A Defense of Jean Grey's Death
X-Men is one of my favorite teams of superheroes. I’m sure that much is obvious from my blog’s design. I’m sure it’s equally obvious that I like Jean Grey/Phoenix/Dark Phoenix. I believe that she’s an incredibly fascinating character in that she is such a good individual, however she has the greatest destructive potential of any comic character. That said, I am going to take a rather controversial stance on her death in the Dark Phoenix Saga.
I think that Jean Grey’s death in the Dark Phoenix Saga was entirely necessary.
Despite Claremont and original readers’ opinions, I agree with the publishers that Jean Grey had to die at the end of the story arc. I feel that thematically, the death was necessary. However, I do not think that the ending to the arc is particularly well handled. It is rushed and undeveloped. Jean’s descent back to being the Dark Phoenix is done quickly and without build up. This could have been alleviated, had Claremont given her death further thought and consideration. As it is, his resentment at writing her death is almost tangible. While the rest of the arc seems to have been constructed carefully, the last portion falls short.
More conflict could have come from the Phoenix killing billions. The only ones that seem to be taking that detail with full seriousness are the Shi’ar (and the editors/publishers). The Shi’ar are in the right here. Jean is dangerous no matter how in control she might seem, and I don’t think it was wrong of them to want to take action against her.
Had Jean been allowed to walk away from the events of this story arc, it would have been an insult to the character as well as an insult to the X-Men. The X-Men in the comic seem to be taking a billion lives as just a statistic. Each member of the team is shown considering this fact, but all just as easily come to support Jean in the end. With the persecution of mutants on Earth, I feel that the X-Men should have been more horrified at the deaths of billions of innocents. Allowing anyone even a close friend and team member to get away with the total genocide of a planet and all its species goes against what the very nature of the team.
And as far as Jean Grey herself is concerned, I found it poignant that she sacrificed herself in order to save the universe from further destruction at the hands of the Phoenix. If she had not been able to make this sacrifice, I do not think that I would be able to like the character as much as I do. She gives her actions much more weight than the other characters do, and does what she can to prevent it from happening in the future.
Jean’s sacrifice could have been handled with more grace, but I still feel that it was necessary after the Dark Phoenix’s actions. It highlights the difference between the two personalities, one being the ultimate force of destruction and the other being one of love and compassion. Jean would not have put herself over the good of the rest of the universe.
