50 Greatest Super Heroes In Comic Book History

37. Jean Grey

(Write-up by Christina Roberts, Bam Smack Pow Staff Writer)

Let’s forget about X-Men: The Last Stand. Let’s pretend that first trilogy was only two movies and that Jean Grey’s future on the silver screen is still ripe with promise and glory, portraying a pretty good match for her comic book namesake with that glorious tease of more to come down the road.

And then ignore the movies completely and go right to the source material.

As one of the founding members of the X-Men, Jean Grey contributes a lot to the X-Men storylines, and even putting “a lot” in front of that neither justifies nor encompasses everything she’s done. Her bloodline alters the future and the past on multiple occasions. You can’t even really say there’s an X-Men team without her in it. I mean, really: in an alternate reality, her son, Nathaniel Grey, is known as X-Man.

She’s Charles Xavier-lite with telekinesis on the side. She’s one of just a handful of Omega-level mutants because of how much power she can wield. She has the potential to be so much more than what she’s ever been, and that’s not even talking about the Phoenix or the Dark Phoenix. Ignore the pointless love triangles. Ignore the stupid stuff that doesn’t matter (though it brings a certain amount of fun and campiness to it all). Jean Grey can kick ass and take names, either as part of a team or on her own.

And anyone who can put up with Scott Summers deserves to be in the top 50 on a list of greatest super heroes.

Next: No. 36: Has stolen a few things, including Batman's heart