The Legend Begins! The First Phoenix Appearance

Enter the PHOENIX

Hey everyone! Today we’re covering the dramatic events of X-Men #101, the first ever appearance of the Phoenix! Then at the end of the video, two X-Men villains team up, to set the stage for a legendary X-Men storyline called the Phoenix Saga!

For the last twenty minutes, the X-Men have been trapped, while Jean Grey has been forced to pilot a space shuttle through the worst solar storm in recorded history. Pushing her telekinetic abilities to the limit, Jean is able to successfully bring the ship down to earth – only for the ship to violently collide with the Kennedy Airport and go tumbling into the ocean!

Remarkably, every one of the X-Men emerge from the water… yet they are alarmed to see the water suddenly churn wildly… Jean Grey emerges, but claims the woman they once knew is gone. She is fire and life incarnate – now and forever, she shall be… the Phoenix. In a moment, Jean’s own mind reemerges, and she is soon overwhelmed by what has just happened to her, and collapses into the water.

The X-Men save her, though everyone is deeply concerned. Even Jean’s costume has suddenly changed, and she is now barely alive. The mutants get to shore and try to disguise themselves a bit, but they recognize this is a bit of a wash. This is the second recent incident of the X-Men being involved in this particular airport’s destruction. With that in mind, the mutants escape the crash sight and leave the space shuttle’s surviving pilot behind. Thanks to Charles Xavier’s powers, nobody even remembers the X-Men being there.

Logan buys some flowers and goes to the hospital to visit Jean, but is surprised to find the rest of the X-Men, including Cyclops, already there for her. Wolverine throws the flowers away and joins the rest of the X-Men, as they consider Jean’s fate. Charles wants to use his powers to help Jean, but every time he tries, a strange nightmare ravages his mind. Even using his powers to get them away from the airport nearly gave Xavier a seizure.

The X-Men stay at the hospital all night and into the next day, when finally, two doctors emerge named Corbeau and McKay, and the both happily inform the X-Men that Jean will be just fine. As the team celebrates, Charles decides it is time to send the five gathered X-Men on an enforced vacation, to give them a much needed break and everyone the space they need. Logan demands to stay with a recovering Jean, but eventually agrees to Charles’ reasoning.

The wealthy Charles is able to send the X-Men to Ireland on a luxurious trip and many among them start enjoying themselves. They arrive at a castle called Cassidy Keep, a cliff-side building once used to defend Ireland against Viking Raiders, and though it has been around for a thousand years, it has never once fallen in battle. The X-Men team member Banshee explains to the other astonished X-Men that this is where he group up. Inside, the X-Men settle in, unaware they are secretly being watched. A trap door suddenly opens on the team, and they are greeted by longtime foe of the X-Men the Juggernaut, and the Banshee’s cousin – Black Tom Cassidy. He tells the X-Men they are now trapped in the castles dungeon, which is like a maze, and this place will be their tomb. In an instant, Storm is overwhelmed by her claustrophobia.