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August 12, 2026

X-Men ’97 – “Survival of the Fittest”

By Joe
Original premiere date August 12, 2026

We have reached the end of season two of X-Men ’97, albeit probably sooner than we would have liked given the nine episode order. Ten already seemed short compared with the 13 the original series used to get so nine is borderline cruel. All that said, before we dig into the review for the season finale I do just want to say how happy this show has made me. It still blows my mind that I’m watching a continuation of something I loved as a child. When that theme song starts up, I get goosebumps all up and down my arms and the feeling that comes over me is something akin to a high. It’s fantastic, and I hate that it’s all over so quickly.

“Survival of the Fittest” is the culmination of the season long arc involving Apocalypse (Ross Marquand). Even though the big guy was somewhat put on ice after the fourth episode, he’s back and ready to go for the finale and caught in the crossfire is Gambit. Last week, Gambit (A.J. LoCascio) made his long telegraphed re-debut as he rose from the grave with an all new look, but an all new mind set as well. Gambit quickly set out to putting together a crew and he turned to his roots for that as he returned to Louisiana to corrupt the assassins and the thieves. Gambit choosing to return home should have been a tell for all who love him because Gambit vowed to never return there and by episode’s end we found out he wasn’t the one calling the shots: Apocalypse was. X-Force had found the withered husk of the mighty Apocalypse in the previous episode and the conclusion everyone seemed to draw was that Gambit had been resurrected as his horseman of Death and he made his maker his first victim. Oh, how foolish for Apocalypse cannot be killed so easily, and especially not by one of his own making. He likely needed a new host body and Gambit was his chosen vessel, but before he could resume his crusade against all he deems weak he needed to visit someone from his past: Candra.

The X-Men have a whole bunch of foes to deal with, but the big one is still Apocalypse.

Candra (Debra Wilson) is who we were introduced to during the second season of the original series as the X-Ternal. She is the apparent deity the thieves and assassins aim to please in exchange for their supernatural powers. We saw Candra make an appearance in the past as part of Rama-Tut’s court, but at the time it wasn’t clear why? It turns out, she and Apocalypse would meet sometime after the events in Egypt and the big guy apparently took a liking to her so much so that he bestowed upon her some of his awesome power. She took it and ran and Apocalypse has been trying to reclaim it ever since. Now, it makes sense why he’d have interest in Gambit. If he knows about Gambit’s connection to her via the thieves (and why would he?) then posing as Gambit could bring her out of wherever it is she goes when she isn’t in that swamp and allow him to reclaim what he once gave up. And that’s exactly what happened and the only challenge Apocalypse faced came from a likely expected source in the X-Men. In particular, Xavier (Marquand) and Rogue (Lenore Zann). Xavier chose to battle Apocalypse in Gambit’s mind in what was nearly a 1:1 recreation of a similar battle for the soul of Jean during The Dark Phoenix Saga. Only this time, Xavier failed and it was Rogue who somehow was able to enter Gambit’s mind and make the save. I say “some how” because she and Gambit have never demonstrated a psychic rapport before, but he also handed over the power he took back from Candra to her. Perhaps that’s doing the heavy lifting here?

Val Cooper’s villain turn has been pretty gradual this season.

Speaking of, why did Apocalypse do that? Does this all go back to that conversation he and Rogue shared in the past regarding love? That’s one of the questions I had going into “Survival of the Fittest” where the X-Men need to free their friend from Apocalypse’s control, but also contend with recently allied X-Factor and the remnants of X-Force. Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Sunspot (Gui Agustini) defected from Cable’s (Chris Potter) team when it became obvious that Cable’s only objective is destroying Apocalypse even if that means killing Gambit in the process. X-Factor has it out for Charles and his X-Men and their choice to get involved on US soil has put them in the crosshairs. Will the supposed good mutants all figure out they have a problem bigger than each other or will everything just fall apart and play into the hands of Apocalypse?

If the X-Men are going to save Remy, then you know Rogue is going to have to play a big part.

