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The death of Jean Grey at the end of Chris Claremont and John Byrne's monumental Phoenix saga is such a core memory in the collective conscious of X-Men fans that it's almost tough to remember that it was a controversial decision. (Especially considering that she got better within a handful of years.) Even now, in fact, people still argue about it, with some folks laying blame on it for superhero comics' subsequently frequent death reversals. Whatever you think of the first of Jean Grey's many deaths, however, we'd bet that it sounds better than what the creative team originally had planned for her, as legendary X-editor Louise Simonson recently touched upon at Baltimore Comic Con 2024.

Simonson shared the road less traveled at BCC 2024's Marvel's Mighty Mutant panel, celebrating six decades of comicdom's "hated and feared" superhero soap opera. As was appropriate in a discussion about the X-Men's history, the death of Jean Grey made its way into the conversation, particularly its controversial nature. Even within the hallowed halls of Marvel editorial, she mentioned, there was conflict over whether killing Jean was the right move. But, in her own opinion, it was certainly better than what Claremont and Byrne had originally laid out.

"The original idea," Simonson explained, "was too regress Jean to the emotional intelligence or the intelligence of a five-year-old. [...] I thought that was icky."

Yeah, put us on the record as agreeing with that, Louise.

"I thought the idea would be better to kill her," Simonson continued, "So I was for it, and I made sure Chris [Claremont] also was also for that."

Thankfully, of course, less icky heads prevailed and Jean was lucky enough to die rather than suffer a worse fate. But, as Simonson also pointed out during the panel, the move not only avoided some pretty uncomfortable storytelling, but it also "was worth years and years and years of continuity." (And the creation of an entire crossover, Inferno, to try and explain everything away.) 

"It was the best decision we've ever made!" Simonson joked, adding, quite correctly, that Jean has died more than once and "just keeps getting better."

Too true, Louise. That kind of clear insight is why the X-books did so well on your watch.

Join Popverse in our own little X-Mansion as we cover just about everything you need to know about the X-Men. Learn how Marvel's mighty mutants are classified by power, or why the Krakoan Age of comics is coming to an end. And once you're done with those, keep up with the characters' big screen outings via Popverse's X-men movie watch order.