Last month, Marvel Comics teased a startling return coming to the pages of Phoenix this May. In Phoenix #11, by writer Stephanie Phillips and new series artist Roi Mercado, Jean Grey will encounter a long-lost loved one...her older sister Sara Grey!
Traversing the stars at the peak of her cosmic power, Jean thought she was equipped to handle anything, but it's said that this heartfelt reunion will rattle her to her core and make the hero question her entire purpose as the Phoenix.
Sara is a long-overlooked character who was the centre of a dangling mystery in the X-Men mythos before her tragic death in the early '90s. According to a press release, she will share her unbelievable story in the following issue, Phoenix #12, on sale in June.
In the comics, Sara and her husband Paul disappeared shortly after speaking out on behalf of mutant relations. It was later revealed that Sara had been murdered by mutant-hating fanatics, likely acting on orders from Cameron Hodge. Her body was absorbed by the Phalanx, an artificial intelligence, perhaps offering an idea of how she'll return from the dead in this series.
Here's the official description of Phoenix #11, "The Secret Origin of Sara Grey":
Protecting the cosmos as Phoenix, Jean Grey has experienced near-limitless mystery and wonder - a universe of perpetual possibility! But nothing so magnificently unexpected as this: Her sister, Sara, has returned to life. Murdered by the Phalanx many years ago, another in a long line of Greys to lose their lives in untimely, violent ways, Sara nonetheless stands before Jean, alive and well. But - when?! Why?! How?! All of these are questions worth asking. And Jean Grey probably should. Needless to say...this would be a very different story if she did.
"Jean's story is often defined by resurrection, so it feels deeply personal to ask her to confront the return of someone she lost and never expected to see again," Phillips shared. "This forces Jean to grapple with more than just the weight of the Phoenix."
She added, "It's about the deeply human conflict between responsibility and longing. Can she balance the cosmic burden of what she is with the personal desire to reclaim what she lost?"
Check out the cover for Phoenix #12 below and stay tuned for more on this development as we have it.
PHOENIX #12
Written by STEPHANIE PHILLIPS
Art by ROI MERCADO
Cover by LUCAS WERNECK
On Sale 6/11