Marvel’s White Phoenix Proved Marvel’s Ultimate Power Could Be Stronger

The Phoenix Force is one of the most powerful, unpredictable powers in the Marvel Universe, but when Jean Grey gained her White Phoenix form, she was able to control the power like never before. To prevent a future filled with death and destruction from happening, Grey’s White Phoenix used her incredible powers to reset the timeline and showed what the Phoenix Force would look like with a stable host.

The Phoenix Force has had many hosts in the pages of Marvel Comics, but the most memorable and powerful came from its original wielder, Jean Grey. Grey was reborn as the Dark Phoenix during the Dark Phoenix Saga, gaining the Phoenix Force and becoming one of the most destructive forces in the Marvel Universe. Hosting the entity of destruction and rebirth led to the deaths of billions before she sacrificed herself to prevent future chaos. However, Grey would reencounter the Phoenix Force in the future, later becoming Marvel’s White Phoenix while taking on the most powerful form of the cosmic force ever.

The White Phoenix powers were showcased in New X-Men from Grant Morrison and Marc Silvestri, which took place 150 years in the future from the main Marvel Comics timeline. The story was seemingly inspired from an X-Men reprint backup by Chris Claremont, where Jean Grey first wore her white Phoenix costume. In the reality, humans were nearly eradicated, while Hank McCoy’s Beast went mad and aimed to shape the world in his desired image. However, after Beast got his hands on the Phoenix Egg and its near-immeasurable power, the White Phoenix would emerge. In Jean Grey’s form, it would become the White Phoenix of the Crown, with powers that outmatched the Dark Phoenix. Furthermore, the White Phoenix’s powers had seemingly no upper power limit, as she could rewrite reality while miraculously controlling the Phoenix. Ultimately, the White Phoenix would rewrite the future to prevent it from happening and restart the next era of the X-Men.

The strongest version of Jean Grey’s Phoenix ended up being the perfect mix of host and powers. As the White Phoenix, Jean Grey rewrote her reality and gave the X-Men and humanity a fighting chance at survival. Considering the damage Jean caused as the Dark Phoenix, the White Phoenix served as both her most powerful form and her chance at redemption with the Phoenix Force.

The White Phoenix would make only a small number of future appearances, including bonding with Hope Summers to save mutants during the Avengers vs. X-Men event. It’s probably best Marvel has since limited the most powerful version of the Phoenix’s appearances, as it’s a power that rarely can come out. With the ability to rewrite reality and pretty much anything else, the White Phoenix proved to be the Phoenix Force’s and Jean Grey’s ultimate form.

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Liam McGuire
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Lead writer for Screen Rant’s comic team. [email protected]. Find me on Twitter @LiamRMcGuire for comic news and reporting.

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