Jean Grey is back, as the Phoenix returns to the Marvel Universe in Phoenix Resurrection

Looks like we have the big reveal as to who’s coming back to the Marvel U this autumn. It’s the Phoenix – the “real” Jean Grey.

Rising

“It’s such a mind-blowing honor to bring back the original Jean Grey,” said series writer Matthew Rosenberg. “I’ve been an X-Men fan my whole life and Jean is, in my mind, the true soul of the X-Men. So we aren’t taking this lightly. We’re going for that perfect balance of universe shaking epic and intimate personal drama that only the X-Men ever truly achieve. This is all hands on deck for the X-Men as every available member heads into battle for the soul of their team and maybe even the fate of the Marvel Universe.”

Yes, it’s true, Jean is back. Well, not yet, but you get the idea. She’s the big reveal, the one that’s been hinted at for weeks. Marvel had been toying with fans for a while now, hinting that a big time Marvel hero would be returning to action, and speculation had been running wild. But now we know. It’s Jean.

On the one hand I’m pretty happy about this. But on the other, well I can’t help but be a little disappointed. We’ve seen the adult Jean partnered with her teen self in Marvel’s universe recently, and while I love the X-Men (and the mutant resurgence in Marvel) I was hooping for someone a little more impactful. Namely, Professor X or Bruce Banner.

But that’s not to be (yet) apparently, and it’s certainly not like Jean isn’t cool.

She’s also going to affect the X-Men Blue and Gold teams quite a bit I’m supposing. Only one man knows though (except all the editors at Marvel that is), and that’s writer Matthew Rosenberg.

“Matt came to us with a really interesting and unique approach to bringing Jean back,” said senior editor Mark Paniccia. “It’s not what we expected, and plays to Matt’s biggest strengths as a storyteller. This is very cool mystery building to a mind-warping climax. And it has plenty of what you’d expect from an X-MEN epic of this magnitude. Action, romance, sacrifice, lots of X-Men and five great artists.”

“This is just the beginning,” teased Paniccia. “Something this big will leave quite a footprint on the Marvel Universe. Jean will have a startling new role after this, and you’re left wondering, how will the rest of the X-Men respond? What will happen to young Jean Grey?”

Plenty of questions there, as well as another monster-sized tease for fans to puzzle over.

Watch for Phoenix Resurrection #1 this December the 27th, from the team of Rosenberg and artist Leinil Yu.