X-Men '97
Entry updated 3 June 2024. Tagged: TV.
US animated series (2024-current). Marvel Animation. Based on the X-Men created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee for Marvel Comics; this series created by Beau DeMayo. Directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura. Writers include Beau DeMayo, Charley Feldman and Anthony Sellitti. Voice cast includes Eric Bauza, George Buza, Chris Britton, Ray Chase, Todd Haberkorn, Jennifer Hale, Gavin Hammon, Theo James, A J LoCascio, Ross Marquand, Chris Potter, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Alison Sealy-Smith and Matthew Waterson. Ten 30-40 minute episodes. Colour.
In this series the X-Men (see Superheroes) are Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Morph, Rogue, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Bishop and Nightcrawler.
X-Men '97 continues the story from the earlier, well-regarded X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997). That show had the X-Men's main antagonists being, on the one hand, Magneto (Waterson), a former friend of Professor Xavier (Marquand) who believes that Mutants should replace humanity; and on the other, human groups scared that mutants will indeed replace humanity. Of the latter, the main antagonists are Henry Gyrich (Haberkorn) and Bolivar Trask (Hammon), who built giant Robots called Sentinels to combat mutants: however, the main Sentinel Computer, Master Mold (Bauza) (who has a Sentinel body), decided it should rule the human race. Also prominent are the Friends of Humanity, a virulently anti-mutant organisation (see Paranoia; Race in SF). The series ended with Professor Xavier barely surviving an assassination attempt by Gyrich and departing Earth with the Shi'ar Aliens to be healed (the rest of the world believing him dead). The close of X-Men '97's first episode has Magneto revealing Professor Xavier's will left everything, including leadership of the X-Men, in his hands. However he insists he intends to honour the Professor's "dream of mutant-human ... coexistence", the last word said without enthusiasm; though he accepts that, through his friend's efforts, the world is now more tolerant towards mutants.
When the UN arrests Magneto for crimes against humanity he does not protest (see Crime and Punishment). At his trial he talks of history's refrain: "Believe differently, love differently, be of different sex or skin – and be punished ... oppressed become oppressors." The Friends of Humanity now attack, planning to kill Magneto and also the judges (the UN being considered too sympathetic to mutants). The lead assassin rants, "You know what I hate about your kind, you act like you got it so bad; normal people have it hard too, harder: we just have the dignity not to whine about it." The Friends of Humanity's attack is defeated; Magneto clearly wavers, but tells the UN judges, "I am trying to be better: please do not make me let you down." He is pardoned.
There are several story threads; these include Storm (Sealy-Smith) losing her powers in the Friends of Humanity's attack, departing to see if she can recover them (she does). The Jean Grey (Hale) we have been following – and who has just given birth – is revealed to be a Clone made by the villain Mr Sinister (Britton) (see Supervillains), who infects Jean's and Cyclops's (Chase) child with a "techno-organic virus strain" that can only be cured in the future, to which he is taken by Bishop (Robinson-Smith) (see Time Travel). Original Jean returns to the X-Men, whilst her clone leaves for the mutant homeland of Genosha, created by Magneto ("Most other nations don't allow a terrorist to be their leader." "Yet so many allow their leaders to be terrorists."). When Genosha celebrates gaining membership of the UN, it is attacked by Master Mold, with clone Jean and Gambit (LoCascio) killed.
The assault on Genosha leaves many mutants grieving, and questioning: as Beast (Buza) comments to a reporter. "Perhaps begging for your tolerance was our first mistake." The son of clone-Jean and Cyclops, Cable (Potter), returns as an adult from the future to report the person behind the attack is Bastion (James). Bastion – due to time travel and Nanotechnology-infected DNA (see Genetic Engineering) – is a human/Sentinel hybrid (see Cyborgs) who – working with Mr Sinister – has created an army of such hybrids called Prime Sentinels, who when activated are controlled by him. Cable is from a timeline where Bastion's 300-year "Evolutionary War", commencing with the attack on Genosha, created a Utopia, though only for normal humans; mutants are slaves (see Dystopia; Slavery). Bastion says he is doing this to prevent a timeline where humans become extinct (see Alternate History). Cable has been repeatedly trying to prevent the attack on Genosha, but each time is "temporally" removed – Beast suggests the assault is a fixed event across all timelines and cannot be altered. Bastion, who declares that "tolerance is extinction", orders his Prime Sentinels to attack mutants: Magneto, now rogue, responds by creating a worldwide electrical blackout (see Power Sources), deactivating the human sentinels (but not Bastion): he then returns to Asteroid M, his old headquarters.
Meanwhile, not only has Professor Xavier been cured, he has also become engaged to the Empress of the Shi'ar Galactic Empire; but Politics raises its head and he's forced to lecture the Shi'ar on Imperialism. Then, hearing of the troubles on Earth, Xavier returns: he takes over Magneto (see Psi Powers) and forces him to reverse the blackout; this damages Magneto's mind, so Xavier works to repair it (see Dream Hacking). The majority of the X-Men battle Bastion: Jean becomes the Phoenix, breaking his link to the Prime Sentinels and so restoring their human identities. Bastion responds by trying to crash Asteroid M into the Earth, but is foiled. Bastion's fate is unclear and the season ends with most of the X-Men in two groups, one in the distant past, the others in the distant future.
As with the comic book series, prejudice and its accompanying issues – Politics, victim-blaming, how to respond and so forth, are central to X-Men '97; it is not subtle, and has no intention of being so. A familiarity with the back-story of characters and events is not necessary, but helps: for example, Jean's sudden transformation into Phoenix might otherwise come across as too much of a deus ex machina. The animation style, which nods to the earlier series, is exciting; particularly the action scenes, such as a hellscape produced by Jean's hallucinations. This is a very good series, handling its themes well within a fast-moving, busy story. [SP]
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