Phoenix Force (comics)
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| Phoenix Force | |
|---|---|
 The Phoenix entity. From the back cover to Classic X-Men #8. Art by John Bolton | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Uncanny X-Men #101 (Oct 1976) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Dave Cockrum |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | X-Men, Hellfire Club, Galactic Guardians |
| Notable aliases | Phoenix, Jean Grey, White Phoenix of the Crown, Star-Child, Chaos-Bringer, Black Queen, Dark Phoenix, Phalkon, Ms. Psyche, Gentle Warrior, Giraud of New Haven |
| Abilities | Potentially limitless control over cosmic and psionic energies, Reality manipulation Ability to tap into energies reserved for the future at the expense of future life Can raise the dead as well as create life Can amplify powers to incalculable levels Flight in the vacuum of space without protection. |
The alias of Phoenix has been used by several fictional comic book characters published by Marvel Comics. The first, Baron Helmut Zemo, used the alias only once, but the later bearers of the identity are far more notable, and all are associated with the Phoenix Force. The Phoenix Force is famous for its central role in one of the most influential storylines in American superhero comics, the Dark Phoenix Saga, and is usually linked to Jean Grey.
Fictional character biography
The Phoenix Force is an immortal and mutable manifestation of the prime universal force of life. Born of the void between states of being, the Phoenix Force is a child of the universe. It is the nexus of all psionic energy which does, has, and ever will exist in all realities of the omniverse, the Guardian of Creation, and a de-facto guardian of the M'Kraan Crystal. The Phoenix is among the most feared beings in the entire universe - having the power to cut and regrow any part of the universe, as well as destroy it entirely, which is part of the Phoenix's purpose: "The Judgement of the Phoenix", to burn away the obsolete. Billions of years ago, at the start of the universe The Force encountered the notorious Le Bete Noir, another cosmic entity on par, or possibly more powerful than itself. Through mere luck the Phoenix was able to trap Noir inside of Earth while the planet was still cooling.
During its time as a sentient entity, it traveled the cosmos just like other cosmic beings. At first, the Phoenix Force was a formless mass of energy, but thousands of years ago, it came to Earth, and met a magician named Feron (who worshipped the legendary Phoenix), whose daydream-like visions prompted the Phoenix to adopt the firebird form it has today. He asked the Phoenix to help him by lending its energy to project a stone pillar (which resembled a lighthouse) across the multiverse. The pillar became the lighthouse base for the British superteam Excalibur (a team its future host Rachel Summers herself would join). Afterwards, Feron was attacked by Necrom in an attempt to steal the power of the Phoenix. Feron, strengthened by the Phoenix Force, was able to fight back but Necrom was able to steal a fraction of the Phoenix's essence forcing it to flee back to space in agonized confusion. The Phoenix Force returned to Earth when it felt the mind of a human transcend the physical realm, a mind that resonated with the Phoenix's energy. A young Jean Grey had telepathically linked her mind to her dying friend, Annie Richards, to keep Annie's soul from moving to the afterlife. In doing so, Jean's mind was being dragged along to the "other side" with Annie. Phoenix lent its energy to break the connection, and kept close watch on young Jean, as it felt a kinship with the young mutant. Years later when Jean was dying on a space shuttle, her mind called out for help and the Phoenix Force answered and saved her, transforming Jean into the Phoenix.
As originally written (Uncanny X-Men #101), the Jean Grey incarnation of the Phoenix was not a separate cosmic entity, but Jean herself, having attained her ultimate potential as a psychic, only to become slowly corrupted by the manipulation of such foes as Mastermind and Emma Frost; unable to adapt to her enormous power, Jean was driven mad. Becoming Dark Phoenix, Jean destroyed a planet populated by sentient creatures (by eating the sun of that planet's solar system to satisfy her "hunger" as Dark Phoenix) and subsequently committed suicide on Earth's moon (Uncanny X-Men #137).
In order to return Jean to the fold several years later, this storyline was retconned to reveal the existence of the cosmic Phoenix Force entity, which had created a duplicate body of Jean, believed itself to be Jean, and acted in her place while the real Jean lay in a coma in the ocean. This let Jean be revived as a member of X-Factor. The extent to which the duplicate and Jean are separate entities depends on who is writing the character(s) at the time.
