speaking of phoenix quentin. i enjoy quentin as a future phoenix host as much as the next stan, however i think an underratedly more interesting interpretation of the here comes tomorrow page is that quentin is an alternate universe phoenix host.
616 quentin, the quentin who started riot at xavier's, is not phoenix and he never will be. he couldn't rise above his worst impulses, and left himself poisoned and burnt out forever. but a universe out there exists where he's his best self.
i just think, considering the ways quentin's 'redemption arc' has justifiably been criticised in the ways it validates and coddles him by framing him as someone with a great destiny, it can be much more interesting to flip that on its head. make him sit with the permanent consequences of his actions. he could have done great things, but he threw it away by his own choices, and he'll live the rest of his life knowing that.
listening to the nate grey cerebro episode and hearing Connor validate my "616 Quentin is not the Phoenix" take
