Jean Grey's upcoming "miraculous return" will solve an X-Men mystery that's been lingering since the '90s, as it's now been revealed that the character who was previously teased to be resurrected in the pages of May's Phoenix #11 will in fact be Sara Grey, Jean Grey's sister whose death left many lingering questions that have plagued the X-mythos since. Marvel has also now revealed the Dark Phoenix-esque cover to Phoenix #12 by Lucas Werneck, seen below.
Phoenix #11 by writer Stephanie Phillips and Roi Mercado, who joins as the title's new ongoing artist, will dig into the mystery behind Sara's death in 1994's X-Men #36, in which Sara was murdered and her family was absorbed by the techno-organic Phalanx.
Sara Grey's exact fate has left ongoing questions that have yet to be addressed in the 30 years since the story was told - including her apparent latent mutant powers which, while never manifested, were hinted at in the stories leading up to her death.
Could this mean that Sara Grey is an Omega mutant on the level of her sister, perhaps enough to attract the all-powerful Phoenix Force, which is currently inextricably bonded with Jean?
We'll get some answers in Phoenix #11, which will "rattle [Jean] to her core and make her question her entire purpose as the Phoenix. "Then, in the follow up to Sara's return in June's Phoenix #12, Sara will "share her unbelievable story," laying bare long held secrets of X-Men history.
For longtime X-Men readers, these kinds of mysteries are par for the course, with many such lingering plot threads left dangling over the decades. And while many of the most famous X-Men plot mysteries have now been solved, the true fate of Sara Grey and the question of her apparent mutant powers is one that's been hanging too long without a real answer.
"Jean's story is often defined by resurrection, so it feels deeply personal to ask her to confront the return of someone she lost and never expected to see again,” says Phillips in a statement accompanying the announcement. "This forces Jean to grapple with more than just the weight of the Phoenix... It's about the deeply human conflict between responsibility and longing. Can she balance the cosmic burden of what she is with the personal desire to reclaim what she lost?"
Phoenix #11 goes on sale May 14, followed by Phoenix #12 on June 11.
Stay up to date on all the new X-Men comics Marvel has planned for release.
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