Marvel Unlimited: The Dark Phoenix Saga
https://lebeauleblog.com/2019/06/06/marvel-unlimited-the-dark-phoenix-saga/
X-Men: Dark Phoenix opens in theaters tomorrow. It marks the twelfth X-Men movie in nearly two decades and most likely the last non-Deadpool entry in the franchise. It’s also the second take on one of the most iconic stories in all of comics, The Dark Phoenix Saga.share
The story was previously shoe-horned into Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand which was expected to end the series more than ten years ago. But that movie was so poorly received that Bryan Singer retconned it out of existence with his return to the series, X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Early reviews for Dark Phoenix suggest the redo isn’t much of an improvement. I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I can’t weigh in on why the movie does or does not work. But I did go back and read a bunch of old X-Men comics and I have a theory. The source material is bonkers.
The first thing that immediately jumps out at you as a problem is that the “Saga” is massive. When people talk about the Dark Phoenix Saga, they are referencing Uncanny X-Men issues 129-138. That’s ten monthly issue or almost a year’s worth of comic books. These issues were densely plotted as was the style at the time.
But even those ten issues don’t tell the full story. Things really start off with Uncanny X-Men 100 published way back in 1976. Almost a year prior to the release of Star Wars, the X-Men were on a space mission. Their shuttle is about to be destroyed by a flare and Jean Grey makes the ultimate sacrifice to save her teammates.
Except, she doesn’t actually die. Instead, she rises from the wreckage like, well, like a Phoenix.
But Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum don’t get right into the Dark Phoenix. Instead, there are about three year’s worth of X-Men stories most of which do not feature Jean Grey. Immediately following Jean’s transformation into the Phoenix, Professor X sends the rest of the team to Ireland for a vacation while he and Cyclops help Jean recover.
Of course the vacation turns out to be a trap set by Juggernaut and Black Tom. And they were secretly working for Magneto who is seeking revenge for having been de-aged into a baby!
Obviously no one is going to make an X-Men movie in which Magneto gets turned into a baby. I’m not advocating for that. Or for a subplot in which the team hangs out in a castle in Ireland where their vacation is ruined by Black Tom. The point I am getting at is that Claremont and Cockrum (and later John Byrne) spent a lot of time developing the new status quo with Jean Grey as Phoenix.
The X-Men go on all kinds of adventures before the Dark Phoenix Saga gets started. Shortly after Jean recovers, the team goes back into space to help end an alien civil war. Professor X has made mental contact with Lilandra of the Shi’ar empire. They bond instantly as soulmates before ever meeting in person. Like online dating.
Lilandra’s brother has taken control of the empire and plans to use the power of the M’Kraan Crystal to reshape the universe. The X-Men team up with a bunch of space pirates known as the Starjammers to stop Lilandra’s brother, D’Ken, from destroying reality. It was a pretty tall order and the only person with the power to save the day was Jean Grey using her Phoenix Force for the first time.
The exertion leaves Jean in a weakened state. Her power level remains in check as Alpha Flight tries to kidnap Wolverine, the X-Men are mind-controlled and forced to perform as carnies in a circus and Magneto comes back for a rematch.
That fight with Magneto is significant because it ends with the team split up. Most of the X-Men escape leaving Jean Grey and Beast behind. Cyclops and company believe that Jean and Hank have been crushed under the rubble of Magneto’s destroyed base. But Jean uses her powers to save them. They in turn believe that they are the only survivors of the explosion.
It takes a while for Cyclops’ team to get back to the Mansion. Beast and Jean return alone and inform the Professor that the rest of the X-Men are dead. Charles blames himself as well he should because he is an absolutely horrible leader in these issues. Eventually, he follows Lilandra back to the Shi’ar home world believing that he has no purpose left on earth.
With Professor X off-world, Beast returns to the Avengers and Jean Grey moves into an apartment with Misty Knight (of Heroes for Hire fame) as a roomie. In the Professor’s absence, Moira MacTaggert has begun running tests on Jean to monitor her power levels which are steadily increasing.
Uncanny X-Men 125 starts setting up the Saga with Moira worrying about Jean’s ability to control her own powers. It also provides some background on Jason Wyngarde, a mysterious character with the ability to assume multiple forms. For some reason, he chooses a guy with mutton chops as his default appearance.