To Me, My X-Men
I’m not dead! Long story short I’ve started a new job and don’t have as much free time as I used to, and to be honest I didn’t fully gel with Andor as I had hoped. I do have the next 4 episodes of that sitting in my drafts and it will see the light of day, but I just don’t currently have the passion for Star Wars like I do for, say, X-Men. And speaking of X-Men, did you know that Disney+ has a new show called X-Men ’97? It’s a continuation of the X-Men animated series from the 90’s that everyone my age is nostalgic for, and it’s really good! So good, in fact, that I dragged my ass back to my computer chair to write about it.
Normally with a series like this I’d try to cover each episode as they release. But since I’ve–as of writing–seen up to episode 7, that isn’t gonna fly. I will do my best to write these posts more or less as if I wasn’t aware of what the following episodes are about, but little things will bleed in here and there. All I’ll say right now is this series goes places the original cartoon never could.
The series opens with a 21st century rework of the original theme song–one of the best out of all Saturday morning cartoons–and we already see some differences. Morph is back with the team, but he doesn’t look like he used to. Previously he looked, thanks to Mister Sinister’s evil machinations, like a guy who hasn’t slept in a week, but now his face is pure white and noseless. This is a reference to the version of Morph from the Age of Apocalypse (1995 – 1996) event who looked similarly, albeit wearing a brightly colored costume with a cape. See, there isn’t really a direct parallel to Morph in the comics, with the closest being Changeling, a villain the original X-Men fought in X-Men #35 (1967), then shortly later impersonated Charles Xavier at the Professor’s request and died in Xavier’s place in X-Men #42 (1968). Really that was just a retcon so they could kill off Professor X and then bring him back a few years later, but whatever. Sure, much later there was a shapeshifter named Morph in X-Men comics, but the version from the cartoon was largely original. There’s also a clip of Morph being stalked by Mister Sinister, so it’s very likely that villain will show up at some point. Very likely. Oh, and Bishop is also in the intro and with the team. How’d he get here? More on that later.
That’s a lot of words just for the intro, so strap in for the summary! Previously on X-Men, the world believes Professor Xavier was assassinated one year ago by Henry Peter Gyrich, a total douche of an NSA agent (who is currently dead in comics and I love that for him). Human/mutant relations are probably at the best they’ve ever been, but you probably wouldn’t believe it when the episode opens on Roberto da Costa (Mr. Gui Agustini) getting abducted by the Friends of Humanity, one of the most 90’s group of human supremacists the show could pick, now armed with Sentinel technology. He’s rescued by Storm (original voice actress Alison Sealy-Smith), Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith, no relation), and my boy Cyclops (Ray Chase), who shows off exactly why he’s the leader of the team and my favorite. With Roberto safe the boy is brought back to Xavier’s mansion and we meet Gambit (AJ LoCascio), Rogue (original voice actress Lenora Zann), Morph (JP Karliak), and a very pregnant Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale). Hm. That’s gonna come up later. Roberto meets Beast (original voice actor George Buza) and Jubilee (Holly Chou), the latter of whom shows him the Danger Room. Roberto refuses to use his powers and more or less gets rescued by Wolverine (original voice actor Cal Dodd) from a holographic Magneto. Over with Cyclops, he confers with UN liaison Val Cooper (Catherine Disher, Jean’s original voice actress) in wondering where the FoH got illegal Sentinel tech, suspecting the missing Bolivar Trask, creator of the Sentinels. Cyclops is in a mood because Xavier’s death certificate was dropped off earlier and Scott Summers’ secondary mutant power is to endure having the biggest chip on his shoulder. Jean discusses the two leaving the team when the baby comes, but their talk is interrupted by the news that Wolverine scared off Roberto. Cyclops sends Wolverine, Jubilee, Rogue, Gambit, and Morph out to find him and the group follow a trail to a night club. As Rogue and Gambit flirt while Wolverine reveals to Morph that he knows Jean wants to leave the team, the Friends of Humanity sure enough show up looking for Roberto, only to be quickly scared off. Meanwhile, Cyclops, Storm, and Bishop go to interrogate Gyrich (Todd Haberkorn) about where Trask is. Gyrich resists–even saying “Tolerance is extinction,” which was publicly revealed to be the name of the final 3 episodes of the season–and ultimately Jean back at the mansion using Cerebro is forced to delve into his mind. She gets the information on where Trask is, but suffers a psychic nightmare about an extinction level threatening the life of her and her baby event thanks to Master