It’s finally here, the day X-Men ‘97 drops, and I’ve been waiting for this moment. It’s been so exciting since they announced the classic X-Men animated series was coming back, and they started dropping little hints and teasers and images. So to wake up this morning and literally consume both episodes as if it was Saturday morning was just mind-blowing.
The very first episode is called “To Me, My X-Men,” and it’s an actual one year later from when the series ended. Charles Xavier had died. Or “died.” He was actually taken away by the Shi’ar, because he had a thing they had to help him with, and unfortunately it meant he couldn’t come back, or he was going to have to stay there for a very long time. Either way, he’s gone.
The Intro, the Letterbox, and the Voices
The intro is amazing. It’s been painstakingly crafted and recreated to evoke the original. The song is the same. The arrangement’s different, and when you put them side by side you can hear the slight tonal differences.
The animation is super smooth, very slick. They’re doing their best to recreate that style, but I also believe they’ve improved it. The entire thing is done letterbox, 16 by 9, cinematically animated with the black bars at the top and bottom. I really enjoyed the presentation. I’m down. I’m here for it, and it’s been so faithfully recreated.
The whole world has sort of shifted forward. The X-Men are now working alongside Val Cooper and the UN. Cyclops has taken very much to heart that he’s the new leader. He’s prepared himself mentally for the fact that he’s going to have to carry the torch Charles Xavier left behind.
Enter the caveat. Jean Grey is pregnant, so she’s in the periphery, very much like Oracle from the Batman comic books. She stays home, she helps them. She’s their man in the chair right this moment.
Let’s be real for a moment. You can absolutely tell they’ve all aged. But their voices are still very good. Nobody’s lost their flair. Bishop is great. Storm is amazing. None of those voice actors have missed a beat in how they present these characters.
Morph Is the Pleasant Surprise
There was a brief argument about Morph. I think it’s a moot point. Morph was Morph, and I thought he did great. They’ve used Morph’s power to the ultimate.
The original series, I feel like they didn’t know how to properly honor that. And look, it was the best version of the X-Men we’d ever gotten in animation. The original cartoon has been romanticized, but it was brilliant for its time. This one genuinely knows who and what the X-Men are. Everyone’s using their powers the best way possible, the way they would in the comics.
They’re going after Master Mold, because Jean has used Cerebro to get into the head of Henry Peter Gyrich, and that’s how they ultimately find Trask. He’s got a spare Master Mold, and that’s the big fight you saw in the clip. On the way there, the Blackbird gets blown up by Sentinels and everyone’s going down, and you see Morph turn into Archangel so he can fly. Later on he’s fighting a dude and he’s literally turning into everybody. He turns into Colossus and he’s bulletproof. He turns into Psylocke and he’s fighting. Morph is arguably one of the most pleasant surprises of the new series. He’s so great.
They Didn’t Update the Storytelling
They don’t shy away from storytelling. By that I mean they didn’t try to update how stories are told in this series. I was worried we were going to get this very surface, very anime-esque, current modern animation style of storytelling. I figured they’d be fun, they’d be great adventures, it’d be like American anime, it’d be fine.
This did not shy away. In the very first episode they go and rescue Sunspot from the Friends of Humanity, because the FOH is still a thing, and golly, they made them just as crazy and fascist and ridiculous as they’ve ever been. I’m blown away.
The characterizations are pitch perfect all the way across the board. Beast still talks like Beast. “An astute observation, my boy. Hank McCoy here. Or if you prefer my friendly nom de guerre, Beast.” Oh god, I love it.
After they save Sunspot there’s this deep moment with Jubilee, and they have these big pontificating conversations just like the old show did. I feel like I’m a kid. I feel like I sat down and it’s my freshman year of high school and I’m watching the show. It felt unreal.
I’m having such a good time geeking out with you guys right now, by the way. This is how I want to be talking to my friends this second, and you guys are my friends, so thank you for letting me do this with you. The family doesn’t exactly share my love of animation. So I’m all over the road, because I don’t want to spoil it so much as I just want to talk about it with you. There’s so many exciting things to see.
The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier
Then you get to the very end, where Jean and Scott have decided they’re going to leave. “The team, they’ll always be family, but with a baby coming, maybe it’s time to think of a life beyond the X-Men.” They need to go raise a family, and they’re trying to figure out who to leave in charge. They’re about to announce it to everybody, and even Logan’s telling them the team has to know they’re taking off.
And that’s when you get the clip we’ve all seen. “This is the last will and testament of Charles Xavier.” Dude, it’s so dope. What’s even better, for those of us who’ve read the comics, is that this is an absolutely perfect rendition of that original story, where Magneto has the giant M on his chest.
To be continued.
Magneto Doing the Lord’s Work
The next episode rolled right in, so I will too. The second episode is called “Mutant Liberation Begins,” and going in, everything Charles Xavier had has been left to Magneto.
So as the X-Men are hemming and hawing and questioning everything, we see bits and flashes of Magneto doing the Lord’s work. “Across the globe, reports are flooding in. Mutants and humans aided and saved by the former mutant terrorist.” He’s freeing mutants. He helped the Morlocks all get moved, very Underground Railroad style, to Genosha, because Genosha is now a mutant stronghold. Everyone’s saying Magneto saved us. Humans are being saved by him.
There’s a big get-together, and Cyclops says they should let Jean take a look at what’s happening in his head.