Part of the Phoenix Force joined with Jean's clone, Madelyne Pryor, until she also committed suicide and the Phoenix consciousness rejoined with the awakened Jean. Another possessor of the Phoenix Force is Rachel Summers, Jean's daughter from the Days of Future Past alternate future. The Phoenix Force accepted her as a host, allowing her to use limited amounts of its immense powers to enhance her own.
Later, when Rachel was sent into the future, Jean assumed the code name of Phoenix once again. She even began to manifest the Phoenix raptor anima banner without actually tapping into the Force itself. The Phoenix Force told Professor Xavier that "Jean is only the house where I live."
During the mini-series X-Men: Phoenix - Endsong, the Phoenix Force returned to Earth and resurrected Jean Grey from her grave. Through a number of incidents, including Jean having Wolverine kill her a number of times, Jean trapping herself in a glacier, the Phoenix Force jumping into Emma Frost, and parts of the X-Men being trapped in a Shi'ar-generated event horizon, Jean Grey managed to assert herself and gain control of the Phoenix Force and rescue everyone from the event horizon. Jean then declares that she and the Phoenix force are truly one entity now, have trancended into the White Phoenix of the Crown. Unfortunately, as a result of a Shi'ar attack on the Phoenix Force, it is currently in an incomplete state and Jean must now search out the remaining parts of the Phoenix Force. The consequences of this were partially addressed in X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong in which a small part of the Phoenix Force joined with the Stepford Cuckoos. After nearly losing control to the Phoenix power, the Stepford Cuckoos developed a secondary mutation, in which their hearts turned to diamond and they were able to imprision the piece of the Phoenix Force.
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During an encounter with Galactus the Devourer of Worlds, (Excalibur #25) Rachel Summers -- at the time completely overtaken by the Phoenix Force -- battled Galactus in an effort to save a planet he was preparing to devour. The Phoenix Force disrupted the feeding process and thus was able outlast the hungering world killer in battle. Galactus, his strength exhausted by the combination of a lost meal followed by an extended battle with the Phoenix, accused her of hypocrisy. Galactus revealed to the Phoenix Force that every time it exercised its powers on such vast scales, it took away the energy used to birth future generations. Realizing this to be true, the Phoenix vowed never again to use its powers to such an extent.
The extent of the Phoenix Force's abilities has not been fully clarified. In a certain retconned issue, the Phoenix can be seen holding the Universe-616 in the palm of her hands - modifying them at will. This indicates that her powers rivaled even that of the Living Tribunal. Jean Grey as The White Phoenix Of The Crown was able to change the future of a universe by reaching back in time and pushing her husband Cyclops to move on with his life.
As the Phoenix is the creation and life of the universe, the Dark Phoenix represents power and destruction. Dark Phoenix is the physical being or incarnation of power itself. The Phoenix will become Dark Phoenix if it allows human emotions to cloud its judgment. In this state, Phoenix is the strongest, but also is an evil entity. It thirsts for power and destruction. Totally uncontrollable, it is a force to be reckoned with as it is not bound by a human conscience. When Dark Phoenix flew back into space, her true firebird form was seen across the entire universe and even demanded the attention of Eternity.
Dark Phoenix was first released in the Dark Phoenix Saga. Under the mind illusions of Mastermind, the Phoenix entity (thinking it was Jean Grey) was inducted into the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club as its Black Queen. The X-Men tried to save 'Jean,' but Mastermind's illusion showed the Black Queen enemies from the past - revolutionary rebels and slaves. Confident in his illusion, Mastermind killed Scott Summers in front of 'Jean.' This arrogant act released 'Jean' from his illusion. She saved the X-Men, but grew furious with Mastermind. Through his illusion the Phoenix entity had experienced the darker emotions of humanity: lust, power, anger, destruction, and a vast hunger. The X-Men defeated the Inner Circle, but the Phoenix's wrath had been unleashed. She turned on Mastermind and showed him the true scope of power she held. He could not handle the knowledge, and was left catatonic.
