The Jean Grey Backlash Is Getting Spider-Man: Brand New Day & The MCU Wrong
Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
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If nothing else, Spider-Man: Brand New Day has resoundingly proven that no matter how successful your movie, even to the extent of Brand New Day’s incredible box office performance, you can’t please everyone. Despite attracting widespread acclaim, at least partly thanks to the mature storytelling, Brand New Day’s ending is at the center of another round of Fandom Discourse.
Considering how poorly Brand New Day’s Jean Grey “twist” was hidden (some might say by design), the storyline around her sister being held captive and used as a guinea pig by amoral DODC chief, Bill Metzger, was genuinely great. And somewhat in contrast to other MCU movies that have stuffed in cameos, the additions of Jon Bernthal's Punisher and Mark Ruffalo's Hulk added real substance to the story, offering the full moral spectrum Peter found himself navigating. There have been some grumbles, however: the underuse of major villains like Tombstone was a little unfortunate, and a section of fans aren't happy MJ and Peter look destined to be together again (at some point).
But those are minor complaints. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is easily one of the best MCU movies released since Avengers: Endgame, and the future of Tom Holland's Spider-Man feels bright, especially with those Miles Morales hints. Beyond his story, Brand New Day also set up a compelling new arc for the Hulk, which might deliver a version of World War Hulk, finally, and, perhaps most importantly of all, the first steps to the age of the X-Men were laid with Jean's introduction.
Jean's story is perhaps a less conventional one than X-Men fans might have expected: her origin is more morally complex than a traditional hero story, and her tunnel-vision focus on freeing her sister meant she did some... controversial things to achieve her goals. As a result, perhaps unsurprisingly, there's currently a debate about how Brand New Day handles Jean Grey, and whether her redemption is "fair," and I'm not sure anyone's asking the right questions.
Why Some MCU Fans Have A Problem With Jean Grey's Story
If you search Jean Grey on X - formerly Twitter - you'll find something of a campaign to take on Jean Grey's ending in Brand New Day, with the sentiment perhaps best summed up by the post that says, "I'm sorry but Jean Grey's redemption was not earned in the slightest. I get she wants her sister back, but she's done too many cruel and horrible things." That point is echoed by other posters, and form part of a vein of discourse suggesting Jean Grey was handled poorly overall.
"I’m glad many are waking up to how Jean Grey was handled in Brand New Day. Just horrible," reads another post, while another claims that "the movie wants you to believe she's automatically redeemed for her actions because of her motivation, that's the problem." In short, it all boils down to criticism of Jean seemingly killing an innocent bystander (during the mind-hopping sequence through New York), endangering others (like the middle-aged tank driver), and tormenting Spider-Man using MJ. It doesn't matter that the writers have clarified that she didn't kill anyone, the sight of the city worker being mown down by a cab didn't look like something he'd shrug off easily.
From “I Am Iron Man” to “I Am Inevitable” · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know the MCU? “Whatever it takes.”
🤖Phase OneRDJ & the founders, 2008
🛡The AvengersWhedon’s team, 2012
💎Infinity SagaThanos & the stones
⚡EndgameWhatever it takes, 2019
🌏MultiversePhase 4–6, 2021–
01
Iron Man (2008) is, in retrospect, the most consequential casting decision in modern blockbuster history — but at the time Marvel Studios and parent company Paramount were openly hostile to director Jon Favreau’s push for the lead actor he eventually got. Favreau later said he had to fight “tooth and nail” and the actor had to do a paid screen test, a screen-test deal almost unheard of for an A-lister. What was the executive objection to him?
✓ Correct! Robert Downey Jr. had been arrested multiple times between 1996 and 2001 on drug and weapons charges, served roughly a year in California state prison (1999–2000), and was fired from Ally McBeal in 2001 after relapsing. By 2007 he’d been clean for several years, but Marvel/Paramount considered him essentially uninsurable for a $140 million tent-pole. Favreau pushed for him over studio favourites Tom Cruise (who’d had Iron Man development at Fox years earlier) and Sam Rockwell (who’d later play Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2 as a consolation). RDJ took a reported $500,000 base salary — less than Terrence Howard, whose role he then permanently overshadowed.
✗ Wrong. The answer is his arrest history. RDJ had drug-related arrests from 1996–2001, served prison time in 1999–2000, and was fired from Ally McBeal in 2001 — which made him uninsurable in studio terms even though he’d been sober for several years by 2007. Favreau fought for him over Tom Cruise and Sam Rockwell, and RDJ took a reported $500,000 base salary — less than co-star Terrence Howard.