For the finale, Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) is given the honor of stating the “Previously,” line, though if you think that’s a tip for how the episode will go I will say it most certainly is not. Jubilee and Sunspot are back in the roll call this week, though Colossus still remains on the sidelines. Perhaps he’ll be a season three addition? The ending clash has also been changed to feature Xavier’s X-Men on one side and Val Cooper’s (Catherine Disher) X-Factor on the other. The X-Men remained in their Jim Lee era costumes for this clash all season and I wonder if that will be changed next year? Or maybe leaving them in those looks will always be a way to celebrate the original series? I wouldn’t mind a return to those looks, personally. I’ve never been a fan of the black and yellow which, like the original movie suits, seemed to be born out of the idea that the old, colorful, costumes were something to be embarrassed by.

X-Factor being accompanied by Sentinels is a perversion of what they should be standing for.

The episode wastes no time in getting to the conflict. X-Factor, along with Cable, Archangel (Christopher Barger), and Psylocke (Naoko Mori), are knocking on Xavier’s door while Gambit remains unconscious. He’s a ticking time bomb though and about the only answers anyone can come up with rests miles below the water’s surface. There, Beast (George Buza), Rogue, and Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) have come upon the celestial ship of Apocalypse, last seen in the past as a temple, but last seen in this era back in the episode “Obsession” from the original series. Beast still has a small fragment of the ship’s A.I. and it’s enough to revive it and reactivate the portal to the celestial realm we saw En Sabah Nur enter and emerge from as Apocalypse in “Rise of Apocalypse.” The ship warns the group that entering such a place requires a price, but Rogue is determined to do whatever it takes to save Gambit while Beast and Nightcrawler can do little but watch.

On Genosha, we get to watch as Cooper’s forces storm the X-Corp building in a bid to get Cable close enough to take out Gambit. They are convinced that destroying Gambit is the only way to eliminate Apocalypse and it’s only a matter of time until he takes over Gambit’s mind and body, as he’s done to so many before. There is some good action spots including Jubilee and Havok (Teddy Sears) battling it out in airplanes, Wolverine (Cal Dodd) and Morph (JP Karliak) taking on the duo of Archangel and Psylocke, and a big showdown between parents and son. There’s a lot to pack into 30 minutes (it would have been nice to get an extended ninth episode given they axed the tenth), but the pace felt solid. The action was satisfying and the character moments were also present. I might have preferred to have more character moments to go out on, but I also can’t critique the ending. Without spoiling anything, it was beautiful.

There were some fun pairings in this one, like this confrontation between Psylocke and Wolverine that doesn’t go how Betsy imagined it would.

I went into this episode unsure if X-Men ’97 could stick the landing. The whole season had been building towards this confrontation, but along the way it reminded me that the big spectacles aren’t really the draw with X-Men. It’s the team dynamics, the inter-character conflicts, the soap opera elements that make the show unique among a litany of other options these days. It’s similar to how the draw with Spider-Man is less about Spider-Man and more about Peter Parker which was really on display in Brand New Day which appears on its way to be the most successful film at the box office ever in terms of number of dollars spent. Hopefully there is a lesson in there for Marvel. X-Men ’97 found a way to stick that landing and found it in an unexpected source. Should I have seen it coming? Perhaps, but I was content to just sit back and let the show take me on a ride this week and I never really found myself trying to forecast the end. I was concerned at the onset it would feel too much like the Dark Phoenix Saga because it certainly did the prior week. In a way, it did borrow elements from that this week, but with a different resolution. There was also the elephant in the room that is Apocalypse. I like Apocalypse as a villain, but my problem with him going back to the original series is that they never found satisfying ways to stop him. He would just sort of leave and the one time they really stopped him was at the end of “Beyond Good and Evil” when it was kind of a goofy, unsatisfying ending. One thing they absolutely get right with this finale is that it’s only sort of about Apocalypse, but it never loses sight of the fact that it’s primarily about Rogue and Gambit and the family they’ve acquired who will risk it all to help them. Even when it means, in the case of Cyclops (Ray Chase) and Jean (Jennifer Hale), taking on their actual family.

Cable arrived on Genosha amid literal fireworks and now he returns amid a hail of gun fire.

