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"Because of what's inside you? You're afraid of it because you think it makes you bad, evil... all the words you've been taught to keep you in line. Words created a very long time ago by men with very little minds. They can't begin to comprehend what you are. Even your X-Men."
―Vuk to Jean Grey[src]

Vuk was one of the D'Bari who had escaped the destruction of their planet by the Phoenix Force. She and the surviving D'Bari followed the Phoenix Force across the universe to Earth, where Vuk sought to absorb its power from Jean Grey, who had merged with the Phoenix Force in space. Vuk and the D'Bari forces came into conflict with the X-Men and their mutant allies, with whom they battled in a bid to get to Jean. However, Vuk was ultimately destroyed by Jean using the power of the Phoenix Force.

Biography[]

Background[]

After an all-powerful cosmic force destroyed their home planet, Vuk and the surviving D'Bari followed the cosmic force across the universe in their spacecraft, watching as the force consumed everything in its path.[1]

Revised Timeline[]

Arrival on Earth[]

D'Bari

Vuk arrives on Earth

In 1992, Vuk and her D'Bari allies tracked the cosmic force as it came close to the planet Earth, where they witnessed the force entering Jean Grey in space. After Jean returned to Earth with the X-Men, the D'Bari descended upon the planet in three groups. Vuk's group landed in the woods near the home of a woman named Margaret Smith. Their presence was detected by Luna, Margaret's dog that continuously barked as the D'Bari drew closer. When Margaret went to check on Luna, she saw Vuk and the D'Bari emerging from the woods. Both Margaret and Luna were subsequently killed, with Vuk shapeshifting into Margaret's form. She went into Margaret's house and started killing the party guests that were present there. Vuk's D'Bari allies then took on the forms of the house guests as part of their human disguises.[1]

After picking up the English language with ease, Vuk later met with the other D'Bari who had landed on Earth. She learned from one of them, Jones, that the cosmic force was contained within Jean because she was a powerful mutant. Jones also informed Vuk that Jean had no idea what was happening to her, which Vuk planned to use to her advantage. She intended to harness the power of the cosmic force to resurrect the D'Bari race on Earth. Vuk then asked Jones where they could find Jean.[1]

Finding Jean Grey[]

Vuk and Jones arrived in Red Hook in the aftermath of Jean's battle with the X-Men outside her childhood home. Posing as FBI agents, Vuk enquired information about Jean from her father, John Grey. When John said he would prefer to speak to a lawyer first, Vuk decided to torture the information out of him by telekinetically twisting his internal organs.

Vuk1

Jean is shown the nature of the Phoenix Force

Vuk found Jean drinking in a bar in New York, using her telepathy to appear as an old man to the patrons. Seeing through the illusion, Vuk informed Jean that her powers won't work on her. She noted that Jean was the most powerful being on the planet, and that she shouldn't fear the power that was inside her. Vuk told Jean that no one, including the X-Men, could ever comprehend what she was. When Jean asked if Vuk could, she decided to take Jean to a house where the other D'Bari had gathered.

At the house, Vuk assured Jean that her allies were not afraid of her. She led Jean to an upstairs bedroom, where she used her powers to create a visual sequence that explained the nature of the cosmic force that had inhabited Jean. Vuk reaffirmed the notion that Jean's loved ones would never understand her, and made her come to the conclusion that they would destroy her.

When the Brotherhood of Mutants and the X-Men arrive independently to find Jean they begin fighting on the streets outside. Alerted, Vuk readies Jean and tells her to embrace her power in order to defend herself. When Magneto arrives to kill her, Vuk watches patiently. Using the power of the Phoenix Force, Jean is able to defeat Magneto and sends him flying through a window. Later she is confronted by Charles Xavier who is remorseful at Jean's current state. She snaps out of her rageful trance much to Vuk's dismay. Jean states she no longer wants the power inside her and asks Vuk to get rid of it. She agrees and begins transferring it despite the fact it will kill her. Cyclops arrives and blasts the alien away with his optic blast, disrupting the transfer and sending her crashing onto the nearby rooftop.

The US Government sanctioned Mutant Containment Unit arrives due to the destructive battle and captures both groups, including an unconscious Jean Grey and takes them to an armoured convoy train for transportation to a prison camp. Having absorbed a mere fraction of the Force, Vuk watches from a nearby rooftop. Gathering her fellow D'Bari in order to ambush the train and gain the rest of the force.

Ambush on the Train[]

After the D'Bari attack and the release of the mutants, Vuk herself arrives on the train looking for Jean. She is confronted by several mutants including Storm but she effortlessly redirects her lightning back at her. Magneto attempts to kill her using a flood of bullets but again proves invulnerable due to the fragment of the Force she has within her. When she finally finds Jean she is almost stopped by Cyclops, before stopping him in his tracks. Jean finally wakes up and embracing her role of Dark Phoenix, telekinetically lifts the armoured train off of the ground. Sending Vuk tumbling away in the process.

Final Confrontation[]

Vukvsphoenix

Vuk confronts Jean


After regaining her footing, Vuk travels to the debris site where Jean had already disintegrated her fellow D'Bari. With nothing left to lose, she ambushes Jean and grabs her by the throat. The Phoenix Force began transferring between the two. However, Vuk's body could not handle the energy the same way she could and it began to also disintegrate. She attempted to back away but Jean forced her to take the power. Jean saw how destructive the energy of the force was and decided to take it into space alongside the Alien. Once in orbit Vuk warned her that her emotions made her weak before Jean affirmed it simply made her strong. With one last blast of cosmic energy, Vuk was disintegrated and the last remnants of the D'Bari race went extinct in the universe.

