Warning: spoilers for Avengers #40!
The Phoenix Force has returned to Earth in Jason Aaron and Javier Garron's Avengers #40, and Earth's Mightiest Heroes are fighting to decide who will wield its power and try to stop the cosmic deity from razing Earth clean, even if they're not exactly happy about doing so. "The Phoenix Force is a giant space parasite," Steve Rogers recalls. "Made of fire. Like a big angry star with wings, and ungodly destructive power." But both the Avengers and the X-Men are forgetting the ideal Phoenix host is already on Earth.
To be fair to Steve Rogers, he is familiar with the existing history of the Phoenix on Earth, where men and women blessed by the power of the Phoenix Force routinely turn Dark Phoenix. Jean Grey was the first, and she destroyed an entire star system in her rage - an inhabited one at that. But Captain America's clearest memories will be of the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, where the Phoenix Force was divided between five different hosts, all of whom went dark - with Cyclops even killing Charles Xavier (for a time). Captain America can be forgiven for believing every host will inevitably fall. That is because he has never heard much about the best Phoenix host of all - Rachel Grey.
Rachel Grey originates from the alternate "Days of Future Past" timeline, and in fact she was the daughter of Cyclops and the Phoenix of that timeline. This was a world where Jean Grey never went rogue, never destroyed a star system, and was never tried and put on trial by the Shi'ar. Rachel Grey inherited both her mother's prodigious telepathic and telekinetic powers - she was the first to be described as an Omega level mutant - and her association with the Phoenix Force. When Rachel arrived in the mainstream Marvel Universe, she claimed the heritage of the Phoenix Force for herself. Where others possessed the power of the Phoenix for a few months at most, Rachel was Phoenix for years - and though she was sometimes tempted, she never fell to darkness.
Rachel Grey possesses an unusually strong link to the Phoenix Force, but it is one that has actually been forgotten by Marvel. This was most visible in the Avengers vs. X-Men event, when Rachel was ignored in the build-up to the Phoenix Force's return. It is visible again in the current Avengers run, with Wolverine joining the Avengers to deal with the problem of the Phoenix and Rachel not even mentioned. As significant as Rachel Grey may be, as experienced a host as she is, and despite the fact she could be a viable solution to the Phoenix Force's return, she has been neglected.
In the search for someone who can wield and control the most dangerous force in the universe, no-one has even suggested turning to the hero who already showed themselves capable of doing exactly that. With her history ignored and her powers downplayed in recent comics, at least Rachel Grey is getting to play a major role in the recently resurrected X-Factor series, so hopefully she may soon be done justice in the modern X-Men books.
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