Onscreen History of Jean Grey (Phoenix)

The telepathic and telekinetic Marvel Girl Jean Grey made her debut in the pages of 1963's X-Men #1 as one of the original 5 X-Men, but she is possibly best known for becoming the villainous Dark Phoenix in the 1970s.

 

As Marvel Girl, Jean Grey first appeared onscreen in the 1966 episode of The Marvel Super Heroes Sub-Mariner series along with the original lineup of X-Men.

In the 1980's Jeannie returned along with her mutant buddies during a couple of X-Men crossover episodes of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

Jean Grey got her big break as a star of the 1990's X-Men animated series which included epic story arcs translating the Phoenix Saga and Dark Phoenix Sage from the comics to the small screen.

Jean also crossed over to appear on a handful of episodes of the Spider-Man animated series wearing her duds based on the 90's comic book design.

In 2000, Jean Grey finally made he big screen debut in the feature film X-Men.

The animated X-Men Evolution series also featured a teenage Jean as a main character with a slightly better, but still awkward costume design.

Jean Grey really stole the show in the sequel X2: X-Men United in which she began to manifest Phoenix like powers. Fans were really set up for a huge disappointment.

Although X-Men: The Last Stand tackled the Dark Phoenix Saga, many liberties were taken with the characters resulting in an okay film that could have been so much more. Rather than a cosmic force, the Phoenix was one of Jean's suppressed personalities that finally broke free and turned things upside down, literally. 

While Jean Grey did appear in the Wolverine and the X-Men animated series, she spend most of the series with amnesia after a devastating attack in the pilot that set the stage for the season story  arc.

In the Wolverine and the X-Men episode Breakdown, the Marvel Girl was featured in a flashback sequence featuring a battle between the original team members and the master of Magnetism.

In Mysterious Mayhem at Mutant High! an episode of the animated Super Hero Squad Show, Jean made a fun appearance as a cheerleader at the X-Men Academy with a uniform resembling a classic Marvel Girl design.

The Dark Phoenix appeared in the opening minutes of Marvel Anime: X-Men and while she was not included later in the series, Jean Grey's shadow was felt by the remaining team members. 

Most recently, Jean appeared in Iron Man: Armored Adventures using the alias Annie Claremont who eventually joins Charles Xavier's institute for mutants. The oft deceased but beloved Jean Grey is set to return to comics soon and hopefully has a rich onscreen career in her future as well.