All New X-men #26 PREVIEW - Time Displaced Awesome

Some shit is just so inherently awesome that it never gets old. Like sex, whiskey, or Terminator 2 there are just some things that can never not be awesome on some levels. Sure, they can be indulged to the point of excess. That’s where hangovers come in. But even the worst hangover won’t stop a committed drunk from getting more whiskey. And in that sense, Jean Grey going Phoenix is the X-men equivalent to whiskey.

I know I’ve said a number of times that the Marvel universe has had enough Phoenix Force for the next decade. After the shit storm of suck kicked up by Avengers vs. X-men, I doubt there are many fans clamoring for more convoluted Phoenix stories. But as fucked up as the Phoenix has become, there’s still something inherently awesome about Jean Grey ascending to that special level of “Holy shit! We’re fucked!” power that is the driving force of so many emotional stories. And after the events of The Trial of Jean Grey, emotions are running higher Jimi Hendrix in an LSD factory.

In order to sufficiently bitchslap Gladiator for putting her on trial, O5 Jean Grey gave herself a power upgrade. But history has shown us time and again that when Jean Grey gets a power upgrade, that fiery cosmic parrot is usually not far behind. The nature of her powers is still unclear. But it’s volatile, dramatic, and dangerous. On top of that, it still involves a teenage girl. I would say it’s overkill, but only as a compliment. And all those factors came into play in a glorious preview posted by CBR. Even for fans that fucking hate the Phoenix Force, they have to admit this is pretty awesome.

CBR: AllNew X-men #26 PREVIEW

• THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE FUTURE IS BACK! And it doesn’t mean good things for the X-Men of the past!

Seeing visions of Jean Grey going Phoenix and loudly proclaiming she is the life incarnate that will kick cosmic levels of ass is very satisfying. Like masturbation, it has yet to stop satisfying after decades of Phoenix stories. But I actually found her interactions with adult Cyclops a lot more satisfying, not to mention overdue.

I know a lot of fans will be making pedophilia jokes about Cyclops with this, but this is actually a perfect opportunity for both of them. At this point in the X-men mythos, Cyclops is the one person who understands Jean Grey better than anyone right now and not just because he married her. He still has fresh memories of what it felt like to be overwhelmed by the Phoenix Force. He knows all too well how much it sucks to deal with the burden of having killed someone when he was drunk on that power. On top of that, his powers are still broken. So he has to deal with his shit while Jean is struggling with these new abilities.

I know it’s impossible to ignore the age difference without feeling too much like a hillbilly in a Jerry Springer rerun. But on the basis of pure circumstances alone, Cyclops is in the best possible position to help O5 Jean Grey. He doesn’t just understand her. He has a lot of incentive to not fuck up. This is the woman he failed to save multiple times. Now he has another chance to help her. He’s not going to pass that up. His heart and his penis won’t let him. Kitty Pryde may have incentive to not screw up her vulnerable student and Emma Frost may have incentive not to piss off her rival again. But only Cyclops has the kind of incentive that involves the love of his life.

With his teenage self on a space vacation with his dad, he can still be the Cyclops the O5 X-men need and the Cyclops that O5 Jean needs right now. That’s not going to stop some fans joking about how creepy it is to have an adult Cyclops hanging around a teenage Jean Grey, especially with Cyclops having been banished from Emma Frost’s panties. But beyond that, it gives O5 Jean a chance to address the issues that she was doing a shitty job of addressing with O5 Cyclops. Nuff said!