02
The Avengers (2012) — the film that proved the shared-universe model could work, grossed $1.52 billion, and ended Phase One with Loki, Thanos’s mid-credits reveal, and the “swarm shot” of the team rotating in Manhattan — was written and directed by a TV showrunner best known at the time for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Name him.
✓ Correct! Joss Whedon. Marvel hired him in mid-2010 partly on the basis of his uncredited script rewrites and his comfort writing ensemble team dynamics from Buffy/Angel/Firefly. He directed The Avengers (2012) and the follow-up Age of Ultron (2015), then exited the MCU and Marvel handed the next two Avengers films to the Russo brothers. The three other directors named all really did make Phase One films: Favreau directed Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), Branagh directed Thor (2011), and Joe Johnston directed Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) — which is why this question separates Phase One trivia from Avengers-specific trivia.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Joss Whedon — hired largely on the strength of Buffy, Firefly, and uncredited Hollywood script work. The three wrong options are deliberately all real Phase One MCU directors: Favreau did Iron Man 1 & 2, Branagh did Thor (2011), and Joe Johnston did The First Avenger (2011). Whedon directed Avengers (2012) and Age of Ultron (2015) before exiting the MCU.
03
Marvel co-architect Stan Lee (1922–2018) appeared in every theatrical MCU film from Iron Man (2008) onward, even shooting cameos in advance to outlast him. He died on November 12, 2018. In which film does his final filmed MCU cameo appear — as the long-haired young driver of a 1970 car bearing the bumper sticker “NUFF SAID”?
✓ Correct! Avengers: Endgame (April 2019). Lee appears digitally de-aged behind the wheel of a 1970 Chevy at the New Jersey army base where Tony Stark and Steve Rogers travel back to retrieve the Tesseract; he shouts “hey man, make love, not war!” The cameo was filmed before Lee’s death and confirmed by the Russos as his final filmed MCU appearance, although the next-released film, Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019), became the first MCU film with no Stan Lee cameo at all. Captain Marvel (March 2019) has him reading the script for Mallrats on the L.A. train and was the first posthumously-released cameo, but Endgame was the last one he actually shot.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Avengers: Endgame — the de-aged hippie-era driver in the 1970 New Jersey time-heist scene. Captain Marvel (March 2019) was the first cameo to release posthumously, but Endgame (April 2019) was the last one Lee actually filmed. Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019) became the first MCU film with no Stan Lee cameo at all.
04
Across Phase One through Three, each Infinity Stone is hidden inside a distinctive container before being claimed for Thanos’s Gauntlet. The blue Space Stone is housed inside a glowing cube that originates with the Asgardians, is recovered by Howard Stark from the wreckage of the Red Skull’s plane, is taken to Asgard by Loki in 2012, and is finally retrieved by Hulk on Sakaar before falling to Thanos. What is that container called?
✓ Correct! The Tesseract — the blue cube that houses the Space Stone — first appears in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), powers the portal Loki opens over Manhattan in The Avengers (2012), and is destroyed by Thanos in Infinity War (2018) when he crushes it to claim the stone inside. The wrong options are all real Infinity Stone containers from the MCU: the Aether (red liquid form) houses the Reality Stone in Thor: The Dark World, the Orb houses the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Eye of Agamotto houses the Time Stone in Doctor Strange. So all four answers refer to genuine stone containers — only the Tesseract holds Space.
✗ Wrong. The answer is the Tesseract. The trap is that all four options are real Infinity Stone containers: the Aether holds Reality (Thor: The Dark World), the Orb holds Power (Guardians of the Galaxy), and the Eye of Agamotto holds Time (Doctor Strange). Space — the blue stone shown in Cap’s 1942 plane wreckage and Loki’s 2012 invasion — is the Tesseract.
05
In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the Soul Stone is hidden on Vormir and guarded by a Stonekeeper — revealed to be a cursed Red Skull. To claim it, the seeker must sacrifice the person they love most by throwing them from a cliff. Thanos arrives on Vormir with one adopted daughter, weeps, and pushes her over the edge. Which character does Thanos sacrifice to obtain the Soul Stone?
