7 Things We Learned From AJ Lee On StarTalk

6. X-Men's Dark Phoenix Saga Inspired Her Career

Anyone who has read AJ's book or listened to interviews with her before will know she's a big fan of comic books. Her favourite is Chris Claremont's Dark Phoenix Saga, a tale that explored the changes in X-Men's Jean Grey and commentated on the idea of duality. That, from a young age, spoke to AJ and inspired her.

It was the first time she'd identified with a previously-peripheral female comic book character becoming the focal point. In Dark Phoenix, Grey became more than a backup casting for husband Cyclops and morphed into her own star. Everything about her made AJ wonder if she could someday become so interesting, and it directly influenced her career.

On the aforementioned subject of duality, it was the thought of being both good and bad that peaked Lee's interest. She noted on the podcast that seeking redemption for the bad times is something people do constantly, and that's (partly) why the comic's storyline stood out to her.

deGrasse was slightly taken aback by how passionately AJ spoke here.