Like the end of season one, there is a post credits scene setting up season three so do make sure you stick around for that (or use the skip credits option). I’ll likely make a season two wrap-up post to get more into spoilers, but suffice to say I like what they’re setting up for season three. I just hope we don’t have to wait longer than a year this time (they showed a clip at San Diego Comic Con and could conceivably show another this weekend at D23 so that’s a positive sign) as that can really derail momentum. X-Men ’97 is one of the best things Disney and Marvel have going right now so I hope they don’t do anything to stifle that. This finale was terrific. If you felt the season was losing some of its momentum coming into the last episode then rest assured, this one is the payoff you likely hoped for. I do think it will be controversial and it will have some major lasting impacts on the show, but in the moment I found it satisfying even if a bit painful. Sometimes, that’s a mark of good art.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “The Dead Man’s Hand”

This was the episode of X-Men ’97 we all knew was coming eventually. I don’t think I need to provide a spoilers warning given the episode title before I say this is the return of Gambit. This was all setup in the closing moments of the first season when Apocalypse (Ross Marquand) found the queen…

by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Strange Land, Savage Heart”

If you were hoping for a quick follow-up on the closing moments of last week’s episode featuring Apocalypse and a certain resurrected cajun, I’m afraid I have some bad news. The show is going to slow walk that plot as this week we’re dealing with more Genosha fallout. Considering the magnitude of the event, I’m…

by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Danger.exe”

After last week’s side trip up north to get Wolverine his skeleton back, this week’s episode of X-Men ’97 brings us back to the mansion which we really haven’t seen much of so far this season. The season’s sixth episode is centered on survivor’s guilt and the sins of a parent. For the guilt portion,…

by Joe

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July 29, 2026

X-Men ’97 – “Strange Land, Savage Heart”

By Joe
Premiere date July 29, 2026.

If you were hoping for a quick follow-up on the closing moments of last week’s episode featuring Apocalypse and a certain resurrected cajun, I’m afraid I have some bad news. The show is going to slow walk that plot as this week we’re dealing with more Genosha fallout. Considering the magnitude of the event, I’m not sure we’ve really had enough of it. The episode is going to open with a flashback to that attack to help setup a plot during the present. The human and mutant conflict is center stage once again, and some old friends and foes from the original series get to make their X-Men ’97 debut. Oh, and we’re going to the Savage Land!

The opening title adds Polaris (Carolina Ravassa) to the mix this week so she’s onboard for real. She’s also been assigned to X-Corp along with Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith), though no one is sporting the black and yellow in the opening just yet as they’re all still rocking the blue. As for that flashback I mentioned, that is being done to introduce Colossus (Robert Cait) and Magik (Courtenay Taylor), his younger sister whom cartoon viewers only know as Illyana. She was featured in the original series as the kid sister whom Colossus was always looking out for. As we saw with a Morph transformation during the first season, she’s grown up some to a teenager which seems to track if we were introduced to her in 1992 and it’s now 1997. As the trailers for the season let on, Magik is not going to make it through the attack in Genosha. The scene is brief showing her alongside her brother as they try to help fellow mutants and stand against the massive tri-Sentinel, but Colossus can only stare on helplessly as his little sister is annihilated leaving him grieving over her corpse.

Colossus is back, but sporting Acolyte purple.

This, like in the comics, is the catalyst for Colossus joining Magneto’s Acolytes. We too saw them in the original series with the two-parter “Sanctuary” where they weren’t really positioned as villains, just followers of Magneto. In that story, Acolyte Fabian Cortez attempts to murder Magneto and the X-Men have to expose his crimes. As far as we know, his body has been absconded by Apocalypse following the events in the episode “Fifth Horsemen” so he should not be turning up anytime soon. And we are introduced to the Acolytes via them dropping in on a campaign rally by everyone’s favorite mutant hater Graydon Creed (Ben Pronsky). Apparently, Sabretooth did not murder him at the end of the episode “Bloodlines” which Sabretooth alluded to during his appearance this season. Creed has been left with a scar on his face, but otherwise seems fine. At least, fine for now as the Acolytes, now lead by Exodus (Bo Poraj), have plans for the would-be president. Feeling that he has not been held accountable for his crimes against mutant kind, the Acolytes intend to take him and dispense justice as they see fit.