The X-Men approached Phoenix, thinking her to be Jean, but in place of the woman they knew and loved was Dark Phoenix. She reveled in the new found strength and power of destruction. She attacked the X-Men and easily defeated them; however, she left all alive and travelled into space to satisfy her hunger. Far from Earth's solar system, Dark Phoenix dove into a star and ate it. The star died and with it five billion D'Bari lives were ended; one of the star's planets had held life.
Dark Phoenix returned to Earth, hungry and eager to experience more human emotions. She went to Jean's old house and was again confronted by the X-Men. This time the X-Men - with Xavier and Jean's consciousness - managed to subdue the Dark Phoenix. At this point, all of the X-Men were transported to a Shi'ar ship. The Shi'ar planned to execute the entity's physical form for the destruction of the sun. The X-Men battled for Jean's life in the Blue Area of the Moon, but in the end, the Dark Phoenix persona erupted once more, though she was (relatively) weak. Jean's consciousness was able to retain enough control long to activate the weapons on the moon. With its human personality suppressing its vast power and thus rendering its mortal body vulnerable, "Jean" triggered one of the ancient weapons and vaporized herself. With its mortal shell now shattered, the immortal Phoenix Force could no longer focus the totality of its power within the mortal plane of existence, thus ending its threat.
Dark Phoenix has reappeared throughout many What If... storylines and has even been in Marvel/DC crossovers. Over the years whenever Jean's powers flared, many of her teammates feared Dark Phoenix's return, although Dark Phoenix had never actually been Jean Grey. After once again merging with the Phoenix Force, Jean had all of Dark Phoenix's memories and she feels the weight of five billion lives upon her soul.
Dark Phoenix has recently reappeared in the mini-series Phoenix: Endsong, by using the body of Jean Grey-Summers as a host once again. It is not long before she remembers what she has come for - Scott Summers (a.k.a Cyclops). She needs to feed from the energy from his optic blasts, and confused by Jean's emotions thinks she's in love with Scott. When she realises Scott is in love with Emma Frost (former White Queen of the Hellfire club and headmistress of Xavier's School for Higher Learning) she possesses her instead. But Jean comes back to fight the Dark Phoenix, reveals they are one and the same, and orders the Phoenix force to leave Emma's body. With emotional support of all the X-Men, Jean then transforms into the White Phoenix of The Crown. This is signified by a new white and gold costume. They then both return to the White Hot Room, a higher plane of reality within the M'Kraan Crystal to gather all her pieces. However, one of the Phoenix fragments returns in the bodies of the Stepford Cuckoos in the mini series Phoenix: Warsong.
List of hosts
- Rook'shir: A Shi'ar
- Feron: Ancestor of the modern day Feron
- Phoenix/Dark Phoenix: Jean Grey's duplicate
- Jean Grey: The Phoenix's longest host. Together they have become the White Phoenix of the Crown, marking them the most powerful Phoenix Force and Host combination.
- Rachel Summers
- Quentin Quire Revealed to be a host in the Here Comes Tomorrow storyline.
- Diamanda Nero: She briefly became the host of the Phoenix after her fight with Rachel.
- Professor X: Charles Xavier briefly possessed a fraction of the Phoenix Force during his time with the Starjammers.
- Emma Frost: Emma briefly became the host for the Phoenix during the Force's latest visit to Earth. However, she could not truly contain the Phoenix as she is not an Omega-level mutant See Endsong.
- Stepford Cuckoos: The Cuckoo Celeste became the host of a fraction of the Phoenix after Jean Grey returned to the White Hot Room. See Warsong.
- Nightcrawler: He briefly possessed a bit of Phoenix when he fought Jean Grey and was seduced by the power of Dark Phoenix.
- Storm: In A What If, Storm was possessed by the Phoenix.
- Giruad: from Guardians of the Galaxy, Earth-691.
