Gender and Power: The Phoenix/Jean Grey across Time and Media

Films based on comic books have been box-office successes in recent years, particularly the X-Men franchise, which is comprised of a trilogy and two prequels, and the X-Men trilogy. Through the characters of Jean Grey and Rogue these films represent women as largely unable to control their powers, and subsequently as significantly dangerous to men. Unfortunately, these problematic representations of women are often explained, or even justified, by audience members who tacitly assume, given these films are based on comics of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, that these films will feature more conservative representations of gender.