Jean Grey

Real Name: Jean Grey

First Appearance: X-Men #1 (September 1963)

Powers: Telepathy and Telekinesis (Phoenix Amplifies This Power)

Affiliation: X-Men, X-Factor

Enemies: Most X-Men Enemies

Love Interests: Cyclops (Scott Summers), Wolverine (James Howlett)

Did You Know: Jean Grey is played by Famke Janssen in Fox’s original three X-Men Movies and by Sophie Turner in X-Men: Apocalypse

A Little History

Jean Grey first arrived at the X-Men Mansion while the other students trained. She was the newest student in an all-male school. Initially, Jean didn’t understand how Charles Xavier had convinced her parents to join her in his school. At this time, Xavier revealed to her that he was a mutant that could control the minds of others. He identified her as a perfect fit for his school because she had tremendous potential and an even greater amount of power.

He then explained that she would become a member of his newly formed X-Men team. After meeting the other students and learning that each had a codename, she, too, was given one. Jean took the form of Marvel Girl.

He then told them of their first mission…to fight the evil Magneto and his mutants. On their first mission, Jean stopped Magneto using her powers of telekinesis. Jean’s largest change came after a mission in which she and her team were trapped in space. As their ship made its way back to Earth, the cockpit was exposed to radiation. To shield her fellow members, she sacrificed herself so that they were given a chance to make it back home.

As a result of the exposure, Jean’s full power manifested, and she became the Phoenix.