The Dark Phoenix Saga confronted team known as the Exiles - heroes from Marvel's many alternate realities who are forced to jump from one world to another, fixing aberrations in the timestream. One such aberration occurs during the Trial of Jean Grey, as the Exiles learn they must ensure that the X-Men lose their attempt to save Jean, which will allow the Dark Phoenix to take total control. Sadly for the Exile known as Mimic, aka Calvin Rankin, he's not just forced to contribute to the death of the woman he loves, but to battle Wolverine to do it.
In his home reality, this version of Calvin Rankin went from an incarcerated member of the Brotherhood who could mimic any five mutant abilities to a member of the X-Men, later becoming their leader and Wolverine's best friend. But following their troubled yet successful first mission, the Exiles appear in the middle of the Trial of Jean Grey, where the X-Men are set to fight the Shi’ar Imperial Guard over the fate of the Phoenix's most famous host. The Exiles' mission is to ensure that Jean Grey dies before she becomes the Dark Phoenix and destroys the sun. To this end, they regretfully resolve to the Imperial Guard in disguise once the battle begins, guaranteeing the X-Men's defeat.
In Exiles #3 by Judd Winick and Mike McKone, the Exiles learn their efforts to conceal their presence have failed when Mimic is confronted by Wolverine, the latter unaware he’s speaking to an otherworldly doppelganger. Knowing Wolverine would not allow their plan to go ahead, Mimic chooses to attack Logan, using the full extent of his accumulated powers which includes Wolverine’s healing factor and claws. While both X-Men trade blows, Mimic reminisces that on his world, Logan is one of his closes friends, and they share a lot of common interests like beer and, surprisingly, karaoke. He also re the aftermath of Jean Grey's death, and the two learning that they share a love for the same woman.
Although Mimic is successful at temporarily incapacitating Wolverine, this revelation makes the Exiles' mission especially hard for him, as he's fighting a close friend to guarantee the death of the woman they both love. Even worse, when the Dark Phoenix emerges during the battle between the Shi’ar and the X-Men in Exiles #4, it isn’t the original situation of the Phoenix Force believing it is Jean Grey while her body is elsewhere, but Jean Grey herself. As predicted, she kills Cyclops and proceeds to slaughter other of the X-Men. Mimic tries and fails to use his powers to absorb some of the Phoenix Force but realizes that his efforts to find an alternative or delay his mission are for naught - Jean Grey must die or this Earth is doomed.
In the original story, Jean chose to kill herself to protect the universe from the Phoenix’s destructive capabilities. In this story, the Exiles get a recovered Wolverine close enough for Logan to stab Jean in the heart, her death creating an explosion that vaporizes the moon and kills almost everyone nearby. This version of the Dark Phoenix Saga ended in the darkest way possible, as the familiar saga unfolded in a new way that claimed the lives of many X-Men, including Jean herself, and broke Wolverine's heart even more decisively than the original.
