I Can’t Shut Up about ‘X-Men ‘97’

No piece of media has ever sated me more.

May 13, 2024

A pivotal piece of Greg Mania lore: I ride or die for X-Men.

Stan Lee’s team of superhero mutants have been in my life for as long as I can remember. My brother, eleven years my senior, boasts a pretty impressive collection of the comics—twenty issues of Uncanny X-Men (1970s-1990s); fourteen issues of X-Men (1991-1992); and three issues of Classic X-Men (two from the 1980s and one from the 90s)—that I used to thumb through as a kid before I started collecting my own. I would sit on the floor of Barnes & Noble and Borders (RIP) for hours as a kid, reading the latest issues. I would watch X-Men: The Animated Series every Saturday morning as—if I know my readers well enough—many of you probably did.

But that doesn’t even scratch the surface.

In high school, I joined an X-Men film forum, eager to connect with other fans around the world in anticipation of the third installment of the X-Men film series, X-Men: The Last Stand. My username was PeRfEcTStOrMx; I did not have sex in high school.

Years later, I would get the mother who has been mothering long before it became a popular homosexual colloquialism tattooed on my thigh:

There have been a lot of iterations of Storm since she made her debut in Giant Size X-Men #1 in 1975. Not only is punk rocker Storm with a mohawk from the ‘80s my favorite era of hers, but this tattoo was specifically inspired by this scene in Uncanny X-Men Volume 1 #290:

Imagine my unfettered joy when I learned that Marvel would be reviving X-Men: The Animated Series as a continuation of the popular fan-favorite series now streaming on Disney+. In X-Men ’97, many of the original voice actors return to reprise their respective roles, along with the iconic theme song to boot.

Warning: spoilers ahead!

Right off the bat, the animation is striking and—as I imagine Rogue would say—smooth as butter spread on a pipin’ hot biscuit. Resurrected nostalgia aside, the story picks up where it left off: One year after Professor Xavier’s death, Cyclops and Jean Grey remain committed to realizing the vision of peaceful coexistence they’ve inherited from their mentor, all while expecting their first child. The other members of the team—Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Beast, and Morph—also grapple with grief in their own ways, but there isn’t enough time to properly mourn before they are called to duty yet again. The Friends of Humanity, a hate group hellbent on opposing mutant civil rights, has kidnapped a young mutant named Roberto da Costa, who is rescued by Storm, Cyclops, and Bishop. They bring Roberto back to the X-Mansion along with their growing concerns about the stolen Sentinel technology acquired by the terrorist group.

Back at home, Cyclops continues to contend with a deluge of doubts about leading the X-Men in the wake of Professor Xavier’s death, but is soon presented with another option when Jean suggests they leave the team once their baby is born to start a new life. Jean, too, struggles with her own set of concerns as she approaches motherhood. She worries about bringing a child into a world that’s constantly on the brink of social and political unrest; she even admits to Storm that deep down, sometimes she wishes her child would be born human, so that he won’t have to live his life in fear as his parents and their chosen family have done, and, in many ways, continue to do.

While the death of Charles Xavier has garnered public sympathy towards mutants, there are still dangers that lurk, both on the horizon and close to home: In addition to their mounting worries about the advancement in Sentinel technology, their perennial enemy and Charles’s old friend-turned-foe, Magneto, is still out there, ready to protect his people from anti-mutant efforts at any cost, even if a human life—innocent or not—is lost. And, while the death of the Professor has temporarily quelled the flames of any mutant-human animosity, oppression and persecution remain the number one threat to mutants on both micro and macro levels.

The rest of the season follows the evolution of the acquired Sentinel technology, which has fallen into the hands of Bastion, an anti-mutant mutant with superhuman durability and the ability to technoform, which is the power to merge one’s human body with a technological device. He uses his ability to fuse his living tissue with machinery not just to take control of the Sentinels at his disposal, but has also, with the help of mutant-evolution-obsessed immortal scientist Mr. Sinister, drafted unsuspecting humans and imbued them with Sentinel technology, resulting in human-Sentinel hybrids that are all but impervious to any mutant powers used against them.

The season continues to follow the havoc wreaked by Bastion’s Operation: Zero Tolerance, which also includes the involvement of individuals within the U.S. government (like Henry Gyrich) who take advantage of their positions to drive anti-mutant efforts. It also contains B and C storylines very much in the same vein of The Animated Series: Storm loses her powers when she takes a bullet in the form of a mutant neutralizer for Magneto; the team discovers that Jean was, at some point, swapped with her clone, who goes by the name Madelyne Pryor, resulting in an identity crisis; and we learn that Rogue and Magneto once had a romantic relationship, among other threads, both new and old, that continue to unravel throughout the season.

While the series remains faithful to the characters and timelines presented in its predecessor, the major difference between the two is X-Men ‘97’s gritty and unabashed approach to its themes. X-Men has always been an allegory for civil rights movements. While it has never been a perfect allegory for race, queerness, among any other minority group who faces widespread disenfranchisement, this series, in particular, does not shy away from depicting, in its storylines, the full weight of these, our heaviest of humanity’s, issues. The glimmers of hope are few and far between, the grim reality of a world divided no longer diluted by the restrictions imposed by a Saturday morning time slot catered to children.

While the end of almost every episode leaves you reeling—I had to watch an episode of, like, The Brady Bunch after the attack on Genosha to emotionally stabilize myself—its characters and their unconditional devotion not just to a vision of a world united, but to each other, a chosen family whose love and bond remains immune to the hate and hostility they encounter every day, are what makes this show (in my opinion) the greatest adaption of X-Men ever.

Now, I could end this post there, but because this is my Substack and the only rules I follow are my own, I NEED TO TALK MORE ABOUT ORORO MOTHERFUCKING MONROE AND HOW GAGGED I AM BY MY GIRL IN THIS SERIES.

First of all, Storm fans finally—FINALLY—get to see the Storm we’ve been waiting to see grace the screen our whole lives. We finally get a dark-skinned goddess with a mohawk who is not just, at long last, recognized as an Omega-level mutant, but is also a character with a richly complex interior that alone warrants a spin-off. (COUGH, I AM AVAILABLE TO WRITE FOR THIS SHOW/MOVIE, HOLLYWOOD, HMU.)

There is one scene in particular that made me stand up and throw my fucking shoe at the TV. (There are actually two, but I’ll leave the other for you to enjoy in your own time.) I invite you to lose my mind with me after watching Storm’s—and I hate this word, and never use it, but this is literally the exception of exceptions—epic entrance:

When Cyclops said, “Give them the forecast,” I literally screamed, “BITCHHHHHHHHHHHHH,” so loud my upstairs neighbors two floors above me texted me and was like, “Girl, what’s going on down there?” She gets hEr OwN INtRO MUsiC! She is finally displaying her vast array of abilities—turning sand into glass with lightning!—besides just summoning thunder and lightning. This woman could literally summon a micro acid storm in someone’s stomach (which she has threatened to do to someone in the comics!), and we get to see all of that and more from this iteration of the Mistress of the Elements. And, of course, no one else can do that voice besides iconic voice actor Alison Sealey-Smith. Chills upon chills upon chills!

This is the series that keeps on giving, whether you’re a longtime fan or just discovering this band of beloved mutants who has taught many of us what a hero is before meeting the real-life ones that walk amongst us. If you haven’t watched it yet, I hope you get a chance to. And if you are watching, celebrate your mutie pride in the comments below!

SOS (Save Our Serotonin)

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