Poor Illyana, we hardly knew her.

Xavier (Ross Marquand) is able to take point here and sends X-Corp, minus Cyclops and Jean, to the Savage Land where the Acolytes have made their home. It makes sense since that was where Magneto originally intended to launch his mutant utopia, but things obviously changed. Mr. Sinister also called this place home back in the original show’s second season, and via the great citadel in the middle he was able to operate a device that nullified mutant powers and that is apparently still operational. The X-Corp members are separated quickly with Polaris and Bishop left out in the jungle while Rogue (Lenore Zann), Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough), and Beast (George Buza) get to tour the new mutant haven under the watchful eye of their former ally, Colossus. Their goal is to bring Creed home fearing his murder at the hands of mutants would be disastrous for human-mutant relations. The Acolytes seek only to punish him with the punishment being death. Toss in the fact that Creed is Nightcrawler’s biological brother and you have yourself quite the little soap opera. Nightcrawler, being a man of faith, does not wish to see his brother killed even if he personally has no real love for him. And since they can’t exactly fight their way out without their powers his solution is to propose a trial with him defending his brother and Exodus standing as the prosecutor. In the judge’s chair sits Colossus whom Nightcrawler has faith in that he’ll see some worth in Creed and spare his life.

I’ve always found Exodus to be a bad ass design.

The idea of a trial is pretty hokey on its surface, but I have to concede it does play an important role in adding some color to the Graydon Creed character. It’s easy to just hate him for being a bigot and think no deeper than that, but the episode finds a rather compelling angle all while not making him out to be someone we should have any amount of respect for. The Polaris and Bishop pairing is pretty underserved though. There’s an interesting angle here in that once Bishop loses his mutant powers all of the energy he had stored within him (he’s basically a battery) is trying to escape, but letting it out would likely kill him and perhaps anyone nearby. He can only withstand it for so long putting a running clock on this mission that is basically never acknowledged again apart from the initial explanation. There’s also clearly a chemistry forming between Bishop and Polaris which is played well, but again, not enough time is devoted to it.

From the trailer with maybe Iceman in a frame on the ground over Rogue’s left shoulder.
From the episode. Now it could just be me, but that image I thought was Iceman appears to be desaturated here. Also, they removed Gambit.

I did not like the Magik death reveal when it was shown in the trailers and I still don’t like it very much now. Mostly because she’s just a plot device to motivate her brother. Yes, she served that role in the preceding series, but not at the expense of her life. If you’re going to kill her off, at least let her get to be a character first. Instead, we get nothing which feels like a waste. This being a show based on comic books, it would hardly be a surprise to see her come back and maybe she’ll even be one of the horsemen of Apocalypse, but that’s not a get out of jail free card for bad character writing. Colossus is still quite likable and I was delighted to see Robert Cait return to reprise the role. We do get an action sequence to cap things off and it too features another character death that felt both implausible and like a waste. Sometimes this show comes across as too cavalier when it comes to killing characters off, mostly because they just don’t get enough runway beforehand. At least the appearance of the shrine first spotted in the trailer brings about no more deaths. Even the image that appeared to be Iceman seems to no longer exist. Has that character been spared a gruesome fate? It would seem so since no one has even spoken his name despite his connection to Polaris.

I hope we get to see more this pairing.

I did really enjoy the Nightcrawler/Creed dynamics in this one. Even if you are not a religious person (and I am not), it’s easy to empathize with Nightcrawler in this one. He’s just trying to find a peaceful solution. He does not defend his brother’s crimes or feel that he should not answer for them, but he firmly believes it would not be right to murder him. He gets tested and pushed, but I really liked his solution. I also just plain like bringing Creed back into the fold because he’s such a detestable human being and a great foil for the X-Men. An element of the show was lost when he basically faded away after season two and keeping the mutant/human conflict in focus is really crucial, in my opinion. The episode does end in a similar fashion to last week’s as the show essentially slow walks the return of Gambit as Death. It does feature a swerve that I didn’t see coming, though it’s one that could also be functionally meaningless as far as the plot is concerned. I guess we’ll find out next week as that episode is titled “The Dead Man’s Hand” and if that isn’t the big Gambit episode then I don’t know what would be.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Danger.exe”