✓ Correct! Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). Thanos forces her to lead him to Vormir because Nebula has earlier revealed under torture that Gamora knew the Soul Stone’s location all along. The scene is the emotional pivot of Infinity War: it confirms that Thanos really does love Gamora, which means the sacrifice qualifies. In Endgame (2019), a 2014 version of Gamora returns through time travel with her father — meaning Gamora-of-Infinity-War remains dead at the end of the saga, while a different Gamora wanders the cosmos in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Nebula is alive throughout Infinity War; Mantis survives Vormir entirely; Proxima Midnight is one of Thanos’s Black Order children, killed in the Battle of Wakanda.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Gamora. Nebula is alive throughout Infinity War (she’s the one whose torture reveals Gamora knew where the stone was hidden). Mantis isn’t on Vormir. Proxima Midnight is Thanos’s adopted daughter via the Black Order, not via Zen-Whoberi, and is killed during the Battle of Wakanda by Scarlet Witch. Thanos sacrifices Gamora — the only adopted daughter he genuinely loves.
06
In Avengers: Endgame (2019), Steve Rogers travels back in time to return the Infinity Stones, then chooses to remain in the past and live out a life with Peggy Carter. He returns to the present as an old man, sits on a bench by the lake at the Avengers compound, and hands his vibranium shield to a younger Avenger as the symbolic transfer of the Captain America identity. To whom does Steve give the shield?
✓ Correct! Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) — the Falcon. The choice deliberately bypasses Bucky, the original comics successor, because the Russos and screenwriters Markus & McFeely wanted the moment to read as a deliberate, racially-charged passing of an American icon rather than the obvious comics-canon handoff. The thread is then picked up directly in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+, 2021), in which Sam initially gives the shield to the Smithsonian, sees the government install John Walker as a replacement Cap, and ultimately takes the mantle himself — setting up Captain America: Brave New World (2025) with Mackie as the franchise’s new lead.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Sam Wilson, the Falcon. In the comics Bucky is the classic Cap successor, but the Russos and screenwriters Markus and McFeely deliberately picked Sam instead — a choice the entire Falcon and the Winter Soldier series (Disney+, 2021) then unpacks before Mackie carries it into Captain America: Brave New World (2025).
07
After Endgame, Marvel Studios’ Phase Four launched the MCU on Disney+ with a sitcom-pastiche limited series in which Wanda Maximoff and a resurrected Vision live inside a reality-warping suburban hex. Each episode parodied a different era of US TV sitcom — The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Family Ties, Modern Family. The show premiered January 15, 2021 and ran nine episodes. Which series was it — the first MCU project on Disney+?
✓ Correct! WandaVision (January 15 – March 5, 2021), created by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman. It launched Phase Four, earned 23 Emmy nominations, and effectively rebooted Wanda Maximoff as the Scarlet Witch ahead of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The Falcon and the Winter Soldier followed it in March 2021 — not first — and Loki landed in June 2021. Hawkeye is the 2021 Christmas series with Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld. The original launch order was WandaVision → FATWS → Loki → What If...? → Hawkeye, and WandaVision’s sitcom format remains the boldest swing of the Disney+ era.
✗ Wrong. The answer is WandaVision (January 15, 2021), the first MCU show on Disney+ and the launchpad for Phase Four. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier came in March 2021, Loki in June 2021, and Hawkeye in late 2021. The sitcom-pastiche structure — Dick Van Dyke through Modern Family — is unique to WandaVision.
08
At the closing panel of San Diego Comic-Con on July 27, 2024, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige brought the Russo brothers back on stage to announce a new title for the next Avengers film — previously labelled “The Kang Dynasty” before Jonathan Majors’s December 2023 conviction forced a pivot — and then unmasked a cast of actors wearing green hoods. The final hood came off Robert Downey Jr. RDJ is returning to the MCU, but not as Tony Stark. As whom?
✓ Correct! Doctor Doom — Victor von Doom, the Latverian dictator and Reed Richards’s lifelong nemesis, generally considered Marvel’s greatest comics villain. The next Avengers film, originally announced as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, was retitled Avengers: Doomsday after Jonathan Majors was dropped as Kang following his December 2023 assault conviction. Doomsday is scheduled for May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars to follow in May 2027 — both directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, returning to the MCU after Endgame. The in-universe explanation for RDJ playing Doom rather than Stark hinges on the multiverse: Doom is being positioned as a variant of Stark from another timeline.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Doctor Doom. The film was retitled from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday (May 2026) after Jonathan Majors was dropped, and the Russos returned to direct. RDJ’s casting as Doom — rather than as Tony Stark — is being explained in-universe via the multiverse: Doom as a Stark variant from another timeline.
The Stones Are Cast · Final Scorecard Your Avengers Standing
💎
/ 8
A worthy Avenger — or dusted in the snap?
There's no real argument that Jean didn't do questionable things, but to reductively call that a mistake with the script or her characterization is to misunderstand what actually happens and the storyline’s place in the wider MCU. As with all discourse, there’s no room for nuance.
