Saturday at Wizard World Philadelphia, Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada revealed that Greg Pak is writing “X-Men: Phoenix – Warsong,” a sequel to his top-selling “X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong.” With art by Tyler Kirkham, the five issue mini-series will begin in September. In an interview for Newsarama, Pak set up the story:
The key stories are Chris Claremont’s legendary Dark Phoenix saga in Uncanny X-Men #100-137, Grant Morrison’s New X-Men #114-150, and X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong. But rather than get into a point-by-point plot breakdown, maybe the best way to introduce the story to new readers is to talk about the big emotional throughlines… So here goes, two and a half decades of Phoenix stories in one paragraph:
The Phoenix saga is about a young woman named Jean Grey who discovers an insanely powerful cosmic force called the Phoenix within herself. The power allows her to save her friends and the world. But the power has a destiny beyond human understanding and the potential for horrifying destruction. So if our heroine loses control, she could destroy everything and everyone she knows. Ultimately, the love she experienced as a mere human, the strength of her bonds with her friends and her husband, gives her the ability to control her powers and save the world. But to do so, our heroine sacrifices herself and dies, passing on to another plane of existence to incubate, finding all her pieces so that she can understand and fulfill her destiny as the Phoenix. Will the enormous power of the Phoenix, beyond human comprehension and morality, threaten the world again? No one knows. But the love of her friends stays with our heroine to help and guide her as she grapples with the responsibilities and temptations of the Phoenix.
The key plot point readers should know as they launch into Warsong is that after Jean Grey last died in X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong, a tiny firefly representing a fragment of the Phoenix approached a group of young telepathic women known as the Stepford Cuckoos. What does the Phoenix want with the Cuckoos? Does it bear the terrible power of Dark Phoenix or the enormous love of Jean Grey? Who the heck are these Cuckoos, anyway, and why haven’t any of the X-Men ever asked where they came from? And what’s up with Scott and Emma? All these questions and more answered only within the pages of X-Men: Phoenix – Warsong!
Pak further teased the contents of “Warsong” in an interview for ComicBookResources.com
… I’m going to go out on a limb and spill the beans right here: ‘Warsong’ is not another Jean Grey resurrection story. It’s an essential Phoenix story, and therefore ultimately an essential tale for understanding Jean Grey. But we’re keeping the story fresh by exploring some untapped corners of the Grant Morrison run that are giving us a fantastic way to develop our characters and themes from surprising new angles.
“X-Men: Phoenix – Endsong is now available from Amazon.com at a 35 percent discount.
ComicBookResources.com interview | Newsarama interview