40 Years Later, Spider-Man: Brand New Day Turns An Abandoned X-Men Story Into Its Jean Grey Origin

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a movie that doesn’t disappoint. That’s probably why Spider-Man is booming in the box office yet again, with the wall-crawler officially beating superhero fatigue (if that’s a thing). Personally, I was stunned by the quality of the writing; there are cameos galore, but none of them are gratuitous. They all exist to serve a single narrative, driving the film’s theme of connection and integration. Every cameo is a mirror in a different way: Punisher has surrendered to isolation rather than connection, Hulk stands for the consequence of rejecting aspects of yourself rather than embracing your totality.

The standout, of course, is Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey. Hailing from the X-Men, Jean is more than a cameo; she serves the main villain for the first and second acts. When we finally learn Jean’s MCU origin story, it’s so very different to the comics; there, she first developed her powers when she telepathically entered the mind of a dying friend, and was only brought out of a fugue state by Professor Xavier. This Jean is abusing her powers, taking vindictive pleasure in putting Spider-Man through the wringer. And yet, there’s an odd comic book inspiration for her origin all the same.

Marvel’s Sara Grey Plot is Adapted From an X-Men Story That Never Happened

In the comics, Jean’s family background is so very different. There, her parents never shunned her for being a mutant; in fact, her father became a quiet supporter of Xavier’s dream of mutant-human coexistence. Jean’s older sister Sara was an ordinary human, albeit a tragic one who ultimately died (and came back in a shocking form in one subplot in 1994’s “Phalanx Covenant” event). Oddly, Sara was recently resurrected courtesy of Jean’s Phoenix Force – one of the typical “synergies” Marvel is currently trying to drive between the comics and the films.

The MCU’s Sara is very different. She’s closer in age to Jean, and appears to possess pretty much the same powerset. It’s not unusual for mutant siblings to all have powers; just think of Cyclops and the Summers family tree, or X-Force member Cannonball. Like Jean, Sara’s mutant powers begin with the ability to possess others, and then to skim from body to body at will. Brand New Day‘s flashback reveals Jean and Sara were abandoned by their parents, who weren’t able to cope with their powers. But, sadly, Sara caught the attention of Damage Control.

None of this has any connection at all to the comics, of course. And yet, here’s the odd thing; exactly 40 years ago, legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont did indeed contemplate making Sara a mutant. Back in 1986, you see, Jean Grey had been killed off at the end of the iconic “Dark Phoenix Saga.” Marvel editorial signed off on her resurrection as part of a new X-Factor team, which would reunite the original X-Men. Claremont opposed the idea, and suggested an alternative: make Sara Grey a mutant, a Jean Grey substitute. He was overruled.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day Shows Just How Deep Marvel Lore Can Go

The Multiverse Saga is coming to an end, and Jean Grey foreshadows what comes next: the Mutant Saga. As a lifelong X-Men fan, I couldn’t be more excited. Fox’s X-Men movies were never entirely satisfying, often focusing far too much on Wolverine, Professor X, and Magneto. I consider Spider-Man: Brand New Day something of a promise from Marvel, because we’re starting out with Jean Grey and moving on from there. My hope is that every other X-Man will be as much a scene-stealer as Sadie Sink, proving how much potential Fox missed.

And yet, as much as I love the X-Men, I never expected anything like Brand New Day. Marvel is well known for deep cuts, but I’ve never seen anything like this; Jean’s MCU origin is literally drawing from an idea in an unused X-Men story, as well as the published comics.

The Mutant Saga hasn’t even begun, and yet we’re already drawing on some of the deepest X-Men lore – concepts and ideas nobody could ever have expected. When Jean said the name “Sara,” I literally sat forward in my seat at the theater, stunned because I realized where this seemed to be headed. If Marvel continue this approach, surprising even people who’ve been reading X-Men comics for almost as long as they’ve been alive, then I couldn’t be happier.