You've likely noticed that there's a brand new Spider-Man film arriving at the end of the month. Spider-Man: Brand New Day picks up four years after the events of No Way Home, with Spidey still fighting crime on the streets of New York and Peter Parker still forgotten by his friends following Dr. Strange's spell.
As well as bringing back the established cast from the MCU's three previous Spider-Man films, we also know that the film will include Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Jon Bernthal as the Punisher, the latter making the leap from the Daredevil TV show.
One cast member who is shrouded in secrecy, however, is Stranger Things-star Sadie Sink, who is playing an as-yet-unnamed redhead. The air of mystery surrounding the casting strongly suggests that Sink is playing a well known Marvel character. That has led many fans to assume that it's none other than founding member of the X-Men, Jean Grey...
It makes sense: we know that the old Fox X-Men are returning for one last hurrah with this year's Avengers: Doomsday. After that, Marvel Studios intends to finally introduce its own version of the mutant superteam, so perhaps Sink as Jean Grey is the first taste of that. Something that casts some doubt on the idea, however, is the fact that Peter Parker and Jean Grey are not typically known as one of Marvel Comics' great duos. They've met, multiple times, but they don't exactly have a storied history together, with their brief encounters often characterized by a certain awkwardness on Peter Parker's part...
First encounters
Peter first crossed paths with the mutants in 1963's Uncanny X-Men #35, written by Roy Thomas and pencilled by Werner Roth. In a classic mix-up, Banshee warns the squad to "beware the spider" – a reference, they mistakenly believe, to be referring to Spider-Man. They all have a scrap before realizing that Peter is actually a hero, like them.
While certainly a classic issue, this isn't truly Spider-Man and Jean's first meeting, however. She is present in the issue, but back at base, and she doesn't interact with Peter in the issue.
Instead, that first meeting would have to wait almost a decade, taking place instead in September 1972's Marvel Team-Up #4, by writer Gerry Conway and artist Gil Kane. In the adventure, Spidey and the X-Men cross paths when one of Professor X's old colleagues is kidnapped. The finger of blame points at the wall crawler – but, of course, it's a stitch-up.
In fact, the real villain is a classic Marvel foe, Morbius the Living Vampire. Peter and the mutants tussle, before Professor X is able to read Spider-Man's mind and discover that he is innocent. Cyclops defeats Morbius and the heroes part company, but not before Peter "thanks" Jean by planting an unsolicited kiss on her lips. Not a great look, Spider-Man!
This is probably Peter and Jean's most famous encounter, partly because it comes so completely out of the blue, and because it has aged quite poorly. The scene has been mocked many times over the years by fans and comic creators.
Despite this, Jean returned the favor in 1997's Spectacular Spider-Man #199 by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Sal Buscema. In the issue, the heroes join forces to fight Professor Power. Beating the villain involves Spider-Man tackling Power's forces, while psychic Jean gets inside his head. Having saved the day together, Jean plants a kiss on Spidey's cheek, calling him a "good man and a good friend."
Ultimate adventures
In the early 2000s, Marvel Comics was arguably defined not by its mainline continuity, but by a spin-off publishing line. The Ultimates universe was created as a parallel reality where the company's iconic characters could be radically re-imagined for a new century. It was a massive sales success and proved highly influential on the early MCU: it's in this line of comics that we first meet the Miles Morales Spider-Man, and see Nick Fury re-imagined in the image of Samuel L. Jackson.
It was also in this range that Peter Parker and Jean Grey would meet for the first time again, in 2003's Ultimate Spider-Man #43 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley. In the issue, a still-teenaged Peter encounters a young mutant who does not yet fully understand his powers. He tries to help him and quickly meets the X-Men, including a short-haired Jean Grey.
This version of Jean is initially impressed by the young Spider-Man, acknowledging his compassion and good heart. When she reads his mind, however, she realizes that he's having some pretty strong hormonal thoughts about her, which she finds annoying. Still, Jean takes it in her stride and Peter even gets to visit the X-Mansion to meet Charles Xavier.
In more recent years Peter joined the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning in 2014's Spider-Man and the X-Men mini-series by writer Elliott Kalan and artist Marco Failla. It was to be a short-lived gig for the Web-Head, though he did work with Jean's daughter from another reality, Rachel Grey, who took up the mantle of Marvel Girl.
Perhaps the most-substantial interaction between Spider-Man and Jean Grey this century so far, however, comes in 2008's Spider-Man Family #9, by writer Paul Tobin and artist Derec Aucoin.
'The Guy Who Turns Into The Hulk' is a flashback story that sees Peter and Jean effectively babysitting Bruce Banner (the Avengers and Fantastic Four, we learn, are all far too busy elsewhere) while trying not to antagonize him enough to Hulk out. It's a fun, silly story and proof that these characters, although not often seen together, do have a lot of chemistry. Perhaps we'll see more of that when Spider-Man: Brand New Day hits cinemas on July 29 in the UK and July 31 in the US.
For more, check out our guides to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way, as well as our breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
