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.

X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga (1994) - Film Capsule

Heroes: The X-Men

Villains: The Dark Phoenix

Diabolical Scheme: Having inhabited a body, The Phoenix has given in to the thrill of emotion and power. Now corrupted, she wants to rule the galaxy.

Coolest Moment(s): Lots of smackdowns between the team and Dark Phoenix. Seeing the Marvel Girl costume was also a nice nod.

Worst Moment: The first half of the "saga" involved the Inner Circles lame attempts to trick Phoenix into marriage.

Review in 50 Words or Less: Not nearly as good as I remembered (giving X3 a little more of a pass) especially the wasted first 2 episodes. Still, one of the series' highlights providing a nice 80 minute retelling of one of comics' most epic tales. Overall, leaner and better than the first Phoenix Saga.

X-Men: The Phoenix Saga (1994) - Film Capsule

Heroes: The X-Men and The Phoenix

Villains: Eric the Red and the Gladiator are just henchmen for the unimpressive D'Ken. The Juggernaut also appears.

Diabolical Scheme: D'Ken (amused by the "foolishness of fools") of the Sh'iar wants to use the Emcron crystal to destroy the universe.

Coolest Moment(s): The best part is that this sets up the Dark Phoenix saga.

Worst Moment: The villains are mostly horrible and there are a lot of them.

Comic Book Logic: Why would anyone want to destroy the universe on purpose?

Review in 50 Words or Less: In an attempt to make the story more "epic," the Phoenix prelude was stretched over 5 episodes rather than 2. Lots of strange looking characters and a nonsensical plot remove the team from anything having to do with mutants. At least they saved the universe from a mean pink guy.