After last week’s side trip up north to get Wolverine his skeleton back, this week’s episode of X-Men ’97 brings us back to the mansion which we really haven’t seen much of so far this season. The season’s sixth episode is centered on survivor’s guilt and the sins of a parent. For the guilt portion,…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs”

When X-Men went into development for the Fox Kids Network, it didn’t take the writing staff (who was unfamiliar with the property going in) long to figure out that Wolverine was their ticket to television royalty. The character really took off in the 1980s and helped the X-Men storm into the 1990s as the most…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Rise of Apocalypse: Part 2”

Unlike the first three episodes of season two of X-Men ’97, this fourth one is going to spend all of its time in one era. And as you could probably guess, that era is 3,000 BCE since that is where we left off last week. I consider these reviews that I do spoiler free, but…

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by Joe

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July 8, 2026

X-Men ’97 – “Rise of Apocalypse: Part 1”

By Joe
Original premiere date July 1, 2026.

The premiere episode for season two of X-Men ’97 took us to the far off future where Apocalypse reigns supreme. The second followed that one up with a story set in the present time of the series: 1997 (Duh!). Now, for the third episode of this three-part premiere we head to ancient Egypt to meet up with the rest of the X-Men, only they’re not alone for in this time is the mutant En Sabah Nur who the X-Men know will one day become Apocalypse. They have been unknowingly sent here against their will by Mother Askani to prevent the rise of Apocalypse, but just how they’re supposed to go about such is a matter of debate. Beyond that is the debate of if it should happen at all?

The episode opens with the X-Men who were sent to the future now back in the ruins of the X-Mansion. They returned expecting to find the team Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith) was sent to retrieve there as well, but when no one appears they become concerned. This is time travel, after all, so the idea that they have to wait for their return doesn’t make sense if they were all set to return to a specific moment in time. All they can do is wait though, because Forge (Gil Birmingham) is unable to get a reading on their time bracelets. In 3,000 BCE, En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M’Cormack) is preparing to lead his forces against those of Rama-Tut (John de Lancie) who is a vicious ruler and slaver that once possessed Nur. Alongside Nur is Baal (Michael Dorn), the man he looks up to as a surrogate father for he is the one credited with rescuing Nur from a life of slavery. Nur is, as far as we know, the world’s first mutant with the tell-tale sign being his pale skin and blue lips. He also possesses incredible strength and durability and is something of a super man which is what makes him a natural leader of other former slaves.

The X-Men have been sent to the past to stop En Sabah Nur from becoming Apocalypse.

The X-Men trapped in this past are under no delusions who En Sabah Nur is, or rather, who he will become. Charles (Ross Marquand) feels their presence in the past is an affront to nature and they should do everything in their power to not interfere and instead focus on getting back home. Magneto (Matthew Waterson), on the other hand, sees this as an opportunity to set Nur on a different path. If he can instill in him the values of Charles Xavier then perhaps Xavier’s dream of human and mutant coexistence can come true before he’s even born to dream it himself. He views this as penance for his hand in what happened on Genosha, but Charles is not so certain this is the correct path. What no one seems to suggest is simply destroying En Sabah Nur before he can become Apocalypse. Such is the quagmire of the time traveler – if you can prevent an atrocity by taking out the orchestrator of such before it happens should you? En Sabah Nur as he exists in this moment in time is not the same man who committed countless atrocities as Apocalypse. Can he be sentenced for a crime he has not committed? This question doesn’t come up in this episode, but perhaps it will soon enough.

This isn’t the Egypt you read about in your textbooks.

