The Phoenix Force was a part of this plot to reverse the damage the Celestials had already created. It was foreseen that eventually Death would be destroyed and that an Elder of the Universe would have to live in the Realm of the Dead in order to facilitate the collection of souls, which was at least one important step in reunifying the broken universe. As the Elders were all nearly immortal and could not die, the Phoenix Force had to bond itself to a being that would be capable of sacrificing itself for others. This being was Jean Grey of the X-Men, who during a mission in space was the lone pilot of a space shuttle traveling through a radiation storm while her comrades were in a shielded room. Unable to bond with the severely burned body of Jean Grey, it became a binary being with her, assuming her identity, personality and physical form and sealing her charred body in a cocoon to heal. When the shuttle crashed the cocoon remained at the bottom of Jamaica Bay, and the Phoenix Force took Jean's place.