Brand New Day's Ending Isn't About Redeeming Jean Grey
In order to get annoyed with Jean’s redemption in Brand New Day, you have to accept that as the message the film’s ending is trying to tell, which quite the misread. Just because Jean stops short of killing Peter Parker (eventually) - and Metzger, come to that - and saves his life when he’s shot by Punisher, the shot of Jean leaving on a Greyhound bus isn’t explicit confirmation that she’s now completely redeemed.
The intent of Brand New Day was to introduce Jean as a complex character, for whom conventional superhero logic isn’t really appropriate. As the writers said, “Even if you’re going to have a villain who really is redeemed at the end or goes through a transformation, you have to start them off in a place where they feel formidable. If it doesn’t feel like this is going to be someone who is a challenge to our hero, physically, emotionally, mentally, then you don’t really buy it.” Jean’s desperation had to be conveyed in her actions, and how far she was willing to go to save her sister and it made her a better threat.
We aren’t supposed to accept that Jean is redeemed; the more important message comes from her interaction with the memory of Aunt May she encounters when Peter invites her into his mind. She learns forgiveness, even when her emotion is at its rawest, and that taking the darker path would compromise her ability to look after herself properly. Her arc mirrors Peter’s, as he wrestles with a mutation that could make him more powerful and more brutal, but which would literally make him lose himself. His mutation is physical, hers is more spiritual and moral.
And it’s no accident that the two other major MCU characters involved are both defined by their moral complexity: Punisher gave himself up to his trauma and his hunger for revenge, and it devoured his entire life; Banner constantly wrestles with the fear that the worst version of the Hulk might break containment. These are all versions of the same idea, and it’s not one that’s about redemption as much as it’s about self-definition. Yes, Jean made mistakes and hurt people, but her choice to come back to the right side of good or bad was huge.
This Is Just The Beginning Of Jean Grey's Story
The most frustrating part of this discourse is the idea that what Jean did is all nicely wrapped up in a package with a bow on it, and now she’s redeemed, and she’s just going to turn up as a leader of the X-Men completely unblemished. That’s naive at best, and completely ignores the fact that the MCU has been obsessed with the idea of superheroes (and villains) dealing with the fallout of both their conscious actions and the accidental collateral damage of their heroic acts since Phase One.
Scarlet Witch’s entire arc was about the ramifications of her actions - even when she accidentally killed hundreds of people in Africa; Bucky Barnes had to reckon with the desire to punish him for crimes - including the literal assassination of a president - he had no control over; and Bruce Banner has just been made a captive once again because the balance tipped back to the general public fearing Hulk, because this isn’t the first rampage he’s been on. The Sokovia Accords were written in the blood of innocents who died as collateral damage of an idiotic science experiment Tony Stark didn’t plan properly.
To blithely accept that Jean won’t face the consequences of her actions - including from her own conscience - is to ignore the MCU’s blueprint. There will be more fallout, including, no doubt, rising mutant fear in the general population that will feed into the familiar subtext of the X-Men movie when it arrives. And not to mention the fact that Jean’s story could be used as a foundational idea behind Charles Xavier’s mutant school and his desire to both keep his students safe and avoid anything like this happening again. Both Sara and Jean can now be huge motivations for Xavier’s entire operation.
And it’s not like Jean isn’t likely to go through the Dark Phoenix storyline again, which will build on her innate capacity for dangerous behavior. Now there’s precedent, and while the Phoenix Force being behind her decision-making would be a cop-out that would misread the message about a family member taking drastic action out of desperation, it would be a smart complicating factor that can be expanded on later.
Finally - and I don’t wish to call anyone here a hypocrite - but MCU fans have forgiven major Avengers and other beloved figures for far worse than Jean Grey did. Hulk murdered countless innocent gladiators as Sakaar’s champion, and it was played off as a joke; Loki plucked out a man’s eye and killed him on camera (among many other crimes), and he’s largely forgiven as a product of trauma; and the calls for forgiveness for Scarlet Witch ring far louder than the mourning for the Illuminati she massacred.
Hawkeye cut a bloody swathe through his enemies with no concern for the ramifications in Endgame; Yelena tried quite persistently to murder Hawkeye; Nick Fury stole the Avengers’ DNA; Sentry probably caused a mass PTSD event; Natasha constantly reckoned with the red in her ledger… Yes, there are contextual considerations, but there are for Jean Grey too. Redemption in the MCU is not some clean, perfect thing any more than being a superhero is.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.