As for the X-Men stranded here which includes Beast (George Buza), Rogue (Lenore Zann), and Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) in addition to Magneto and Charles, their journey home is perhaps an impossibility. Beast is no Forge, but he has spent time working with Bishop’s time traveling device and has some knowledge of how it works. The problem is acquiring the power and resources needed to create a time machine and to do that they look to the forces of Rama-Tut. We may be in ancient Egypt, but the tech of Tut is certainly not of this era. He attacks with robotic minions lead by a human general named Logos (Chris Britton) and once the forces of Nur lay waste to them, the X-Men scavenge the battlefield for parts, but they’re not making much headway which is taking its toll on everyone, especially Beast. The plot takes a turn when Magneto is able to convince Nur to abandon his survival of the fittest mantra and take Logos hostage rather than kill him. With him in their clutches, Magneto hopes to convince Xavier to probe his mind and perhaps find a solution to their problems, but instead Xavier just finds more riddles. A disembodied voice that espouses a famous quote from Apocalypse appears before Charles alongside a massive, fiery, eye that looks like a galaxy being born. The presence of a shattered moon in the shape of Magneto’s helm leads me to believe this could be a foreshadowing for Onslaught, though I’ve seen some speculate that this could be a reference to Stryfe. I would have thought it was merely a vision of Apocalypse himself, but Xavier is the one who classifies this individual as a mystery and that would be a pretty lame mystery since we know that Apocalypse is the villain already in focus.

In this era, Rama-Tut rules, but I definitely wasn’t expecting to see the X-Ternal (credited as Candra) from the episode “X-Ternally Yours” to make an appearance.

The episode does end on a cliffhanger, though it’s a bit of a toothless one since these characters have quite a bit of plot armor at this point. Bishop will also make an appearance and, if anything, this cliffhanger may just explain why the X-Men were unable to rendezvous with their comrades in 1997. Perhaps we will find out the events of this episode caused the time bracelets to be damaged and the X-Men will have to seek out another way to return home. Of course, with me catching up and this going live the day part two drops that means these questions have likely already been answered (and maybe the identity of the mystery voice has as well), but I had to make sure I got my thoughts down before that episode dropped. I am guessing the technology of Rama-Tut hides a way for the team to get home and it would be a great example of circular story-telling since it was a future version of Rama-Tut that helped Bishop and the X-Men take down Apocalypse in the “Beyond Good and Evil” arc. There, he took the form of a cosmic janitor named Bender who only revealed himself to the viewer as Immortus at the end, but he’s basically a future version of Rama-Tut who is also an aspect of Kang the Conqueror. Yeah, it’s complicated.

A lot of capes in this picture.

“Rise of Apocalypse: Part 1” is a bit slower paced than the other two episodes in this three episode premiere. Being that it’s co-written by Beau DeMayo (along with JB Ballard), that’s not a surprise as he seems to like these more talky episodes and when you get Magneto and Xavier sharing scenes that tends to happen. It’s a necessary episode, though I do wonder if this is really how I want to see Apocalypse portrayed. I like origin stories and villain ones can be a lot of fun, but Apocalypse as a Spartacus figure is hard to square. Are we supposed to have sympathy for this character? Apocalypse is a genocidal monster, I’m not sure that I want or need to know that he wasn’t always bad. This is an adaptation of Rise of Apocalypse by Terry Kavanagh and Adam Pollina so it’s not a new story, but I never read that one to know if the portrayal of En Sabah Nur was quite the same. At any rate, I’m willing to see how things progress from here and since this is only part one it does feel a little incomplete. We’ve set the table, but the meal has yet to arrive.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “A Force to be Reckoned With”

The title of this post says X-Men ’97, but in some respects it should read X-Force ’97 because that’s what the opening title presents. Yes, boys and girls, we have ourselves an X-Force on television. Cable made numerous appearances in the original series, but never as the leader of X-Force. This surprised me as a…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Days of Past Future”

At last, X-Men ’97 has made its return to airwaves with not one, not two, but three episodes for the premiere which means there’s a lot to talk about. Truthfully, too much for one post which is why we need to keep things to one episode per entry as is the style of the time.…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3”

Today, X-Men ’97 dropped the curtain on its first season and what a way to bring it to an end. Last week’s episode was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I couldn’t go into much detail of my review of “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2” without wading into spoiler territory, so allow me…

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by Joe

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January 12, 2026

Mondo X-Men ’97 1/6 Scale Nightcrawler

By Joe
Make way for Munich’s own Nightcrawler!