Powers and abilities
The phoenix has been described as the most powerful force in the universe. The Phoenix's power could tap into the energy provided by life-force reserved for future generations, thus denying them existence. It can wield this energy to project beams of immense concussive force. It can transmigrate throughout time and space by folding its energy back into itself, causing it to collapse akin to a black hole. It then reforms itself upon reaching its destination. It can directly absorb energy such as Cyclops' optic blasts or the entire energy of a sun. It is also capable of absorbing the energy and life-force from a foe. The Phoenix Force can control life and death itself and is the Guardian of Creation. As it is the nexus of all psionic energy, it has mental abilities of cosmic scope, including telepathy and telekinesis, and often seeks out hosts who have strong enough psionic abilities so they will be able to withstand the force's power, such as that of Emma Frost who could not bear the burden of Phoenix's hunger for human emotion when it bonded with her as explained in X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong #5. When the Phoenix Force enters a host, a fragment of its powers is left behind when it leaves. Even a small fragment can be stronger than an unexperienced host using the Phoenix's powers, as seen by Rachel Summers, who had full access to the Force, but her opponent threw moons at her with only a fragment (the Phoenix Force decided to not interfere with mortal beings and only allowed Rachel to tap into the force's powers at that time). When bonded with a host, the Phoenix Force amplifies their abilities to incalculable levels. It can manipulate matter on a sub-atomic level (e.g., turning wood to gold, stone to crystal, etc). It can teleport others across vast distances across space and can also open wormholes to access corners of the Universe. If the Phoenix Force is harmed or killed, it will form an "egg" of cosmic power, incubate in the White Hot Room, and hatch out completely healed. Also The Force is the only thing known in the universe strong enough to completely demolish the once thought unbreakable adamantium.
Other versions
Age of Apocalypse
In the Age of Apocalypse reality, after Jean Grey's death at the hands of Havok, nuclear bombs set to destroy America were suddenly destroyed by a bird-like display of fiery psionic power. It was Jean, awakened as the Phoenix (known as "Mutant Alpha", the legendary ultimate mutant). Sinister captured Phoenix, and brainwashed her into becoming one of his Sinister Six. He then turned Phoenix against the X-Men, displaying the personality of Dark Phoenix. Phoenix generated so much heat that even Sunfire was nearly burned to death, but Psylocke used her psychic knife to bring her to her senses. Jean used the Phoenix Force to incinerate her former "master", and became leader of the X-Men in Magneto's absence.
Ultimate Marvel
In the Ultimate X-Men: Date Night arc, Majestrix Lilandra of the Church of Shi'ar Enlightenment, claims that a Phoenix God is the force that created life itself. First the Phoenix created the stars, planets, as well as everything else in the universe. Many millennia later, the Phoenix created lifeforms on those planets and watched them grow and prosper. However, as time went by, the civilizations grew more advanced and sophisticated, and soon became jealous of the Phoenix. They wanted its raw, unimaginable, and limitless power for themselves. Soon after, the inhabitants of the planets waged war upon the Phoenix, trying to control her, as well as her power. They amassed a great army, bringing together a hundred civilizations. But the Phoenix fought strongly for thousands of years until the lifeforms found a way to imprison her since she couldn't be killed. Realizing that its creations had become power hungry, the Phoenix created a vortex to suck in the asteroids and planets around it, creating a spherical cage, but at a cost, the Phoenix would be trapped in it forever. As the millennia went by, the Phoenix's cage began to evolve; oceans formed, mountains rose, plants grew and lifeforms began to sprout upon it. Soon those lifeforms evolved into humans and the cage in which the Phoenix resided became Earth. The Shi'ar Church believed that the Phoenix was the very core of the Earth. (Some of the Church's beliefs appear to be modeled on those of Scientology; see Space opera in Scientology doctrine)
Jean Grey was placed in a mental institute after she began hearing voices and seeing visions of an omnipotent Phoenix god. After her release, she later thought she had contacted a celestial god-entity which destroyed worlds.
As a result, the Hellfire Club believed that it would be in their best interests to summon the Phoenix and merge it with Jean Grey via a ritual. With Jean acting as the Phoenix's human avatar, she would be worshipped in a greater world. While the ritual was successful, the Phoenix had different plans and promptly slew the Hellfire Club. In the Ultimate X-Men: Hellfire and Brimstone arc, the Phoenix makes its first real appearance as the entity within Jean's body.
Subsequently, Jean managed to gain some control over the Phoenix, though not without using dangerous amounts of its power and causing extreme destruction. In the process, she telekinetically lifted an entire land mass and atomized it, destroyed a helicopter and ten men within, created a giant Phoenix Raptor, and subdued a woman named Spiral.
