by Nick Ferro, Editor
**Previously, On Nick watching X-Men:
THEY DID IT!!! OMG! OMG! OMG! AHHHHHH!! WOOOOOO!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!
Sorryboutthat…
Guys, I think it’s safe to say, that when X-Men ’97 season one was completed, I was left with some very good feelings. The X-Men were my favorite comic book characters growing up. I was introduced to them through the ‘90s cartoon series and the action figure line, of which my brother and I had many. And from there I was always looking for comics that I could read, buy, or borrow. I became very attached to these characters over the years for a number of reasons and despite some lackluster entries in comics or film, one place where they always seem to be excellent is animation. There isn’t a bad X-men animated project that I’m aware of and X-Men ’97 is no different. So, the question became, would season two continue that tradition of excellence?
Picking up from the cliff season one left us hanging on, the team has been split up. One group in the past and the other in the future. Only a few months have passed but this passage of time has given both groups a chance to acclimate in their new surroundings and form relationships with two key characters. In the future, Scott Summers aka Cyclops (Ray Chase) and Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) have used their time to get close to their now pre-teen son Nathan (Michael Johnston) who will later grow up to be Cable (Chris Potter). Their family dynamic is still going strong as one of the key themes of this reboot series, and it is an element that elevates this season to greater heights. Their mission in the future, with the help of Mother Askani (Gates McFadden) is to stop Apocalypse in this time period and ensure that Nathan’s destiny of being Apocalypse’s downfall comes to pass.
Meanwhile, in the past, Professor X (Ross Marquand) and Magneto (Matthew Waterson) are desperate to mentor, the incredibly powerful mutant, En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M’Cormack) in the hope that they can either prevent the rise of Apocalypse or shape him so that he can be a force for good and not destruction (guess whose plan is which). Sadly, time is set in stone and with the death of Nur’s surrogate father Baal (Michael Dorn) at the hands of Rama-Tut (John de Lancie) Nur’s fate is sealed and Apocalypse is born. With these two separate stories taking up the first three episodes, I was really blown away by how the writers managed to transition from the first season conflict with Bastion (Theo James) right into cleaning up the messy Apocalypse stories and timelines that were already told in the original 90s series. It was almost a magic trick of timey-whimey shenanigans that managed to connect all the dots in such a satisfying way.
Outside of these opening episodes, which do a partial job of kicking off the conflict that will inevitably be resolved by the finale, there were several new additions that take the season in a much different direction from the first. To me, season one’s ten episodes were a very tight story woven together in a way that both started and completed arcs for several characters while simultaneously catching up the audience from where the previous series left off. It was clear that this season they had some new ideas and wanted to use season two as a springboard for future conflicts. First and foremost was the introduction of two new teams: X-Force and X-Factor.
X-Force, led by Cable, consisting of Jubilee (Holly Chou), Roberto aka Sunspot (Gui Agustini), Archangel (Christopher Barger), and Psylocke (Naoko Mori), has one mission: stop Apocalypse at all costs. Because they are an underground movement, their mission is interrupted by the brand-new government backed team. X-Factor, overseen by Val Cooper (Catherine Disher) is lead by Havok (Teddy Sears) and Polaris (Carolina Ravassa). Both having a history with the X-Men puts them in an awkward position when Jubilee is captured. I personally am not that familiar with Polaris outside of her being Magneto’s lesser known daughter, but they really do an excellent job of making her a focal this season. Her later interactions with Bishop (Issac Robinson-Smith) are a highlight of the season and have me saying “move over Rogue and Gambit, there’s a new hot couple in town!”
On top of these two teams clashing in the absence of the X-Men, we also get a fun, Aliens inspired, episode starring Wolverine (Cal Dodd) and Morph (JP Karliak) where the former members of Task Force X, in a continuation of the original series episode, “Weapon X, Lies, and Video Tape,” seek out answers about their past while Wolverine attempts to recoat his bones with adamantium. The use of The Brood as a way to pay homage to Aliens was fun, but I was even more impressed with how often this type of story is done and I never get tired of it. I was immediately reminded of the Strange New Worlds episode, “All Those Who Wander” and how much fun that episode was as well. Every time new characters or new adventures are introduced in this show, I have an absolute blast. I get this wave of nostalgia for something I loved in my past combined with the rush of excitement which is usually reserved for seeing something brand new that I am only just learning to love.
Despite the endless waves of gushing that I could spew all over X-Men ’97 it’s not without its flaws. I am not going to pretend that the loss of the head showrunner didn’t stand out. Despite the controversy surrounding Beau DeMayo’s departure or his continued and vocal commentary of said dismissal, it is undeniable that something was missing this season. As I mentioned before, this season felt like more of a springboard for future ideas and I think part of that feeling comes from not having the captain of the ship present during the completion of the season. Season two felt less focused and from an over-arching storytelling standpoint, rushed and inconsistent.
Unlike season one there were only nine episodes instead of ten and that missing episode was noticed. Granted the final two episodes may not have needed to be stretched out into a three-part finale, however I feel like this season fell into the trap that many ten-episode series have been plagued by in the last several years. So many shows nowadays don’t have a lot of runway so when you set up a story with your first two or three episodes and conclude that story with your last two, paying little attention to that story with your middle section, you run the risk of being accused of using “FILLER EPIOSDES!”
I could probably write an entire article on my feelings surrounding so called filler episodes, but know that for X-Men, I both understand why people think this, and disagree with the assessment. The episodes not related to the Apocalypse story, to me, were not filler, they were fun, new adventures, that I crave while watching these types of shows. I think they are perceived this way because they are plopped in the middle of an ongoing arc. When you only have ten episodes it is much more noticeable and jarring. When, for lack of a better term, your extended movie gets made even longer by changing subject for 90 minutes only to return to the conclusion as though it was all part of the plan. I have said it before and I will say it again, if they want short seasons they need to get back to more episodic story telling and if they insist on making television with more drawn-out stories then they need to go back to a 20-episode-a-year seasons. Longer seasons allow for more expansion upon character development so rather than getting some development from everyone, you can really dig deep on a few characters in particular.
In addition to Polaris getting some spotlight, Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) gets a bit more to do this season, and I was here for it! Nightcrawler was my favorite action figure, despite losing his tail and suction cup attachments. His mysterious nature and lack of representation in the original series only made him feel cooler to me. Plus, growing up Catholic, he may have been the first actual character to awaken me to how faith and religion could be more than just mindless repetitive requirements forced upon me without much understanding. His is a character that, now as a lapsed catholic, I admire because of how he manages to understand faith and God through his own mutant experiences. He is able to still have faith despite being feared, shunned, and persecuted. And in this season that faith is put to the very test on more than one occasion, culminating in the final moment of the season.
Although I do agree with others I’ve talked to that this season was rushed at the end it was still exactly what I wanted from another season. Season one came in hot and hammered home the philosophical elements that make this series great while season two did some background work and had fun getting us to the next big chapter. I am fully confident that season three will provide us with another great adventure to rival season one, simply because season two did the work needed to get us there. I cannot stress enough how good X-Men ’97 is and how it should be added to every Marvel fan’s watch list. If you’re still on the fence, please give it a chance because the story telling is incredibly satisfying, the animation is beautiful, and, my god, that score is the G.O.A.T.
Rating: Loved It
X-Men ’97 is currently available to stream on Disney+.
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