Yes, I’m afraid this is another toy review that needs to begin with a word about tariffs. It was the talk of 2025 in the toy collecting community because it caused considerable delays, disruptions, and worst of all, increased prices across the board. One line impacted by the introduction of these new costs more than most was Mondo’s line of sixth scale action figures based on the Marvel cartoons X-Men and X-Men ’97. These figures, being around a foot tall and consisting of unique parts, extravagant paint apps, and numerous accessories already carried a hefty price tag. Most had settled into the $235 range, but with free shipping that made it slightly more palatable. That was all out the window once extraordinary tariffs were introduced. Mondo was forced to add a tariff fee to its products to help offset the costs which, for this line, typically ran $20. Then there was the removal of the de minimis exemption on shipments under $800 which blew up Mondo’s shipping policy to ship directly from the factory to your door. Now, they had to go the shipping container route, bring everything to port, truck it to a warehouse, and then ship it from there. Free shipping was gone replaced with an option totaling over $20 and then add on the usual sales tax and you end up with a line that now runs over $300 a pop.

Even at sixth scale, he’s a bit of a little guy.

Nightcrawler was the first victim of this new world. When he initially went up, it was the limited version with a price tag of $245. When I went to check out, the total came out to over $300 and gave me a great deal of sticker shock. Mondo’s line appeals to me as a fan of X-Men ’97, but it appeals to me even more as a fan of the original cartoon. That’s the collection I want to assemble on my shelf, but Nightcrawler wasn’t really essential to such a display. He appeared in a mere two episodes during that original run, and while I like both, the space requirements of such a display and the cost gave me pause. I wanted to think it over and also wondered what the standard version would cost, but before Mondo revealed that the limited one sold out. I guess others weren’t as indecisive as I was. Eventually, the standard version was put up for sale and it cost $230, a nice price break, but it came at a cost. The X-Men ’92 portrait that was included with the limited version was omitted making this standard version truly an X-Men ’97 release. I admit, this frustrates me. The line began as one based on the original show and it was a request by Marvel to add the ’97 branding. For most characters, Nightcrawler included, there isn’t a big difference between the look so it’s easy enough to please both customer bases, but locking the ’92 version behind the limited paywall betrays that spirit. I complain, but obviously I gave in because I do like Nightcrawler an awful lot and knew I’d regret not having him on my shelf.

Nightcrawler is so popular he even has his own in-universe toy.

Nightcrawler comes in the same box as the rest of the line with new artwork by Dan Veesenmeyer and production artwork behind that. Even though this figure is truly an X-Men ’97 release, all of the production art is from the original series episode “Bloodlines” which is kind of amusing. There’s a character bio from Eric and Julia Lewald on the inside of the cover flap and there’s the usual display window behind it. Nightcrawler is a sculpt by Alex Brewer with paint by Mara Ancheta. He is one of the smaller figures in the line just barely outdoing the most recent Wolverine at around 10.75″. He’s far less chunky than the Canadian and quite lithe giving him a similar in-hand feel to the line’s smallest release, Jubilee.

He’s also well-armed.

Nightcrawler is depicted in his classic red, black, and white costume which is true to both shows. Paint is clean and it’s accentuated with blue linework which is how he’s shaded in both shows. The face has an abundance of black shadows cast across it which looks excellent and is how every Nightcrawler figure should be done at any scale. He has that tuft of hair which is the most recognizable aspect of the ’97 look and the eyes are a bright yellow. His black hair has some streaks of blue in it which helps convey the highlights we see in the show and I love how the white hands and feet stand out against the darker colors of the costume. I don’t know if it’s said enough, but Nightcrawler really is one of the best designs in comics (hat tip to Nightcrawler’s creator, Dave Cockrum). There’s a reason why he’s rarely strayed from this look which dates back to his original appearance from the 1970s. I love that X-Men ’97 added him to the main cast partway through the inaugural season and it appears that he will remain in the main cast going forward. That’s a terrific pickup as, next to Morph, Nightcrawler is the one I would have most wanted to see added to the roster.

