Marvel and Disney have a lot of work cut out for them when it comes to bringing the X-Men into the MCU. After two poorly-received attempts at bringing the Dark Phoenix storyline to the silver screen, perhaps the third time will be the charm.
For one thing, the X-Men/Dark Phoenix narrative is tough to sell in one or even two movies. Another obstacle is, unfortunately, is that the Phoenix Force is pretty confusing. Years of retcons and stories have made the cosmic firebird tough to pin down, to say the least.
10 Why Does The Phoenix Force Even Need A Host?
The Phoenix Force is a cosmic entity of unimaginable age and power. It is death and rebirth, the nexus of psionic energy, and it will always exist— so why does this incredible power even need a mortal host?
The other abstract entities of the Marvel universe have little use for an avatar when dealing out their will, so why is the Phoenix Force different? The easy answer is that when characters become a host, it makes for dynamic storytelling, but that doesn't explain why it's so in-universe.
9 How Does The Phoenix Force Pick Its Host?
When the Phoenix Force saved Jean Gray's life in Uncanny X-Men #101 by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum, and Frank Chiaramonte, the details that explained why weren't revealed until much later. It turns out that as the solar flair's radiation began to destroy Jean, she called out for help, and the Phoenix Force answered.
However, a former Iron Fist named Fongji Wu became a Phoenix host for no reason apart from a prophecy. There have been other Phoenix hosts too, but why were they all chosen?
8 Why Wouldn't Phoenix Want Young Jean Gray?
At one point in the comic books, the teenage X-Men from the past were brought into the present, including a young Jean Grey. In her own solo comic series, Jean Grey #11 by Dennis Hallum, Victor Ibanez, and Alberto Jimenez Albuquerque, young Jean was killed by the Phoenix Force who wanted a "true Jean" for its host.
Continuity-wise, this doesn't make much sense since the Phoenix Force had first connected with her when she was a child, meaning that this Jean should be an acceptable host.
7 How Can Jean Grey Be The Ultimate Host After The Retcon?
In the aftermath of the "Dark Phoenix" saga in the Uncanny X-Men series, Jean Grey was dead for years and there wasn't anything that could bring her back, especially after she committed space genocide.
But wait, what if that wasn't actually Jean? The retcon is that it was the Phoenix Force alone during the aforementioned saga and, since Jean was innocent, Marvel was able to resurrect her. If this is the case, then how can Jean be the one true host for the Phoenix Force?
6 What Makes Jean Grey So Special To The Phoenix Force?
At this point, you can't really separate the character of Jean Grey from the Phoenix Force any easier than you can separate the alien symbiote from Eddie Brock— even outside of comics, they are synonymous with each other.
But what is it about Jean Grey that draws Phoenix to her? It's said that the cosmic entity felt a kinship to Jean even when she was a young child, but that isn't really a good explanation for why the Phoenix keeps returning to Jean on Earth.
5 How Was Jean Able To Reject The Phoenix Force When She Was Cocooned?
After Dark Phoenix was "destroyed," a piece of the Phoenix Force went to Jean's body in Jamaica Bay, where it was healing in a psionic cocoon. Jean rejected Phoenix and it went off into the world, seemingly lost until it finds Jean's clone to inhabit.
This is puzzling on two accounts. For one, why does a cosmic entity that is all about death and rebirth not just go resurrect itself on its own? And two, how is it even possible for Jean to reject the Phoenix Force?
4 Why Did Cyclops Believe That The Phoenix Force Would Create More Mutants?
In the first issue of Avengers vs. X-Men, it's made apparent that the Phoenix Force is coming to Earth to make Hope Summers— the first mutant born after M-Day— its new host.
Despite the Phoenix only bringing death and destruction to the X-Men, Cyclops believes that because it's an entity of rebirth, it would bring back the mutant population. There isn't really a basis for Phoenix being able to do this, and in the end, it's only done with the help of Scarlet Witch's powers.
3 What Is The Essence Of The Phoenix Force?
The retcon meant that Dark Phoenix wasn't actually Jean Grey, that it was the Phoenix Force in a carbon-copy of her body that ended up destroying the D'Bari planet for no real reason.
However, the purpose of the Phoenix Force is to destroy what no longer evolves, to resurrect things so they come back better than before. Before, it was the humanity in Jean that turned Phoenix dark but now its corruption was internal and antithetical to its cosmic essence. What's its purpose now?
2 Wouldn't It Make More Sense For The Phoenix Force To Seek The Iron Fist?
On top of the Phoenix Force's obsession with Jean Grey making little sense, if the Phoenix is going to inhabit the body of a mortal on Earth, wouldn't it make more logical sense for it to seek the Iron Fist?
The Iron Fist's power comes from life force energy and the Phoenix Force is life incarnate, making it logical for the two powers to be tied to each other. The reasons for Phoenix returning to Earth are varied but the most logical is the rarest.
1 What's The Deal With The Grey Genome?
Other reasons given within the comics for Phoenix being so transfixed with Jean is because she carries a genetic trait that the Shi'ar believe makes her and her entire bloodline free real estate for the firebird. Known as the Grey Genome or the Grey Bloodline, the Shi'ar theorize that this is what draws Phoenix to Jean and her relatives, so much so that they attempted to slaughter her entire bloodline.
Considering the fact that Phoenix has been inhabiting mortals for millennia, this is a stretch.
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