X-Men: 10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About The Phoenix

Yeah, okay, destroying planets does seem pretty evil. And certainly of late, stories involving the Phoenix seemed to have had the heroes automatically assuming it's an evil force and that its intentions for Earth are nothing but malicious.

Recently, in appearances in The Mighty Thor, the Phoenix Force has seemed callous, condescending and with a lack of respect for life.

This is unusual, as while the Phoenix has been shown to destroy whole cultures and races, it's not really through any kind of evil: it's a force of nature and the universe itself. A hurricane wiping out a village isn't evil, it just... is.

With the notable exception of when the Phoenix was driven insane and became Dark Phoenix, the Phoenix's destruction of life is usually when it has become 'obsolete' and needs to make way for rebirth and renewal. The clue's kind of in the name.

So while what the Phoenix can do at times may seem evil, it really is just performing a function.

Also, there's all those times the Phoenix has performed heroic actions, such as when it saved a New York City torn apart by Xorn (again, when he was posing as Magneto), at the cost of her own life.