10 More X-Men Fates Worse Than Death
1. Being Corrupted By The Phoenix - X-Men #135 (1980)
One of the scariest things to experience in the world of comics is mind-control. Now imagine being mind-controlled to kill. Now imagine being mind-controlled to kill... on a global, or even a cosmic scale. That is a very real risk for anyone who is corrupted by the Phoenix Force. Many people who have been possessed by this fiery deity have been compelled to perform unspeakable acts of evil.
When Cyclops was taken over by the Phoenix, he turned on the X-Men and killed his mentor, Professor X. When Namor was corrupted, he destroyed the nation of Wakanda.
However, nobody has suffered more mentally from the Phoenix's wrath than Jean Grey. After the cosmic goddess endowed Jean with unfathomable power, her mind became twisted, turning the founding X-Man into Dark Phoenix.
When the X-Men tried to stop her, Jean flew into space to escape. Drained of energy, she fed on a star, causing it to go supernova, resulting in the deaths of billions of aliens on a nearby planet. It was in this moment when the X-Men truly grasped the power and cruelty of the Phoenix, and the terror that Jean must have endured, being forced to exterminate an entire solar system.