Rogue and Magneto
Then you get this wonderful moment. Rogue and Magneto have a talk. Rogue is essentially explaining that she had to make up for things herself, and that he has to earn their trust. He goes to kind of touch her, and she tells him that was a long time ago.
Anybody who knows the original comic books knows where this comes from. During Jim Lee’s run there was a really interesting Savage Land era, where Rogue was in the Savage Land, Magneto was there, and they became very close. Fast-forward and there’s the Age of Apocalypse, which had them romantically involved, married, with a child, the whole nine yards. And later on in the comics, after Onslaught, Magneto gets sort of reincarnated as Erik, a younger version of himself with no memory of being Magneto, and nobody wants him told who he was. He and Rogue got together then, too.
So I love that they’re beginning to explore this. It adds dimension to characters who in the past, though fleshed out, have been fairly two-dimensional. It was always Rogue and Gambit, the two of them, and that was that. I really like how that whole thing plays out.
Jean and Storm
The other thing is a moment where Jean Grey has a conversation with Storm, and it’s such a beautiful moment. In the comics, Jean and Storm were very close, almost sister-like in a lot of ways. The fact that they’re finally exploring that, I’m down for. And god, it’s such a foreshadowing moment, because they’re talking about how much they have in common and the common fight they share.
The Trial
The UN shows up on their front lawn. And Magneto, taking a cue from that conversation with Storm, basically agrees to go stand trial. He’s trying to atone, if you will, trying to earn their trust. Rather than wrecking shop on fools, he decides to go.
That’s when the Friends of Humanity start piling up, with riots and protests outside. And this one dude becomes X-Cutioner, a very cool character from the comics. Funny enough, I just saw the X-Cutioner toy, so clearly they wasted no time getting some toys going. I’m going to go get me some for the set. The Friends of Humanity are so hardcore about all of it, and they’re characterized, again, pitch perfect.
So the trial is happening, and Magneto gives an impassioned speech. He’s really making his point and making an argument. The snide UN tribunal, because it’s a war crimes tribunal, isn’t really hearing any of it, and that’s when the crowds outside begin breaking in. Cyclops tells the team to protect everyone, and they’re already doing it. That’s the scene I was telling you about, where Morph is turning into everybody while he’s fighting.
Worse Than Killing Storm
X-Cutioner gets in. Storm is doing her Storm thing, there’s a big fight happening, and he gets an aim on Magneto. Storm jumps in the way.
And I thought, oh my god, they just killed Storm.
They did worse than kill Storm. In the comics we’re familiar with this weapon. It essentially removes mutant powers. I don’t want to say cures, because I feel like that’s racist. It removes mutant powers. “I cannot feel it, nor the moisture, nor the air. What has he done to me?”
They do it so well, and Magneto is so angry. Because dude’s an idiot wearing metal everywhere, Magneto grabs X-Cutioner, rips the UN seal right off the wall, and slams him against it, almost crucifying him. Then he rips the tribunal and their entire court out of the ground and flies everybody up into the lower atmosphere. And he turns around and tells them he wants to show them how Charles wanted us to see the world.
Bro. He lays it down, and it’s so raw. And then he lets them go, even after telling them this is what we had to deal with, this is what we had to endure.
Think about that. Imagine something so indelibly built into your identity being ripped from you. In my opinion, what’s happened to Storm is worse than any physical violation, any mental violation, because they stripped her of something that’s literally ingrained in her DNA. They ripped it out of her, and it’s so offensive.
I feel for him. I don’t know that I’d have done what he did if I was in Magneto’s position. I don’t know if I could be that big a man. When you stop and think about what’s happened, it’s rough. It’s real rough.
The Button
Wait a minute. I’m forgetting the button of the episode.
At the end everyone’s talking, and Jean and Scott are getting ready to say they’re leaving, we trust you guys, you’ve got this under control. And then somebody’s at the door. “I need the X-Men.” It’s Jean Grey.
Right? Like, what?
For those of you playing at home, we might very well be close to seeing some form of Madelyne Pryor scenario. In the comic books, after Jean Grey left, Madelyne is sort of the replacement. She’s a clone, created by Mister Sinister. I do believe Sinister is going to become a major part of the season, or at least of the series going forward, because now you have to find a new major villain.
That’s the cliffhanger they left us on, and I’m ready for the next episode right now.
The Verdict
X-Men ‘97 Episode 1, “To Me, My X-Men,” is a 10 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index, and Episode 2, “Mutant Liberation Begins,” is a 9 out of 10.
Honestly, the first one couldn’t have started better. I’m going to have a hard time being judgy about this show. Aside from some minor things that took me out of certain moments, it’s a solid 10. I know, where do you go from here? I’m giving it a 10 because I’m genuinely blown away by the work and the effort that’s been put into making this look amazing, and by how well all the threads have come together.
The second one is a 9, and the episode is amazing. With the first episode I was so impressed, so overwhelmed by how they executed this whole thing. With this one I get to really sit with the storytelling, and it feels very much like classic X-Men storytelling from the original series. It dumps a whole lot into 22 minutes. It pours out its heart and soul, gives you some great stirring monologues, gives you something to think about. It’s in, it’s out, and it sets up the next episode. That’s what all those episodes did.
The intro for the second episode shifted, too. So much fun. I’m here for it, I’m excited about it, and we’re going to keep talking about it.
Your turn. Tell me what you thought of the two-episode premiere of X-Men ‘97, and whether you’d have let that tribunal go if you were Magneto. The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
