100 Greatest Superhero Stories Ever
By Steve Lam
Screen Capture from X-Men Season 3, Episode 3: “The Phoenix Saga: Sacrifice”
#81. X-Men Season 3, Episode 3–7: “The Phoenix Saga”, Episode 11–14: “The Dark Phoenix Saga”
Medium
Animated Television Series
Release Dates
“The Phoenix Saga”:
September 5, 1994 (“Sacrifice”)
September 6, 1994 (“The Dark Shroud”)
September 7, 1994 (“Cry of the Banshee”)
September 8, 1994 (“The Starjammers”)
September 9, 1994 (“Child of Light”)
“The Dark Phoenix Saga”:
November 12, 1994 (“Dazzled,” “The Inner Circle”)
November 19, 1994 (“The Dark Phoenix”)
November 26, 1994 (“The Fate of the Phoenix”)
Credits
Director: Larry Houston
Writers: Michael Edens (Ep. 3, Ep. 5), Mark Edward Edens (Ep. 4, Ep. 6–Ep. 7), Jan Strnad (Ep. 11), Steven levi (Ep. 12), Larry Parr (Ep. 13), Brooks Wachtel (Ep. 14)
Cast: Cedric Smith as Professor Charles Xavier, Cathal J. Dodd as Wolverine / Logan, Norm Spencer as Cyclops / Scott Summers, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm / Ororo Munroe, Chris Potter as Gambit / Remy LeBeau, George Buza as Beast / Dr. Henry “Hank” McCoy, Catherine Disher as Jean Grey / Phoenix, Alyson Court as Jubilee / Jubilation Lee, Lawrence Bayne as Erik the Redd
The Reason It’s Great
Jean Grey, power-wise, was a pretty weak character when she first started out. It wasn’t until Thor joined the Avengers that Marvel rehashed her character. So, why were they comparing the God of Thunder from another realm to a mutant? Easily answered. Thor became a hit with the readers, and Marvel wanted the same popularity for one of their mutant characters.
Writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockburn created the Phoenix Force—an entity described as an “immortal, immutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life and passion.” When Jean Grey was about to die, her calls were heard by the Phoenix Force, which saved her and transformed her into the Phoenix. Jean Grey’s original telepathic and telekinetic powers were augmented by the Phoenix Force—making her one of the the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe.
The Fox animated series X-Men, took the famous storylines of “The Phoenix Saga” and “The Dark Phoenix Saga” and adapted them to an ambitious nine-episode arc (five episodes for “The Phoenix Saga” and four episodes for “The Dark Phoenix Saga”) in Season Three (1994–1995). It was a huge undertaking and, for the most part, it was a successful translation from comics to screen.
The television series is known as one of the longest running animated series based on a comic book. It’s no doubt that much of its success has to do with faithful retellings of its source material.