There is plenty of drama within the sons, daughters, cousins, and lovers of the X-Men universe, and Marvel is certainly not proud of every story. But in the case of one famous future child of the X-Men, it’s actually the fans who missed the clues to one of Marvel’s most shocking births.
Jean Grey Had Her Daughter With The Phoenix, Not Scott Summers
Rachel Summers Changing Her Name To Grey Meant More Than Fans Realized
When the legendary “Days of Future Past” storyline jumped decades into a future in which the Sentinels won and the Mutants lost, the existence of a “Rachel Summers” was no surprise. In hindsight, it is almost quaint that readers accepted Rachel as the daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers, an iconic and previously married couple.
Rachel would soon get the chance to replace her mother as a Jean Grey-esque heroine on the team, with the actual Jean presumed dead following her “Dark Phoenix” drama. But speaking as a guest on the​​​​​​​ Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men podcast, legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont revealed Rachel Summers was a more direct continuation of Jean’s bond with the Phoenix Force than anyone realized:
“To replace the Jean vacuum, we introduced Rachel, who we established originally in Days of Future Past as the person who’s working with the team to send Kitty back. At the end of Days of Future Past, she and Kitty are the only two survivors that we know of. Now the question was, well, who’s Rachel? Where did she come from?
“Well, Rachel is Jean’s daughter. Presumably by Scott, but as it turns out not. The other half of her parentage is Phoenix. The Phoenix Force, if you will… [Scott] was the, I guess, stand-in father.”
While never confirmed in the comics directly, Claremont states this fact so succinctly, it is clear that was his intention at the time. And that fact alone is going to blow many fans’ minds, as will the nine years that have passed since Claremont dropped this world-shattering bombshell.
Rachel Was Created To Become A New Form of Marvel’s Phoenix
Rachel’s Journey From Hound, To Marvel Girl, To Mother Askani All Tease A Greater Nature
It would be an understatment to say that Rachel Summers has enjoyed a sprawling, unexpected, cosmically-charged life since her introduction to the comics. Starting with her debut in the Days of Future Past event which saw her turned into a Mutant-hunting “Hound,” and the events which saw her sent back into the modern day of the main Marvel Universe, Rachel has been a beacon of reality-altering circumstances.
Knowing that she was created as the child of Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force itself, several chapters of Rachel’s life begin to fall into place. The intervention of the Phoenix Force itself to give her a new life in the past, chief among them. To the presumed daughter of Cylops and Marvel Girl, one could ask why Rachel is such a central figure to forces and destinies beyond her family. As the Phoenix’s daughter… who would expect anything else?
While Not Technically Canon, X-Men’s Rachel Stories Now Make More Sense
The full story Claremont had in mind for a living daughter of Jean Grey and the Phoenix has never been told, much to the chagrin of any fan who ever hears of it. Nevertheless, Claremont’s stories centering on Rachel (along with those of other creative teams, as well) all take on a new layer when placed in this context. For starters, Rachel’s tenuous relationship with Scott, and her choice to take Jean’s surname all add up.
But there are several more plot threads to pull at in this new light, including the many times Rachel alluded to her unique existence, nature, or cosmic role without any clear answers. Needless to say, X-Men fans have some work to do deciphering the full impact of this change in parentage. And Scott Summers has yet another family crisis to handle.
- Release Date
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July 13, 2000
- Runtime
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104 minutes
- Director
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Bryan Singer
