Arguably, the most exciting thing about Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the introduction of an entirely new character: Jean Grey, played to telepathic perfection by Stranger Things star Sadie Sink. At first, she presents herself as a major villain … someone who can hop into the bodies of others and weaponize them in her one-woman fight against Damage Control. By the end of the movie, we discover that her cause is righteous, and that she’s doing all of this in the name of saving someone she loves. However, many fans can’t help but focus on the utterly insane amounts of damage that Jean causes throughout the film.
For example, Spider-Man’s first real encounter with Jean is when he must stop a tank that she has hijacked. The tank causes massive collateral damage; between this and her other antics, it seems clear that the Jean Grey of the MCU has blood on her hands. Now, the Brand New Day writers are arguing that this powerful mutant didn’t actually kill anyone with her attacks on Damage Control. This has led to a legion of fans asking the obvious question: did you guys actually even watch the movie you wrote?
A Supervillain Hiding In Plain Sight
Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna recently offered an interview to The Hollywood Reporter. These two aren’t exactly household names, but they are two of Marvel’s best writers. After cutting their teeth on shows like Community, this duo helped write all of Spidey’s MCU films: Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home. They returned to write Brand New Day, which is so successful that it recently outgrossed Avengers: Infinity War. That means they wrote the scenes (including one where she makes a man walk in front of a speeding bus) in which Jean Grey appears to cross a moral event horizon and kill people.
At least, that’s how most of the internet interpreted her actions. The writers, however, think otherwise. “I think technically, she’s not responsible for any deaths. But you come away with the impression, certainly, that she’s caused a lot of destruction in mayhem,” Sommers said. “Even if you’re going to have a villain who really is redeemed at the end or goes through a transformation, you have to start them off in a place where they feel formidable.” Admittedly, Jean’s ultraviolent actions do cement her as a genuine menace, and it never seems like she’s pulling her telepathic punches.
Is Dark Phoenix Already Here?
This brutal portrayal of Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day has divided fans. Some enjoy how her relentless trail of destruction sets the stage for humanity’s fear of mutants. Once you see a tiny teenager threaten an entire city, Sentinels don’t seem like such a bad idea! Other fans think that Jean is too brutal and that her actions most definitely killed people, essentially crossing a moral event horizon. How, they ask, are we meant to root for Jean Grey in the future X-Men movie when she seemingly has a body count that would make Magneto smile?
Clearly, the writers of Spider-Man: Brand New Day share these concerns, which is why they are hard at work trying to launder Jean Grey’s reputation. Unfortunately, their reassurances that she didn’t kill anyone fly in the face of what we see in the actual film. For better or for worse, Marvel’s latest superhero was introduced amid a baptism of blood. It’s possible that her actions will be retconned when Avengers: Secret Wars resets the universe, or maybe she’ll redeem herself in the upcoming X-Men movie. Otherwise, future writers might decide this brutal early portrayal simply laid the seeds for the mutants’ inevitable fight against something even scarier than Jean: The Dark Phoenix!