Recently, Charles Xavier was confronted by Lilandra Neramani, the leader of a religious group known as the Shi'ar, who worship a god known as the Phoenix. As a result of their meeting, Lilandra asks for permission to study Jean Grey to determine whether or not she truly is the embodiment of the Phoenix Force. During the examination, the Phoenix entity apparently asserts itself in an evil form but is seemingly suppressed by Professor Xavier's presently superior psychic powers and his emotional outreach to Jean Grey's normal personality.
After the suppression of what seems to be the Phoenix Force, Lilandra and Charles are informed by Gerald, Lilandra's assistant, that Jean's test has proven to be negative. Gerald also reveals that Jean Grey's parents have a connection to the Shi'ar Church and postulates that Jean's subconscious has manifested a false Phoenix persona after being subjected to countless Phoenix Force stories in her youth. Feeling that she has lost her mind Jean slips into a depressed state and begins seeing green creatures latched on to her body. Jean has tested positive as the carrier of the Phoenix Force and Gerald has covered it up under orders from his actual superiors: the Hellfire Club.
Legacy of Fire
In the Marvel Mangaverse, the Phoenix Force is not just an entity, but a weapon. The Phoenix Sword as it was called was guarded and wielded by the sorceress Madelyne Pyre, who inherited the sword from her mother. When Madelyne's time as wielder of the sword was nearly up, she trained little sister Jena in the arts of fighting and magic. When their reality's version of Shadow King stole the Phoenix Sword, Jena tried to get it back, and Shadow King stabbed her with the sword. But in doing so, he inadvertently passed the powers of the Phoenix Sword to the dying Jena, who became the Phoenix's first host. She used the powers of the Phoenix to vanquish Shadow King, and is now the guardian of her dimension.
30th century
- Main article: Phoenix (Guardians of the Galaxy)
In the 30th century in the Guardians of the Galaxy comics series, ordinary human Giraud of New Haven becomes host to the Phoenix Force. As Phoenix, Giraud is a rarity for a Phoenix host; since he is an ordinary human with no magic or psi abilities —-- only those powers granted him directly by the Phoenix Force.
What If?
The timeline shown in What If v2, #79 diverged from the main reality on the fateful day when the X-Men’s shuttle passed through cosmic radiation during re-entry to Earth.
Jean Grey had been knocked out and could no longer pilot anymore. So it was Ororo who volunteered to steer the capsule with her elemental powers. However, she was not as successful as Jean, and all of the X-Men, except for Wolverine, died during the crash. Ororo seemingly survived and emerged from the wreckage as Stormphoenix, now displaying absolute control over all aspects of the weather.
She erected a benevolent dictatorship on Earth, drawing young mutants to her side and freezing the superbeings who opposed her in the atmosphere. As she grew more cruel and detached from humanity, the remaining heroes, as well as her acolyte, Kitty, and her mentor, Ahadi, hatched a plan to get rid of her. They examined the space capsule and found the real Storm, who had been placed in a healing cocoon and submerged in the Hudson Bay.
Kitty took over her body and they confronted Stormphoenix as the fake she was. Shocked back to its senses, the Phoenix left Earth, but the real Ororo died in the process.
Crossovers
Phoenix has appeared in the following intercompany crossovers:
- Dark Phoenix teamed up with Darkseid in the Teen Titans/X-Men crossover between DC and Marvel Comics' respective teams. The story was made by Chris Claremont, Walt Simonson and Terry Austin in 1983. The story follows Darkseid conversing with Metron for the Anti-Life Equation at the edge of the Universe. Metron and Darkseid make a deal, and Dark Phoenix becomes part of that equation. The Teen Titans try to stop Darkseid, with the help of the X-Men, who later go head to head with Deathstroke the Terminator. The Dark Phoenix breaks free from Darkseid's grasp, is briefly hosted by Cyclops, and eventually dies again. The team-up is generally considered non-canonical by fans. With good reason, as unless stated otherwise by the companies themselves, inter-company crossovers generally take place outside of the normal continuity.
- The Phoenix Force was transported to the Ultraverse in The Phoenix Resurrection where it possessed the pyrokinetic ultra Amber Hunt. The X-Men, Ultraforce, Exiles, and numerous other characters team-up to stop the Phoenix from destroying the world.