Personality[]

As an extra-terrestrial entity she showed little compassion and outright disdain towards the human race, using them for information or shapeshifting before outright killing them such as the cases of Margaret Smith and John Grey. Vuk was devoted to the restoration of her people and the D'Bari Empire at any cost, travelling the vast cosmos in search of the Phoenix Force which destroyed her home. As such she is among the last of an endangered species. She directed her group to infiltrate human society and ultimately spy on Jean Grey, the current host of the Force. When informed by Jones of the young woman's vulnerabilities, Vuk stated she could use that to her advantage. She was adept at manipulation, turning Jean's mind away from Charles Xavier and fashioning her into a weapon that they could use. Electing to start again on Earth, implying the imminent destruction of humankind and mutants alike. She possessed a cold, stoic demeanour with very small flickers of emotion at times. She gleefully boasted to Charles Xavier that Jean was no longer his to control, when absorbing the power of the Phoenix she stated how little she cared for the human race. Causing Xavier to remark that Vuk will kill them all given the chance. To which the alien callously agreed.

Her relationship with Jean Grey was initially that of simple manipulation, using her powers as a tool for her own advantage. However when asked by Jean to get rid of the Force within her, Vuk appeared disdainful at the lack of regards for the power. She even appeared somewhat remorseful at Jean's request, knowing it would kill her. Implying a certain level of care or at least respect towards her. Later when confronting Jean at the height of her Phoenix powers, she yet again attempted to absorb the Force but realised all too late that the attempt would result in her disintegration. With little choice left she berated Jean on her emotional state, citing them as a weakness. When Jean countered they were a strength, Vuk simply accepted her fate as the energy of the cosmic being vaporised her.

Compared to other antagonists of the Revised Timeline, Vuk was a major threat to the human race and mutant kind as a whole. Similar to Apocalypse before her, she tried to utilise the abilities of a Mutant in order to impose their vision on the world. However, her obsession with the Phoenix Force would inevitably become her downfall. Leading to her complete and utter destruction at the hands of Jean Grey.

Powers[]

  • D'Bari Physiology: Vuk was a D'Bari, an extraterrestrial race of humanoids with shapeshifting abilities.
    • Superhuman Strength: Like the rest of the D'Bari, Vuk possessed incredible physical strength. Able to outmatch regular humans with complete ease. She was capable of knocking down Beast with her full body strength.
    • Superhuman Speed: As with the rest of her race, Vuk was capable of running at inhuman speeds. She used this to ambush Jean Grey at the debris site.
    • Shapeshifting: Vuk had the ability to change her appearance at will. She notably used this to assume the form of Margaret Smith during her time on Earth.
    • Telekinesis: Vuk had the soft ability to levitate, move, immobilize, and otherwise manipulate objects with her mind. It made her able to control people's internal organs, using it for both torture and as a method to kill. She used an enhanced version of this ability to incapacitate Nightcrawler using the Phoenix Force.
    • Illusion Casting: Vuk possessed the ability to create strong and believable illusions. She used this power to show Jean Grey the origin of the Phoenix Force. She could also see through the illusions cast by other mutants.
    • Telepathic Immunity: Vuk's mind could not be read by telepaths, possibly due to her extraterrestrial physiology.
    • Energy Absorption: Vuk could absorb energy. She tried to absorb all of the Phoenix energy from Jean but was stopped by Cyclops before she could take it all.

Former powers[]

  • Phoenix Force Manipulation: By briefly absorbing some cosmic energy of the Phoenix Force within Jean Grey, Vuk gained a number of advanced abilities for the rest of her lifespan.
    • Regenerative Healing Factor: When Magneto tried to use machine guns in order to kill Vuk, her skin layer began to fall apart, but she was shown to be able to literally grow it back. Far surpassing the regenerative capabilities of her fellow D'Bari.
    • Energy Manipulation: Vuk could easily manipulate the lightning projected towards her by Storm and even redirect Cyclops' optic blasts against him. However she could not deflect the power of the cosmic force from Jean herself.

Weaknesses[]

  • The Phoenix Force: Ironically, her very obsession is also the very thing that kills her. Jean Grey manages to overload her with cosmic power, disintegrating Vuk into mere ashes within moments.

Relationships[]

Allies[]

Enemies[]

Trivia[]

  • Simon Kinberg initially debunked reports that Jessica Chastain's character would be named "Smith",[2] but the X-Men: Dark Phoenix Twitter emoji for Chastain's character was revealed to be #XMenSmith.[3]
  • Lilandra, Emma Frost, and Mastermind were cited as influences for Vuk's character.[4]
  • In the comics, Vuk is male. While the character took on the appearance of a woman in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Vuk's sex in alien form was never confirmed.
  • In the original cut of Dark Phoenix, Vuk's character was instead the Skrull Queen, seeking to use the Phoenix Force to invade Earth much as with the D'Bari in the final film. She would have directed her soldiers to gather Earth's leaders into one place and kill them in order for them to shapeshift as them and take over the world. This was changed due to poor test screenings and the similarities to the then upcoming Marvel Studios film Captain Marvel.

References[]

External links[]

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