypse” and “Dark Phoenix.”
What are Jean Grey’s powers?
Jean Grey is, simply put, one of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel universe.
As seen in “Brand New Day,” Jean has the powers of both telepathy and telekinesis, allowing her to control minds, see into people’s minds, transmit her own thoughts into others’ minds and move objects with her own mind (it’s a lot of mind stuff). Jean is, of course, a mutant — if you aren’t too familiar with the X-Men, this means she was born with her powers as a member of the homo superior (the next step in evolution after the homo sapiens). This distinguishes mutants from heroes like Spider-Man and Hulk, who were born as normal humans and were only granted their powers later through scientific accidents.
Later on in the Marvel universe, Jean was declared an “Omega-level mutant,” or one of the most powerful mutants in the world. Omega-level mutants, as defined by Jonathan Hickman at the beginning of the Krakoa era of “X-Men” comics (when all the mutants lived on a living island — it was fun), are those whose powers lack an upper limit. While there are technically things Jean can’t do with her telekinesis, she is defined as an omega-level telepath because she has seemingly no limit on those mental abilities.
Jean starts “Brand New Day” far weaker than her comic book counterpart — she’s only able to mind control one person at a time, she can only “hop” into new people at a distance of 33 feet and she completely lacks her telekinetic abilities. After being experimented on by the Department of Damage Control, however, she gets a massive power upgrade, not unlike the upgrade she gets when coming into contact with the Phoenix Force. Still, Sink’s Jean Grey will need some mutant training if she wants to get anywhere near her comic book power level.
What is Jean Grey’s origin?
“Brand New Day” took great liberties in adapting Jean Grey, particularly where her origin is concerned.
In the comics, Jean develops her mutant powers as a young girl, just like in the film. But where Sink’s Jean has a sister, Sara, who develops telepathy as well (and seemingly first), the Sara Grey of the comics lacked powers for most of her publication history.
Sara and Jean were not abandoned by their mother in the comics as they say they were in “Brand New Day.” Instead, after Jean’s powers began to manifest when she was a young girl, she suffered a traumatic experience when her best friend, Annie, died while they were psychically linked. This put her in a dire, comatose state, which caused Charles Xavier to enter her life in a bid to help her control her powers (he even blocked her telepathy for a time until she could get a better handle on it when she was older). Jean’s parents agreed to send her away with Professor X so he could continue helping her master her abilities.
So the Jean Grey of the MCU is already off to a far more tragic start than her comic book counterpart. How that affects her character down the line remains to be seen.
Where can I learn more about Jean Grey?
The lore of most X-Men characters is vast and winding, and it would take far too long to explain every intricacy about a character like Jean Grey here. Still, there are a handful of comics you can check out to get a good start with the character.
The most foundational Jean Grey text you’re going to find is probably Chris Claremont’s work on the character through his iconic “Uncanny X-Men” run. If you truly want to understand Jean, the “Phoenix Saga” (“X-Men #101-108”) and “Dark Phoenix Saga” (“X-Men #129-138”) are a perfect place to start. It’s a thrilling series of comics and very friendly to new readers.
You can also find a solid, shortened version of Jean’s origin in Sean McKeever and Mike Mayhew’s “X-Men Origins: Jean Grey #1” from 2008. From there, there are plenty of reading guides you can consult online to find excellent “X-Men” books — just get ready for a whole lot more lore to be thrown your way.
