X-Men: Dark Phoenix - 21 Easter Eggs & References Explained

18. The Space Shuttle & The Car Crash

For non-comic book aficionados, Jean's origins as Dark Phoenix in the film draw from two points in the comics. First, the car crash that kills her mother reflects a similar sort of event from the comic iteration's young life. On the page, Jean's mutant powers of telepathy and telekinesis first appear when her best friend killed by a car and the trauma almost kills Jean too. She's left in a comatose state and only revives when her parents seek the help of Charles Xavier.

Obviously, the nature of her father's request for help with her is different to a medical request, but the basic idea came from the same place.

And then there's the space shuttle event, which also came from the comics. In the film, the X-Men are sent to save the Space Shuttle Endeavor (which embarked on its first mission in real life in May 1992), which is damaged by a "solar flare" and leads to Jean being effectively "infected" by the mysterious Phoenix power.

In the comics, during an emergency mission in space, the X-Men find their shuttle damaged and as Jean pilots the shuttle home, she is exposed to fatal levels of radiation. Just as she does in the film, Jean seeks to help the other X-Men as she dies, but instead of being possessed, the Phoenix Force responds to her cries for help and commitment.