Official previews for Wolverine #1 reveal Logan is about to kill Jean Grey again. Marvel has always seemed strangely fond of killing Jean Grey; it's perhaps an unexpected side-effect of her adopting the "Phoenix" codename, or alternatively it reflects Marvel's love of repeating iconic storylines.
Whatever the case may be, the relationship between Wolverine and Jean Grey has involved a lot of bloodshed. Wolverine first killed Jean in New X-Men #148, a mercy kill to prevent Jean burning up in a space station that was crashing into the sun. The death triggered Jean's transformation into Phoenix - and then she died again, two issues later. The Phoenix brought Jean back after a fashion in the Phoenix: Endsong miniseries, but Logan sensed it was just a trick, and killed Jean by stabbing her with his claws. This led to an insane cycle of death and resurrection, with Logan murdering the woman he loves at least eight times more. In the end, the X-Men realized they were dealing with little more than a reanimated corpse, albeit one that allowed the Phoenix to access Jean's memories.
Incredibly, previews for Benjamin Percy, Adam Kubert and Victor Bogdanovic's Wolverine #1 reveal Logan is about to kill Jean Grey again. The excerpt opens with a page of dead X-Men, and Wolverine reflecting that he was the one who killed them. Here's the full preview:
Of course, death has always been something of a revolving door for the X-Men, but that's never been more true than in the current X-Men relaunch. Charles Xavier has learned to conquer death using a blend of mutant powers and Cerebro technology, meaning that - with possibly the sole exception of Kitty Pryde - anyone who's killed can be brought back at speed. In fact, the Wolverine #1 preview shows one of Logan's apparent victims is Quentin Quire, making this Quentin's second death in the last couple of months.
The interesting question is just what could turn Wolverine against his friends - and, particularly, against his beloved Jean Grey. Marvel's been not-so-subtly suggesting the X-Men have embraced polyamory on Krakoa, with hints of a love triangle between Cyclops, Jean, and Wolverine, and confirmation Kid Cable is dating all five of the Stepford Cuckoos. After all these years, then, Wolverine and Jean Grey are finally something of an item - and yet, something will manipulate Logan into killing Jean once again. It will be fascinating to see how this comes to pass - and just how Wolverine gets payback.
Wolverine #1 will arrive in your local comic book shop on February 19th, 2020.