- "Every few millennia, evolution leaps forward"
- ―Jean Grey
Jean Elaine Grey is a Class Five mutant with immensely powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities.
Biography
Background
As children, she & Annie Malcolm were very close friends. One day while playing Frisbee outside Annie, being too competitive and not paying attention, made the catch and was soon hit by a speeding car. Jean ran over to her slowly dying friend and suddenly felt as if she was dying too. That's when Jean first got her powers. After Annie's death, Jean began to dream of fire and dancing among the stars. And then she fell into a two-year coma.[2]
A young Jean meeting with Charles Xavier about joining is school.
Jean was reading in her room from Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood Ends when Erik Lehnsherr and Charles Xavier arrived at the Grey's home. She overheard them talking to her parents, and they wanted to meet a mutant who had a great telepathic power. While Lehnsherr wants to use her power, Xavier fears that it's far too dangerous. As a result, he creates psychic barriers to restrain Jean's powers, which ultimately causes her to develop a suppressed alter ego: The Phoenix.[1]
After years of attending Xavier's school together, she began a relationship with her classmate and teammate Scott Summers (also known as Cyclops).[1]
X-Men
Jean Grey debating with Senator Kelly about the Mutant Registration Act.
Nearly twenty years later, Jean Grey spoke before Congress, urging its members to vote against the Mutant Registration Act - which would force mutants to reveal themselves to the public. Unfortunately, she failed when Senator Kelly, a staunch proponent of the Act, outmaneuvered her in their debate.
After Wolverine and Rogue were attacked by the Brotherhood of Mutants and saved by Cyclops and Storm, Jean is the one who tends to their wounds once in the X-Mansion. When Wolverine awakes, he attacks Jean - choking her before fleeing. Jean is later showing Wolverine his room. The two have a talk, and Jean puts her telepathic power to a test by reading his mind. After Xavier is affected by Mystique's toxin, Jean uses the Cerebro to track down Rogue and Magneto, but her powers aren't powerful enough to use it and, even if she manages to locate them, the machine drains her power and abilities.
Jean Grey at Liberty Island.
After the mission, she assists Xavier until he's healed from the poisoning. With Magneto in jail, the Brotherhood disbanded, and the Mutant Registration Act put on hold, Jean can refocus her efforts as a teacher.
X2: X-Men United
Following the battle on Liberty Island, something about Jean has changed: her powers have increased drastically. Jean is on a field trip with the rest of institute and she begins to hear everyone's thoughts in the area. Her telekinesis reacts and starts to make the electronics in the area flicker until Scott confronts her about the vast increase in her powers since the battle on Liberty Island. Jean was unable to levitate a chair across the room and now their bedroom shakes when she has nightmares. Jean tells Scott she senses danger in their future and the two hold each other to calm one another.
Jean Grey holding Nightcrawler in the air.
Returning to the X-Mansion, Jean and Storm discover that the school had been attacked by Colonel William Stryker and his HYDRA allies, when they intercept a call from Wolverine, and he tells them they're at Bobby Drake's parents house. Jean and Storm pick up him and three students (Rogue, Iceman and Pyro). In flight, the X-Jet is attacked by two F-16s due to Pyro's aggressive reaction to the police shooting Wolverine out of fear. Storm tries to evade them with maneuvers and creating tornadoes, however, they managed to fire two missiles. Jean uses her power to destroy one of the missiles they have launched - her eyes starting to glow with a fiery light. One of the missiles manages to hit the jet, and the X-Men are saved by Magneto, who offers an alliance against Stryker. During a briefing, the former enemies share their respective information about Stryker and decide to attack his Alkali Lake base. There Jean reads Nightcrawler's mind and discovers the base is underground.
Jean Grey uses her powers against a brainwashed Cyclops.
Jean Grey sacrificing herself to save the X-Men.
X-Men: The Last Stand
Jean Grey and Cyclops at Alkali Lake.
Back at the X-Mansion, Xavier explains to Logan how she survived (using telekinetic energy), and how she is a Class 5 mutant with potentially limitless power due her mutation being seated in the subconscious part of her mind. Because of this, Jean developed a dual personality; the conscious Jean Grey and the dormant Phoenix - a purely instinctual creature.
Later on, Logan returns to check up on Jean. Once there, she tries to seduce him, but when he refuses the Phoenix breaks through and possesses her. After attacking Logan, she escapes the Mansion and returns to her childhood home. There, she was approached by both the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants - who fight each other while Xavier and Magneto attempt to convince Jean to join their respective sides. When Xavier tries to block her alternate personality, the Phoenix becomes enraged and unleashes her power, destroying the home and killing Xavier. Confused and saddened by her mentor's death, Jean follows Magneto to his hideout.
Jean Grey sides with Magneto after killing Professor X.
