So I’m a bit conflicted on the first season of X-Men ’97. Over the two years since it premiered, there have been things I’ve liked less and less about the overall story of the season. While I think the animation is spectacular, there were liberties taken with not only continuing the 90s animated series, but also how certain characters and story elements from the X-Men comics from that time and later on were used to tell the story that was told. Now I say this as I feel what people want from the X-Men comics, as well as this show, has moved on to how they tell stories that I don’t find as interesting as I did when I was a child until my mid-30s.
The end of last season left the X-Men scattered across time from the far future and the times of ancient Egypt. At the present time of 1997, the world thinks the X-Men perished in the falling destruction of Magento’s Asteroid M when facing Bastion. The season starts with where we see Bishop and Forge last – figuring out how to go and get the X-Men out of time. It’s been a few months since, and we see two teams – Cyclops, Jean Grey/Phoenix/Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Morph, and Storm in the destroyed future where Apocalypse reigns and Cyclops and Jean’s son Nathan, the future Cable, is being raised and guarded by the Askani led by Mother Askani.
The first four episodes are very much influenced by two ‘90s miniseries that tie directly into Cable and Apocalypse’s origins. The first two episodes take from The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, where, through a lot of time-travel mumbo jumbo, Scott and Jean get to raise Nathan in the terrible future. The premiere episode does well to craft an engaging episode that juggles the stakes at hand with a solid emotional core, with Scott desperate to take care of his son after feeling guilty of letting him go to save him. I feel here in the series, the showrunners get to clean up and tell a better version of this story of Scott’s struggles, along with Jean’s maternal desires for Nathan, than what was told in the comics over thirty years ago.
The episode’s B-plot is focused on Storm and Forge’s relationship, with their meeting scene being a recreation of Uncanny X-Men #289 (one of my first subscription issues, by the way), which made me sit up. The little nods to the comics do scratch an itch, no matter what I may feel about a Marvel Studios production. The second episode then focuses on Jubilee back in the present, along with Cable and other X-Men characters who left, continuing the fight and going looking into the machinations of Apocalypse in the current time. We finally see X-Factor in this series, and the show gets back into commenting on issues of oppression and prejudice. It’s a more fun episode with a great action set piece that fills out the world a bit more, but it still left me wanting a bit more on how I feel it’s a bit too X-Men and mutant-focused.
That might sound crazy, but watching these series when they came on, you knew there were other characters because they referenced them a little, but once Spider-Man (the Fox Kids 1994-’98 series) came out, the character, much like in the comics, tied everything together. While I don’t need or want Spidey this season, it touches on some stories and characters that tie a bit more to other facets of the old Marvel Animated universe of that time. While the season one finale touched on that, while also making the Avengers characters look a bit foolish, there are four or five that I always want some connection to more.
So with this review, it’s based on four episodes that feel like the first arc of the season in its big bad of Apocalypse. Episodes three and four adapt The Rise of Apocalypse miniseries with having Charles Xavier/Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Rogue, and Nightcrawler stuck in ancient Egypt as we see En Saba Nur rise and change into Apocalypse. Having these X-Men from the future here adds a different element with Magneto’s focus on changing Nur from his fate as this great evil force that threatens the world. Adding in a nature vs nurture debate between the old friends of Xavier and Mags, Charles is very much against working with and focusing on getting back to their time.
This two-parter does some good dramatic arcs as we still see Magneto and Rogue reeling from the events of Genosha and how that informs Magneto’s actions. It’s also refreshing to see an interpretation of Xavier where he’s not a complete screw-up or a manipulator, but that could change as the season goes on. These two episodes have some of the strongest animation in these four episodes. It’s a big standout as the storytelling stakes are so great and build to a fantastic climax that is wonderfully illustrated by the animation team. It balances out references to the art style of the original comic artist, Adam Pollina, while keeping it consistent with the look of this series.
So far, these early episodes visually keep the same high standard as the first season. The writing so far, I prefer, as they feel less preachy and, at least for my taste, take fewer liberties with the X-Men comics they are adapting. They feel more like honoring and clearing some of those stories up a bit to punch up their emotional and dramatic heft that can’t always be done in the older monthly single-issue superhero comic book stories. Once the season is over, maybe I’ll come back with more thoughts, but as it is right now, I’m very high on it this season, X-Men ‘97. It should do well for X-Men fans of all types, from the comics, cartoons, movies, and games, and hold enough people over until we all see Avengers: Doomsday later this year.
Rating: B+
Level of Enthusiasm: 60%
