It hasn’t always just been Wolverine and Cyclops for the red-haired psychic. While her heart has never strayed far from the hearts and minds of her X-Men teammates, Jean Grey has had romances outside of Xavier’s mansion. While mentions of her trysts with Angel (Warren Worthington), Mastermind, and a literal and physical meeting of the minds with Charles Xavier have often been pushed to the margins, Jean isn’t as one-dimensional, love-wise, as we would think. Here are five often-overlooked but never-forgotten love interests of the X-Men’s Jean Grey.
Angel
Angel, also known as Warren Worthington III, was the original member of the X-Men. He sprouted wings in his early teens and soon came into Professor X’s crosshairs as a potential member of the X-Men. Warren met Jean at the School, and he had a crush on her, but Jean secretly loved Scott. Warren gave up on her so she could be with Cyclops, while Angel started dating an old friend of his, Candy Southern.
However, despite the flame of their relationship not igniting into a deeper spark, it offered insight into Jean’s character and remained a notable part of early character development for X-Men comics.
Mastermind
The original Mastermind, Jason Wyngarde, is one of the founding members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, whose thirst for power matched his desire for the Scarlet Witch. However, in the alternate reality of What If comics, Mastermind appeared as the Black King of the Hellfire King Club, and he used his mutant powers of illusions to manipulate Jean Grey into falling in love with him.
In fact, they married, and she made him the Black King. But their relationship didn’t last, as Wolverine killed Jean in this alternate reality and defeated Mastermind, who hadn’t been seen after Jean’s death. This comic book storyline has many striking similarities with the third X-Men movie, especially since Mastermind is responsible for Jean’s transformation into the Dark Phoenix.
Professor X
Though controversial, the romantic relationship between Charles Xavier and Jean Grey is only hinted at, at best, primarily because it would have to dive into some rather complex waters of ethical boundaries within Jean and Xavier’s student-teacher relationship. The closest comic books came to the actual relationship between the two is in Ultimate X-Men.
Charles Xavier from the Ultimate X-Men series is much more morally ambiguous and more willing to use manipulation and secrecy to achieve his ends. He falls in love with Jean and even discloses that information to Scott/Cyclops, who becomes jealous because Jean spends more and more time with Xavier. This is a rather interesting dynamic between two of the most powerful mutant telepaths in a more morally ambiguous X-Men universe. Â
Duncan Matthews
Duncan Matthews isn’t really a mutant. He’s just a regular human from Earth-11052, a star high school football player, and a classmate of many of the teenage X-Men at Bayville High. He dated Jean Grey and maintained a competitive rivalry with Scott Summers, mainly because Scott was jealous of him dating Jean.
However, Jean soon sees Duncan as the bully that he is and ends their relationship. Duncan blames Scott for their break-up and even conspires to get Scott and all other mutants expelled from the school. This isn’t a massive romance in Jean Grey’s life, but it does highlight the difference between Jean’s everyday life and her emerging powers and identity as a mutant.
Havoc
Havoc got involved with a lot of women in the X-Men universe, and interestingly enough, many of them were actually ex-girlfriends (or even an ex-wife) of his older brother, Scott Summers, aka Cyclops. This doesn’t include Jean Grey, but it does include her clone, Madelyne Pryor.
Madelyne is a clone of Jean Grey, whom Scott married after Jean’s presumed death. Their marriage produced a son, Nathan Summers (later known as Cable), but the relationship tragically ends once Jean returns from the dead and the truth about Madelyne’s origins are revealed.
Havoc, on the other hand, had significant interactions with Madelyne, especially when she was leading the X-Men and after her transformation into the Goblin Queen. However, their relationship was much more platonic. Â
Final Thoughts
Throughout most of the X-Men franchise, Jean Grey’s love life was almost always observed as an iconic love triangle with Wolverine and Cyclops — though in some continuities, she chooses one over the other. However, her overlooked relationships with other X-Men characters, such as Angel, Mastermind, and Professor X, add more depth and complexity to her character, and even her tumultuous connection to Havoc and Madelyne Pryor reflects her character evolution.
In the end, however, it would seem that her heart will always belong to Scott Summer regardless of the continuity since their relationship has become the cornerstone of X-Men lore as an embodiment of mind, body, and heart. Â