During the battle that follows the X-Men's arrival, Magneto tries to convince Phoenix to participate, but she appears uninterested during its duration. Wolverine almost manages to make Jean's personality resurface, but human soldiers intensify their fire on her, unleashing her rage. The Phoenix breaks through again and takes over Jean's body. She starts a massive attack on everything and everyone within the area, destroying Worthington's facility and killing any human or mutant in her way. While everyone is forced to escape, only Wolverine manages to approach her, since his healing factor prevents her powers from disintegrating him. When Logan manages to break through to Jean, she begs him to stop her. In tears, declaring his love to her, Wolverine stabs Jean Grey, killing her and putting an end to the destruction.
Sometime after the events on Alcatraz, Jean's grave is placed near Scott's and Xavier's.
The Wolverine
Jean Grey haunting Logan after her death.
X-Men: Apocalypse
In 1983 Jean Grey is a student at Xaviers School of Gifted Youngster, she is an outsider and is feared by some students due to the uncontrollable nature of her powers. She has had previous instances where nightmares have caused her powers to overload and shake the whole school, scaring her fellow students. She is later seen walking to class where she bumps into new student Scott Summers with his brother Alex, he accidentally knocks her books out of her hands but she catches them telekinetically, she also looks into his mind briefly to Scott's annoyance. Jean goes to the campus to practice her archery, a special training technique Professor X gave her, she witnesses Scott unleash his power and destroy Charles favourite tree. During the final battle with Apocalypse, Professor X calls out to her for help in battle. Jean unleashes the full extent of her powers and destroys Apocalypse who states "all is revealed" when he sees Jean's power. Though Professor X has apparently died, Jean senses that he still lives and heals his injuries. She later trains as one of the new X-Men.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Jean Grey and Cyclops are seen alive in the new future.
Personality
Jean is generally a polite and well-spoken member of the X-Men. She shows her intelligence by debating against Senator Kelly about the Mutant Registration Act and is also a doctor where she treats Wolverine and Professor X. She has a strong bond with her love interest, Cyclops, and says that he is the good guy, compared to Logan.[3] Jean shows that she is willing to sacrifice herself for her team members, which is shown when she used Cerebro for the first time to locate Magneto and when she gave her life after saving the X-Men by lifting the X-Jet to safety and being covered in water at Alkali Lake.[4]
When Jean was young, she was scared of her abilities and that caused her to be somewhat of a loner at Xavier's School, a lot of other students also became afraid of her. She did, however, form a strong bond with Charles Xavier, with him becoming a father-like figure to her due to their telepathic bond. As soon as she met a young Scott Summers, there was an immediate attraction and a bond formed over the lack of control both of them had over their powers. In her youth, Jean's uncontrollable powers led her to feel the emotions of others at all times, knowing how other people felt led her to want to be a better person and help them.[5]
Jean shows to have an alter-ego known as 'The Phoenix', which in the original timeline was created after Professor Xavier placed psychic blocks on her powers to keep her under control. The Phoenix is an Id-like manifestation of her deepest emotions, primarily rage and desire. The extent of Phoenix's control over Jean's mind is unclear, only appearing in times of emotional duress. She killed her love interest Cyclops and her mentor Professor X without showing guilt until after realizing what she had done, which caused her confusion.[1]
In the revised timeline it is shown that the Professor did not suppress her powers, and as such she was able to unleash enough power to destroy Apocalypse; however, it is heavily hinted that her powers will still manifest with a dark side, even if not in the same way as before.[5]
Powers, Abilities, & Weaknesses
- Telekinesis - Jean had the ability to levitate, move, immobilize, and manipulate objects with her mind. Beast once stated that Jean's powers had no limits. When unleashing the full extent of her powers, Jean's powers manifested around her as a fiery raptor.
- Biokinesis - At the full extent of her power she can also alter the formation of living creatures at a molecular level.
- Disintegration - Jean can telekinetically rip apart a being's molecules, destroying them. In the original timeline, during her first disintegration attempt, the Phoenix slowly destroyed Professor X's cells before she completely obliterated him in the apex of her wrath. Later, when she is on the rampage, she disintegrates everything around her with no effort at all. In the revised timeline, during the battle against Apocalypse, she also slowly disintegrated him.
- Energy Manipulation - Jean can manipulate and absorb any kind of energy. She can redirect energy and control it, for example, when she was able to stop Scott's eyes from releasing a beam of energy, and was also able to redirect it during a fight.
- Telekinetic Blast - Jean can project waves of telekinetic energy to impulse, hit and destroy many objects or people.
- Telekinetic Flight - Jean can fly using her telekinesis by levitating herself. During the battle against Apocalypse, Jean was able to float in the air while attacking him.
- Telekinetic Shield - Jean can generate telekinetic shields or barriers to block, contain and deflect/decelerate targets. To protect herself and others from the rushing waters of Alkali Lake, Jean block it the water. Jean unconsciously wrapped herself in a cocoon of telekinetic energy to shield her from the inundation. This can also become an offensive move by throwing the shield.
