'Marvel: What If... Kitty Pryde Stole the Phoenix Force?' Reimagines Classic Marvel Stories

So many worlds, so little time. Infinite possibilities, creating infinite realities. Long have I watched generations of mutants live in a world shaped by Jean Grey's legacy. But what if . . . that legacy was cut tragically short, dooming the world to a future without the X-Men?

What if . . . a watcher must do more than watch?

Marvel: What If…Kitty Pryde Stole the Phoenix Force? (An X-Men and America Chavez Story)
Written by Rebecca Podos
$30.00
Available October 14, 2025

Synopsis

The year is 1990: The X-Men all perished more than a decade ago, and Kitty Pryde is no hero. Emma Frost rescued Kitty from an obscure existence as a mere rebellious teen kicked out of boarding school, terrified of ever being discovered as a mutant. After growing up under the tutelage of the White Queen, Kitty is an apex predator of a superior species, yet she lives alone in a tiny, rundown apartment, preferring isolation to a knife in the back. What is her alternative? The world is what it is.

But sometimes Kitty isn’t so sure of that. Sometimes it feels like she phases right out of her own life. Breathe in: She’s suddenly surrounded by friends she’s never known, living out events that never happened. Breathe out: It’s all back to normal. Kitty always shoves these flashes down, until someone from that other life finds her. This familiar stranger, Betsy Braddock, is a rambling confirmation that something is wrong with their world.

Betsy has a wild theory and if it’s right, Kitty's only shot at changing the present is to free-fall into the past. The girls follow a tenuous psychic trail back to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in its glory days and embed themselves with the X-Men. There they discover that the inflection point that will unravel their future revolves around a certain omega-level mutant, destined to become the Phoenix. But little do Kitty and Betsy know, they’re not alone in their search.

The year is 1975: Jean Grey has weeks left to live. The Whisperer is coming. He has recruited an ally and accounted for every foreseeable variable. He will leave nothing to chance. He will lead this reality to its Doom.

Excerpt

JULY 18, 1975 

HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE KITTY PRYDE LAST DANCED? SINCE she left Miss Hester’s and its ballet classes, at least; no time for extracurriculars while training at the Massachusetts Academy.

Granted, she’s not dancing now so much as standing hesitantly on the floor while Jean and Ororo join the crowd, swiveling to hip bump in time with the driving beat of “Get Down Tonight.”

Betsy joins her from the bar, and pink butterfly wings unfurl inside her mind. Once again, Betsy’s perfectly happy to barge in without knocking; Kitty might have to change the psychic locks when all this is done. I’ve been scanning for thoughts and have yet to pick up on any interest in Jean. Not violent interest, anyway. Whatever the threat to her existence, if it’s present tonight, I can’t find it.

Kitty replies in kind—because it’s more convenient than shout­ing over the music—Great. So what are we supposed to do with our free time?

Perhaps we should . . . blend? Betsy frowns at the crowd. I’ve never been a fan of disco, you know.

Shocking. I’m shocked! I took one look at that woman who wore a suit to an all-night diner and thought, I bet that woman enjoys a funky chicken.

Don’t tell me you’re a fan.

Kitty watches a man in shiny gold polyester squat down to the floor and pop back up, swinging his arms all the while. I mean, I’m not a fan of that.

Hmm.

At Betsy’s distracted hum, she turns and follows her compan­ion’s eyeline to find two women in color-coordinated jumpsuits a little way across the dance floor, hips bumping vigorously. They don’t seem any different from Jean and Ororo, until the blonde threads her arm around the brunette’s waist to keep her close, and the brunette lightly skims her fingertips down the blonde’s hip. They break apart as soon as the song changes, but the secret in their lingering glance—and in Betsy’s—speaks for itself.

Did you leave someone behind in the future? Kitty guesses. Someone like that?

Betsy shakes her head, then clarifies, If I had, I think it would have been . . . like that. But there’s no one. She looks sideways at Kitty. You?

Now it’s Kitty’s turn to shake her head, grateful for the colorful strobing lights that hide her flush. Not . . . Not that it would never be like that. Not that I haven’t thought about it being like that. And I’ve, uh, gone on dates. With men, and women. I’ve had a few fun nights. Nothing stuck, though. But that’s not the truth, is it? At least, not all of it. Some of those dates tried to become more. Not many, but some. She’s the one who slips determinedly out of reach every time, terrified to be tied in place by obligation or—God forbid—emotion. That way lies the cycle of rejection and pain and cynicism. Maybe I’m hard to hold on to, she concludes, though she knows it’s more like refusing to be held.

Well, maybe we should try. Dancing, I mean, Betsy amends so quickly, it’s a bit insulting. We can’t just stand here all evening as though we’re guarding Buckingham Palace.

For the second time tonight, somebody holds their hand out to Kitty.

For the second time tonight, Kitty surprises herself by taking it. And just until the song ends, she lets herself imagine a life like this.

Maybe she could be different, in a different world.

About the Author

Rebecca Podos is the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of YA and Adult novels. Homegrown Magic, her adult fantasy debut co-written with Jamie Pacton, is their latest.

WHAT IF... KITTY PRYDE STOLE THE PHOENIX FORCE? is available now everywhere books are sold!