Mold. Rewatching I also noticed that there’s a slowed-down version of the intro chanting section of Ace of Base’s “Happy Nation” playing in the background, something people who have seen episode 5 will realize is some heavy foreshadowing. So, uh, if you follow the link to listen to the song, maybe avoid the comments for spoilers… ANYWAY, the team travels to Sahara Desert to hunt Trask but are blasted out of the sky by Sentinels. There are enough flyers with Morph transforms into Archangel to save everyone except Cyclops, who once again shows how awesome he is by slowing his fall by blasting the ground beneath him. He even says the title of the episode! Bolivar Trask (Gavin Hammon) was tipped off that the X-Men were coming and the team is forced to fight some real rough looking Sentinels made of scrap. The robots detect an omega-level threat when Storm comes in and ends the fight almost instantly. Except for Master Mold, the biggest Sentinel that’s also a Sentinel factory. But that’s defeated easily enough by Wolverine and Gambit. The UN comes in to arrest Trask, who complain that the X-Men have “no idea how it feels to be left behind by the future.” Why quote that? Definitely not because it’ll come up later! With the mission accomplished, Roberto is ready to leave, but Jubilee tries to convince him to stay and be our audience surrogate. Err, I mean, her potential love interest. We also learn his powers involve super-charging his body with solar energy, which comic fans knew cause he’s Sunspot, yeah. Anyway, as Scott and Jean reveal they’re going to leave the team and Jubilee asks who will lead them, the intruder alarm goes off. What’s Magneto (Matthew Waterson) doing here? Wait, no one read Xavier’s will to find out that the professor left everything to their number one villain?! Dun dun DUNN!
There are so many references to stories from the comics, but the one most relevant to this issue is Magneto joining the X-Men after Professor X was mortally wounded. In Uncanny X-Men #200 (1985), the issue ends with Charles Xavier suffering a heart attack while attacked by the evil Fenris twins. As Xavier believes he’s dying, he asks his oldest friend to carry on in his place, looking after the X-Men and teaching the younger generation, the New Mutants. But before he can die, Corsair of the Starjammers–who is also Cyclops’ father who became a space pirate–and Charles’ alien lover Lilandra of the Shi’ar teleport in to rescue the fading leader. While Charles survives, comic book bullshit has him stuck out in space so Magneto follows his friend’s wishes and does indeed join the X-Men. And for a good while, too, before he slides back into a more villainous role. But why were two supposed mortal enemies paling around together before the heart attack? I’ll talk about the trial of Magneto next time. You can’t see it, but I’m winking as I say/type that. Just… go with it.
The series as a whole is full of smaller Easter eggs, far too many to list them all. But I will talk about the ones I took extra pleasure in! At the beginning when Cyclops blasts the Friends of Humanity, a tabloid floats in front of the screen featuring a story about Benetton’s Mutant Fashion Show. I’ll admit I don’t know who Benetton is (or why they didn’t go with the more recognizable fashion icon Jumbo Carnation), but the mutants serving fierceness on the cover are Banshee, Dust, Stacy X, and Maggott, with a tabloid shot in the corner of Nature Girl (now going by Armageddon Girl after a real weird and dark turn) with Loa. In the Danger Room, Jubilee asks Roberto what his powers are, suggesting maybe he could “shoot gold balls from your body,” a clear reference to Goldballs. He’s both a joke character and one of the most important mutants in the recently ending Krakoa era, and no, I will not explain that here. Maybe someday over on my comic blog Chwineka Reads (shameless plug). Moving on, the Sentinels call Storm an “omega-level threat,” something comics had mentioned for years but only recently defined. It means her powers have no measurable upper limit, something that also applies to Jean (her telepathy, at least) and Magneto. That’s right! Jean’s a better telepath than Xavier; he just has more years of experience.
So one question I had watching the first episode was, when did Bishop get here? He wasn’t with the team with Professor X flew off into space with his alien bird girlfriend, so he obviously came at some point between the original finale and the new series. Well, it just so happens that Marvel created a tie-in comic appropriately called X-Men ’97 (2024) that fills in the gaps! And as of X-Men ’97 #1 (2024) the answer is… Bishop is just there. He showed up in between the finale and the in between comic. Look, I’m not complaining Bishop’s here–partly because it sure seems like he’s there for a narrative reason that isn’t clear in the first episode–but it did make me raise an eyebrow.
Next: Episode 2
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Chwineka Watches 
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