How did the X-Men‘s Madelyne Pryor get retconned into a Jean Grey clone? The X-Men comics have often been compared to superhero soap operas. Every character’s private life is frankly insane; Cyclops’ family tree is the craziest in comics, while Colossus’ bloodline is literally the stuff of legend. It’s almost impossible to keep track of who’s hooked up with who, with even the characters themselves joking that the X-Men can be a little “incestuous.“
Jonathan Hickman’s X-Men relaunch has embraced this, with the entire mutant race settling on the living island of Krakoa, and strong hints they’ve abandoned human norms when it comes to relationships. Kid Cable is actually dating all five Stepford Cuckoos at once, and Cyclops, Wolverine and Jean Grey appear to be in a poly amorous relationship. Appropriately enough, Marvel has also used this relaunch as an opportunity to bring back a classic X-Men villain; Madelyne Pryor. She’s the main foe in Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia’s Hellions, and she’s already caused Havok to turn traitor.
Madelyne Pryor is the perfect illustration of just how “soap opera” the X-Men comics can get. She’s technically the wife of Cyclops, who discovered she was a clone, and felt abandoned when he returned to work with the resurrected Jean Grey. She turned bad, slept with Cyclops’ brother, attempted to sacrifice her son in order to seat the entire world with Hellfire. It’s the kind of crazy story that could only happen in comics – but just how did it come about?
Madelyne Pryor Was Supposed To Be Cyclops’ Happily Ever After
The X-Men have historically been based at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, and here’s the thing about schools; sooner or later, you leave. In the 1970s, legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont wanted to have Scott Summers and Jean Grey graduate from Xavier’s School, and head off into the sunset to live their much-deserved Happily Ever After. Then editorial fiat forced a different conclusion to the “Dark Phoenix Saga,” and Claremont’s plans were ruined. Jean Grey was dead, and editor-in-chief Jim Shooter insisted she couldn’t be brought back unless writers found a way to absolve her of the crimes she had committed as Dark Phoenix – which included an act of genocide. In truth, Shooter never expected anyone to come up with an idea how to pull that off. As far as he was concerned, Jean Grey was dead – and that was never going to change.
But Claremont didn’t want to do too much of a course-correction, and so he had Cyclops meet – and fall in love with – a red-headed pilot called Madelyne Pryor. Visually, she was absolutely identical to Jean Grey, which understandably freaked the X-Men out; at one point even Cyclops asked her if she was really a resurrected Phoenix. But Claremont intended Madelyne’s similarity to Jean to be nothing more than a coincidence, and Scott and Madelyne got married, with Cyclops retiring from the X-Men. It was a pretty weird plot – they even sent a post-coital postcard to Charles Xavier, compounding the strangeness of it all and leaving many readers curious about who took the photo on the front of the postcard – but it seemed to have come to a satisfying end. Cyclops and Madelyne even had a son, Nathan (who would eventually become the time traveling Cable, as a result of some even crazier retcons).
Then Marvel Brought Back Jean Grey
But Jim Shooter had made a mistake. By establishing a “rule” that apparently prevented Jean Grey ever being brought back, he’d basically dared the next generation of writers to think of a way around him. Kurt Busiek came up with the idea of retconning Jean Grey and the Phoenix as separate entities, revealing the Phoenix was a cosmic force who had taken the place of Jean while her body lay in a healing cocoon. She was discovered by the Fantastic Four, and resuscitated, just in time for the launch of a new X-Factor series – one that reunited the five original X-Men. This, naturally, meant Cyclops’ retirement was over as well, and he’d now be working alongside his childhood sweetheart Jean Grey.
It would be an understatement to say Chris Claremont was unhappy; he came close to quitting. But he was unable to get in touch with Shooter straight away, and cooled down over the weekend, continuing to write his Uncanny X-Men run. Marvel had written themselves into a corner, because the dynamic between Cyclops and Jean Grey was as strong as ever, and yet Cyclops was married to another woman. So Claremont began a major retcon, gradually revealing Madelyne Pryor had actually been a clone of Jean Grey, created by the ruthless and manipulative Mr. Sinister. She had been granted life by a fragment of the Phoenix Force, no less, and she gradually discovered her powers. Unfortunately Madelyne began to believe Cyclops had abandoned her, and this broke her fragile psyche, driving her insane. She seduced Cyclops’ brother Havok, then struck a deal with demonic entities to become their Goblin Queen. Cyclops’ innocent wife had literally become a seductive demoness. She died in the “Inferno” event, but her memories were subsequently absorbed into Jean Grey’s mind, meaning there was a strange sense in which she lived on.
Every Incarnation of Madelyne Pryor Has Been Pretty Crazy
Marvel has always been fascinated by Madelyne Pryor, and death is a revolving door in the X-Men comics, so it’s frankly no surprise she’s come back quite a few times. Every incarnation has been equally crazy, and equally soap opera. One version of Madelyne, for example, seduced Nate Grey’s X-Man – an alternate reality version of her own son Cable. Fortunately the couple were interrupted by Jean Grey before they got beyond first base.
Finally, in 2012 Brian Wood took over the main X-Men book, and he resurrected the real Madelyne Pryor at last. Wood clearly had plans for Madelyne, but unfortunately his run was cut short, and she was forgotten – until now. Amusingly, Zeb Wells has even made that a part of his plot, with Madelyne fuming at how she came back from the dead years ago, and nobody cared. Madelyne has already hooked up with Havok again, and it remains to be seen just what insanity will follow her return.
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