- Biokinesis - At the full extent of her power she can also alter the formation of living creatures at a molecular level.
- Telepathy - Jean had the ability to read minds, communicate mentally and project her thoughts in to other's minds. Was also another core power of hers. During X-Men, she states that Professor X is much more powerful than her. However, this was only because Professor X was blocking her powers, but once the blocks were destroyed she become the most powerful telepath in existence. While she was in a cocoon of telekinetic energy, her thoughts could fly miles away into the others' minds. She was able to defend her mind from Professor X's telepathy, even though he is one of the world's most powerful telepaths. During the battle against Apocalypse, he, who has shown to be stronger than Charles inside the Astral Plane, was no match for her, who easily destroyed him.
- Mental Detection - She can feel and track other people's minds. Many of which will be shown in X-Men Apocalypse, according to hints made by Simon Kinberg and Bryan Singer.
- Mental Healing - Jean was able to restore a few memories in Logan that Weapon X had taken. After the battle against Apocalypse was over, Jean was able to heal Charles' mind from the damage done to him by Apocalypse during their astral struggle.
- Mind Control - She can manipulate the minds of others, for different purposes such as memory alteration, inducing sleep/paralysis, etc. She can possess the mind of another, and use that being's body as her own, as witnessed with Xavier near the end of X2: X-Men United.
- Precognition - In both X2: X-Men United and X-Men: Apocalypse Jean has been shown to be able to see and feel glimpses of future events. Both times when she displayed this ability was when her powers were growing beyond her control.
- Psionic Blasts - She can create a telepathic blast which can hit mentally, induce pain, knock out or kill a person.
- Psychic Inhibitors/Power Supression - Unknown whether through either telepathic or telekinetic influence, Jean was capable of preventing Nightcrawler from teleporting and Cyclop's optic blast from being unleashed. This ability may be limited as she can not shut down Wolverine's healing and more likely Rogue's power siphoning. Considering both abilities are involuntary, and the fact Cyclop's lack of control is caused by brain damage, it is likely she can inhibit powers linked to conscious control and not natural functions.
- Psionic Shield - She can create a telepathic shield to prevent her mind from mental intrusions.
- Telepathic Illusions - Jean was able to make herself, Scott and Nightcrawler invisible to a soldier of William Stryker.
Relationships
Family
- John Grey - Father
- Elaine Grey - Mother
- Cyclops - Fiancé, Teammate & Former Classmate
Friends
- Annie Malcolm - Best Friend
Enemies
- Pyro - Student turned Enemy
- Senator Kelly - Political Opposite
- Toad - Enemy
- Sabretooth - Enemy
- Jason Stryker - Enemy
Friends
- Professor X - Mentor, Friend & Father-like Figure
- Storm - Teammate, Friend & Former Enemy
- Magneto - Ally & Former Enemy
- Wolverine - Teammate, Friend, Crush & Rescuee
- Beast - Mentor, Friend, Teammate & Rescuee
- Mystique - Mentor, Friend, Teammate & Rescuee
- Quicksilver - Teammate, Friend & Rescuee
- Moira MacTaggert - Teammate, Friend & Rescuee
- Nightcrawler - Teammate, Friend & Former Classmate
- Jubilee - Teammate, Friend & Former Classmate
- Rogue - Teammate, Friend & Former Student
- Iceman - Teammate, Friend & Former Student
- Colossus - Teammate, Friend & Former Student
- Shadowcat - Teammate, Friend & Former Student
Enemies
- Apocalypse † - Enemy & Victim
- William Stryker - Enemy
Trivia
- It's implied in X-Men commentary that Jean's inexpert use of the Cerebro caused her Phoenix transformation.
- Some parts of Jean's storyline in X-Men: The Last Stand are loosely based on The Dark Phoenix Saga by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.
- In the comics, Jean and Scott eventually married and have a daughter named Rachel Anne Summers in an alternate future.
- Jean was not a doctor in the Marvel Comics versions. Originally, Beast was set to appear in the first film, but the technology was not yet adequate to portray him, so his character was written out, and Jean took on the role of team scientist.
- In X-Men: The Last Stand, for her dual role as Jean Grey/Phoenix, Famke Janssen extensively researched dissociative identity disorders and split personalities to make her performance convincing.
- The color red is often associated with Jean. When she's not in her X-Men uniform, she often likes to wear red clothing.
- In the comics, Jean Grey turns into the Phoenix while possessed by the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix Force, while in the movie the Phoenix is just a secondary personality. Similar to the film, in the Ultimate Marvel comics storyline, the Phoenix is treated as a secondary mutation instead of being a cosmic entity.
References
External links
Jean Grey on the Marvel Wiki- Jean Grey on Wikipedia
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