The X-Men’s Hellfire Gala has been the site of many a fashion marvel, and now a new Phoenix has provided the perfect look for the next iteration of the event. Reminiscent of Jean’s classic Phoenix design, this new costume truly shows off the power of fire and life incarnate that the Phoenix represents.
This new cosplay by Dessi-Desu (@dessi_desu) shows off an incredible runway-ready redesign for Jean Grey that honors her legacy as the Phoenix in all its majesty. Showing off the partial version of the costume, Dessi-Desu looks resplendent in the Phoenix’s green and golds, with golden feathers on their headdress and green corset. Alongside their own work, they also credit @cosplayfabrics and @silkbaron for the actual material of the dress, as well as @allstarco for the green acrylic gems that provide extra shine to the design’s neckwear. Most excitingly, as they point out, the design is still yet to be completed, and the post includes their own art of their redesign, showing just how amazing the cosplay is going to become once complete.
However, even if technically incomplete the cosplay thus far looks perfectly ready for a high fashion event such as the X-Men’s annual Hellfire Gala and would be sure to stun any who saw it.
Symbols of Death and Rebirth
The turbulent history of Jean Grey and the Phoenix has been one of the most complicated sagas in all the X-Men. Originally, the Phoenix was simply a representation of Jean’s new control over her powers, an upgrade coinciding with a snazzy new green and gold costume. However, after the Dark Phoenix Saga and Jean’s apparent death, it was retconned in Fantastic Four Vol 1 #286 by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Jackson Guice that the Phoenix was itself a separate entity, and had secretly replaced Jean, thus ridding her of culpability for the Dark Phoenix’s actions. Further stories have only complicated the matter, with comics often simply treating Jean as the one who committed the Phoenix’s acts.
Interestingly, the golden feathers and overall shape of Dessi-Desu’s cosplay is also reminiscent of Marvel’s Asgardian designs, in particular the feathered headdress of Thor’s classic 1960s costume. Considering that the Asgardians in Marvel have in the past been trapped in the endless cycle of death and rebirth that is Ragnarök, this potential allusion seems all the more appropriate. Jean Grey’s multiple own deaths and rebirths via the Phoenix are at this point a key component of the character, not to mention the mythological significance of the Phoenix as a real-world image. The Phoenix in mythology is also immortal, dying and returning to life, so to combine this with similar Norse ideas like Ragnarök is a neat moment of synchronicity.
What’s interesting in the context of the Marvel Universe is how the costume might be received at an event like the Hellfire Gala. While the Phoenix is a force representing life, the corruption of the Dark Phoenix and of other Phoenix hosts complicates things. It’s no wonder that Jean hasn’t been seen in her classic Phoenix design since the start of the X-Men’s current Krakoan era. The costume carries so much baggage that bringing it back would qualify as a statement on Jean Grey’s relationship with the Phoenix no matter what. Like so many things in the X-Men, the Phoenix carries with it an ever-expanding, contradictory, and complicated legacy, and it's this rich tapestry that’s carried on in something as small as a costume like Dessi-Desu’s fantastic Jean Grey cosplay.
Source: Dessi-Desu
