The X-Men have created some of the most popular characters ever. Most superteams make stars into superstars, but the X-Men has been able to create all-new characters and make them the most popular characters ever. One of the main reasons that these heroes and villains have been able to grow to the extent they did is the soap opera storytelling that defined the team in the ’80s. The members of the X-Men and their enemies have web of relationships, with their rivalries becoming some of the most well-known in the Marvel Universe. One of these rivalries has played a big role in X-books over the years – the one between Jean Grey and Emma Frost.
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Jean Grey is the most powerful X-Man, especially since she got the Phoenix Force back in 2024. Even before that, though, she was one of the most important members of the team. Jean is technically the first X-Man, in fact, as Xavier had been working with her since she 9 years old. Her time on the team has been defined by her romance with Cyclops, which would play a role in her rivalry with her fellow X-Man. Emma Frost was the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, battling the X-Men for years, before a death and resurrection brought her back to her first love – teaching. This would lead into the fantastic New X-Men run, where she would join the X-Men, leading to her and Jean clashing over Cyclops. Their rivalry has taken a lot of twists and turns over the years, but What If…? X-Men #1 shows us that maybe it didn’t have to be that way.
Jean Grey and Emma Frost Are a Better Team Than Anyone Thought
Jean Grey and Emma Frost’s history led them down the road to rivalry. The first appearance of Frost came at the beginning of “The Dark Phoenix Saga”, when the Inner Circle were able to kidnap Jean Grey. In fact, you can lay some of the blame for the entire Dark Phoenix situation at Emma’s feet. After Jean’s “death”, Emma would become a major X-villain, creating the Hellions and fighting the X-Men and New Mutants. Jean would return to life and wouldn’t face Emma again until Uncanny X-Men #281, an issue where both of them ended up dead and both of them figured out the same way to survive – shooting their consciousnesses into other bodies. While Frost would join Generation X as a teacher after her return, she and Jean didn’t meet again until after the destruction of Genosha.
Emma helped cause the rise of the Dark Phoenix and was partly to blame for one of Jean’s death, so by the time they reunited on New X-Men, there was a lot of water under the bridge. Emma’s flirtations with Cyclops destroyed any hope the two of them could have to discover friendship. While they were able to work together, there was always a palpable hostility between the two of them. Jean ended up dying and Emma took her place as Cyclops’s girlfriend (partly thanks to Jean pushing his mind from the White Hot Room) and the two would meet again in the Krakoa Era. The two of them were mostly cordial on Krakoa, but they also rarely spent any major time with each other. Too many things have happened in the time they knew each other for them to be friends.
However, What If…? X-Men #1 shows us a world where none of that happened. On this Earth, Cassandra Nova killed Xavier in the womb, taking his place in the world. She brought together her own X-Men and begins gathering the telepaths of the world so she can tap into their power and take over the planet, trying to prove her insane assertion that she is the only person in the world. Jean and Emma ended up meeting and becoming friends, working together to try and escape Nova. The issue shows their latest attempt, one which sees Nova finally try to take complete control over Jean, which she was never able to do. Emma saved her friend, leading to the Phoenix Force, which had been protecting Grey from Nova, awakening. The issue ends with the two friends ready for their greatest battle.
One of the things that this issue proves is that if it wasn’t for the terrible history between the two of them, they would not only be friends but best friends. Jean and Emma are two very different people, but they fit together very well. Each of them is strong in a place where the other is weak. Jean is all emotion and fire, where Emma is all cool reason. Both of them care deeply about helping other mutants, they just go about it with completely different attitudes. They’re exactly the kind of odd couple relationship that comics do so well.
One of the things that fans have wanted to see more of since the return of Jean Grey in 2018. There was a lot of potential for stories between the two of them and we’ve barely gotten any. The two worked together in Giant-Size X-Men: Storm #1, but other than that they’ve mostly just been in the same room at the same time. What If…? X-Men #1 shows us that the two can work together well and it would be cool to see something like that brought to the mainline universe. Jean and Emma have a lot to deal with in their relationship but What If… X-Men #1 shows how well they can work together.
It’s Time to Bring the Best Together
What If…? X-Men #1 took readers to a terrifying Earth, one where Cassandra Nova is all-powerful and the only people able to stand in her way are Jean Grey and Emma Frost. The issue does a fantastic job of showing the two as friends, proving that they could actually find some common ground and work well together if they didn’t have their long history together. Jean Grey and Emma Frost are a duo that have long been linked, and it’s about time that we got to see more of them together. What If…? X-Men#1 shows just how much fun they can be together and that should be a clarion call for Marvel’s creators.
What If…? X-Men #1 is one of the best X-Men issues of What If…? in years, partly because it gives us two characters that fans want to see together in the lead. Jean Grey and Emma Frost couldn’t be more different and that’s why we need to see more of them as a duo. The two not only have a lot of unfinished business, but they are just plain entertaining together. Jean Grey is coming back to the X-Men comics after DNX and hopefully creators will follow the example of What If…? X-Men #1.
What If…? X-Men #1 is on sale now.
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