X-Men ’97 continues to impress as it adapts X-Men stories from the comics and recently demonstrated how the MCU can avoid a 13-year Jean Grey problem.

Custom image of Jean Grey looking concerned on a backdrop of X-Men comics.

Jean Grey has been at the mercy of a recurring problem throughout 13 years of Fox’s X-Men franchise, but X-Men ’97 has shown how the MCU can avoid repeating it. X-Men ’97 is Marvel Studios’ first attempt at adapting the titular team without any input from Fox and continues the story of X-Men: The Animated Series. So far, the studio has proven that the X-Men are in capable hands, with X-Men ’97 being one of Marvel’s most well-received releases ever. In particular, the studio’s handling of Jean Grey has already proven to be an improvement on Fox.

Jean Grey is one of the most powerful Marvel characters ever to be adapted in movies and TV, especially when she is empowered by the Phoenix Force. This is something that Fox has gone to great lengths to depict, adapting the Dark Phoenix storyline twice during its tenure with the X-Men. The same storyline was also adapted in X-Men: The Animated Series, making it one of the most prolific plots in superhero history, but X-Men ’97 recently proved that there are more stories surrounding Jean that can be told – and that they can be told well.

X-Men ’97 Shows How Strong Adaptations Of Stories Outside Dark Phoenix Can Be For Jean Grey

X-Men ’97 Episode 3 Depicted A Different Jean Grey Story

Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor shaking hands in X-Men '97 episode 3

X-Men ’97 episode 3 introduced Madelyne Pryor to the series. Pryror is a clone of Jean Grey created by the iconic X-Men villain, Mr. Sinister, who turns against the team under Sinister’s influence and adopts the moniker of Goblin Queen. The moment is made even more painful by Pryor’s relationship with Scott Summers and the fact that they have a baby together, something orchestrated by Sinister himself. Pryor was able to go toe-to-toe with the entire X-Men team and their new leader, Magneto, before the original Jean Grey utilized her powers to subdue her clone.

The episode demonstrated just how powerful Grey and her clone are independent of the Phoenix Force. It was also proof that Grey’s extensive history with the X-Men as a founding member contains plenty of unique and powerful stories that are ripe for a compelling on-screen adaptation. With Mr. Sinister being well overdue for his live-action debut, it can be hard to see why Fox sidestepped an adaptation of the Goblin Queen story in favor of depicting the Dark Phoenix saga twice.

Why So Many X-Men Adaptations Focus On The Dark Phoenix Saga

The Dark Phoenix Story Has Been Adapted 4 Times

Jean Grey's Dark Phoenix making fists in X-Men The Animated Series

The Dark Phoenix storyline is a spectacle, turning one of the X-Men’s most powerful members into a godlike being imbued with inordinate cosmic power. In addition, the narrative heft of having the X-Men forced to turn on each other is difficult to ignore. Then again, this is something that the Goblin Queen story also provides with the added impact of throwing Jean and Scott’s child into the equation.

Another reason the story may have been told twice is that Fox may have been attempting to rectify the tarnished memory left by X-Men: The Last Stand, only to fumble the ball for a second time. There is no doubt that both iterations offered spectacle in spades, but the fact of the matter is that the Dark Phoenix story is now played out. Instead, Marvel should take a page out of X-Men ’97‘s book and delve into one of Jean Grey’s many other stories when the X-Men make their MCU debut.