- Excalibur guest starred in Spider-Man #25 and they combined forces to combat Arcade. After administering C.P.R. to Phoenix, Spider-Man somehow gained similar powers to her and became the "Spider-Phoenix". It was quickly learned that a Bio-Organic Circuitry Board was webbed to Spider-Man's back and that Arcade was behind the shenanigans experienced by all.
In other media
Television
- The entire saga of the Phoenix is retold and adapted in the third season of the X-Men animated series, subdivided into the five-part "Phoenix Saga," in which Jean acquires the power of the Phoenix and the battle for the M'Kraan Crystal occurs, and the "Dark Phoenix Saga," showcasing the battle with the Hellfire Club, the Phoenix's transformation into Dark Phoenix, and the battle to decide her fate. These particular episodes are as close as the cartoon came to directly duplicating the comic book storylines - the "Dark Phoenix Saga" is so accurate to the original stories that the episodes have the additional credit, "Based on stories by Chris Claremont." Notably, however, as the Phoenix Force retcon had occurred before the creation of the series, the episodes were made with this change in mind - rather than having Jean develop her powers independently (as was the original intent of the comics), or be replaced by the cosmic Phoenix Force entity (as events were later retconned), the two concepts were merged, into Jean's actual body being possessed by the Phoenix Force, leading to a true struggle between two independent entities. Rather than destroying an inhabited system -- which was the cause for the decision to kill off the character in the comics -- the animated story had her destroy a deserted system and only disable the attacking Shi'ar cruiser. These changes made it possible for aspects of the original ending of Uncanny X-Men #137, in which Jean survives, to be used. Jean does still commit suicide (taking control of the Shi'ar's laser beam to fire on herself, rather than finding an ancient weapon), but with her death, the Phoenix Force is purified, and then uses its powers to resurrect Jean, drawing on the combined lifeforce of the assembled X-Men to bring her back to life. Jean retained her original basic powers, whereas in the aborted comic book ending, she would have been lobotomized by the Shi'ar and lost them entirely. She was played by Catherine Disher.
- The Phoenix makes a cameo in the last episode of X-Men: Evolution following Apocalypse's defeat. Her cameo is part of Professor Xavier's glimpse of the future, and shows Jean Grey screaming out as she becomes the Phoenix.
Films
- Famke Janssen plays Dr. Jean Grey in three movies, beginning with X-Men, in which she is dating Cyclops but attracted to Wolverine.
- In the second X-Men movie - X2: X-Men United - Jean Grey's powers are evolving. As Jean Grey uses her powers, a fiery aura appears in her eyes. In the climax of the movie, she is engulfed in a fiery aura as she holds back a tsunami of water from a burst dam to save the other X-Men. In the final scene, a giant flying fiery bird can be seen reflected in the water.
- In the third X-Men movie, X-Men: The Last Stand, Jean becomes Phoenix. Jean is the only known class five mutant. At a young age, Xavier locked some of Jean's powers away as she could not control her near-infinite abilities. This causes a split in Jean's psyche—between Jean Grey and the Phoenix (what her split-personality calls itself) —and drives her to insanity. During the movie, Jean and Phoenix battle for dominance. Jean tells Wolverine she thinks she killed Scott, although this is never confirmed. Phoenix destroys Xavier and joins Magneto. Jean/Phoenix abstains from a battle on Alcatraz until the military reinforcements show up and try to shoot her; Phoenix then gains full control and demolishes the island, ripping it and everything on it apart on the molecular level. Wolverine climbs his way to Jean's side while his flesh is peeled from his adamantium covered bones, his healing factor keeping him alive. He calls to Jean, but there is only the Phoenix and it does not understand his actions. Logan tells Jean that he would die for her and that he loves her. His heartfelt words pull Jean to the fore; she asks him to save her. He stabs her with his claws, killing her and ending the destruction. Jean is buried on the X-Mansion ground, besides the markers of Scott and Xavier.
Video games
In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, the Dark Phoenix made an appearance in the ending of the game if the player chooses to save Nightcrawler instead of saving Jean.
In X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix is a playable character on the PlayStation Portable version. Her attacks are mainly related to telepathy and the Phoenix itself.
In Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, a costume called Spider-Phoenix represents Spider-Man as host of the Phoenix Force, though Spider-Man can't use Phoenix's powers in game.