Phoenix Rises (Yet Again)

But wait, she just died in X-Men: The Last Stand, you say. Silly goose, finality is for losers. In all seriousness, movies have been afforded more flexibility in regards to storylines than in comics by fans. Having said that, Marvel in particular has been pretty transparent about not killing off characters in the comics who appear in the movies. Obviously, that doesn't work in the reverse. At any rate, X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong will debut in September and is written by Greg Pak. Art will be done by Tyler Kirkham and covers by Marc Silvestri; advance images are included in this story. Pak wrote the hugely popular mini X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong a few years back and it was pretty good. See the copying of the successful other titles. Huh-huh-huh. I wouldn't want to suggest that with $120 million + in the bank for the movie, Marvel would wanna capitalize on the Phoenix's popularity. That would be absurd! Hmmm...

The new mini picks up where the previous one left off and continues the whole Phoenix saga. Confused by it all? You're not alone. Over at Newsarama, Pak does a great job of summarizing the saga to date:

The Phoenix saga is about a young woman named Jean Grey who discovers an insanely powerful cosmic force called the Phoenix within herself. The power allows her to save her friends and the world. But the power has a destiny beyond human understanding and the potential for horrifying destruction. So if our heroine loses control, she could destroy everything and everyone she knows. Ultimately, the love she experienced as a mere human, the strength of her bonds with her friends and her husband, gives her the ability to control her powers and save the world. But to do so, our heroine sacrifices herself and dies, passing on to another plane of existence to incubate, finding all her pieces so that she can understand and fulfill her destiny as the Phoenix. Will the enormous power of the Phoenix, beyond human comprehension and morality, threaten the world again? No one knows. But the love of her friends stays with our heroine to help and guide her as she grapples with the responsibilities and temptations of the Phoenix.

To read the entire article, click here.

As of now, we know that the mini will feature Cyclops (yes, but remember films are on a different "continuity track"), Emma Frost (Former Villain/Porn Star X-Man/Scott's Lover/Jean Grey's "Rival"), the Stepford Cuckoos (too difficult to explain) and, of course, Phoenix. If anyone deserves to get flayed by Phoenix, it's Emma.