Trivia / The Dark Phoenix Saga

• Executive Meddling:
  • One of the better-received examples. Initially Jean was simply going to be reverted back to normal, but EIC Shooter insisted that committing genocide of an inhabited planet and getting off with a slap on the wrist was ludicrous, not only for her but also for her teammates to not hold that against her.
  • Jim Shooter, in fact, would not allow Jean to come back unless there was some way to separate her from the actions of the Phoenix altogether. That's why Marvel eventually retconned Jean's actions in that story, and the 27 issues preceding that story, to be the work of the Phoenix Force impersonating Jean. This was done to absolve Jean of genocide, making her return in X-Factor possible.
  • Later, the retcon was itself retconned, making it so that Jean and the Phoenix Force were "always part of each other." This retcon of the retcon restored some of the intent of the Dark Phoenix Saga itself (i.e. that the Jean seen in that story really was Jean).
• Referenced by...: Pinball FX's version of the X-Men table. One of the modes available to play is the battle against Dark Phoenix. Word of God from the developers, Zen Studios, confirms this.
• What Could Have Been: According to Shooter in his blog, the original idea for what became the Dark Phoenix Saga came from a pitch he made to Claremont and others about doing a story about a hero gone bad and staying bad. In his view, Phoenix was supposed to be a Fallen Hero who would become full-time permanent villain and recurring foe. He only started objecting when he read the make-readies (a term for comics in production) that hinted at Jean becoming redeemed after killing a planet, pointing out the ridiculous ethics of letting her off for that. Shooter also claimed that he didn't ask for Jean to die initially. He merely suggested that Jean be imprisoned in maximum security under Shi'ar law and/or otherwise be a full-time villain, but he was against the idea of Jean being redeemed and pardoned which Claremont wanted. Claremont then suggested killing off Jean as a dare, only for Shooter to okay it, much to the former's shock and surprise. Claremont saw Jean as essentially decent and heroic but Shooter saw her as a permanent villain, and in his eyes, the heroic Jean was dead the minute she annihilated the planet.

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