He passes the crouch test.

Mondo had a challenge in bringing a character like Nightcrawler to plastic. The other characters from this line can get away with being a little stiff when it comes to posing, but Nightcrawler is a literal acrobat. He needs to articulate better than the rest. Mondo had a similar challenge before it with Spider-Man and, in my opinion, mostly dropped the ball there. With Nightcrawler, I’m happy to say they faired much better. He doesn’t have much in the way of additional joints, but the functional ability of what’s there is improved. What’s not is the head and diaphragm. The head is still really tight as the lower ball joint in the neck doesn’t like to move. The diaphragm joint is similarly stubborn, though it fares a little better with Nightcrawler than it did with Spider-Man. What works well is the waist which rocks in all directions quite well. His hips have more range and the double-jointed knees and elbows are super smooth. The same is true for the ankle hinges which border on being so smooth they’re loose, but I never had any issues standing Nightcrawler. He can get into a crouch which is necessary for such a character and he’s even better at doing so than his Marvel Legends counterpart thanks to the addition of toe hinges. His tail is also done with a wire and it’s perhaps the most poseable wired joint I’ve ever encountered. These figures typically aren’t much fun to pose, but Nightcrawler is the rare entrant who actually is.

Bamf! effects in action.

To accentuate those poses we have a slew of alternate parts and accessories. For portraits, there’s a neutral one and a smiling one. While the neutral one is executed very well, it’s the smiling portrait that I am almost certain to display exclusively. The limited version came with the original series head as well as one based on the pilot of the original X-Men cartoon, “Pryde of the X-Men.” I really want that ’92 portrait, but oh well. For hands, he has a set of fists, gripping, open, and style posed hands. For effect parts, he has a trio of “bamf!” effects. These are all cast in translucent, pink, plastic with one intended to clip on his shoulder and the other two on each arm. You could probably put them on a leg too if that was your preference. They’re sculpted to resemble the smoke that appears when Nightcrawler uses his teleportation powers and if you got the limited version you would have received a fourth piece that’s intended as a base. They’re easy to make use of and add a nice visual splash to a display.

These two proved to be a formidable pair in X-Men ’97.

If you watched X-Men ’97 then you undoubtedly recall Nightcrawler and Wolverine’s defense of the mansion during the eighth episode. In it, Nightcrawler finally was given a sword to wield which. Even going back to his original Toy Biz figure, Nightcrawler has been associated with blades for quite some time. And in that scene he had a saber, or cutlass, that resembled that old figure and Mondo included it here. It has nice paint effects on the blade and slots into a gripping hand quite easily. Nightcrawler, being an ambidextrous acrobat and accomplished sword wielder, wasn’t content to just handle one sword. He also found some decorative fencing blades in a study and took them down from the wall. He has one to grip in his other hand, but that still wasn’t enough for Nightcrawler. That prehensile tail of his needed a weapon too so that’s where the third sword went. Mondo included an extra tail where the end is coiled like a fist. The third sword separates where the handguard meets the pommel and can slide effortlessly into the extra tail to outfit Nightcrawler with all three weapons. Even if I had that coveted ’92 portrait, I would have been hard pressed not to pose Nightcrawler with all three swords in hand (and tail).

The stand, plus Nightcrawler’s poofy hair, lends itself well to inverted poses.

Feeling that wasn’t enough to really capture the spirit of the character, Mondo also used this occasion to provide collectors with an improved stand. It’s a badly kept secret that Mondo’s doll stands it includes with all of its sixth scale figures is pretty crappy. I almost never use them and many have never even been removed from the package. For Nightcrawler, we get a new model that includes a poseable post and a gripping claw for the end. The base is still the standard circular base with the X-Men logo painted on. The post plugs into that and the claw…goes on somehow. I don’t know what the intention was, but I had to remove the crotch piece and unscrew the clip in order to get it onto the post. It was still a tight fit and I reassembled it once on the post. Some instructions would have been helpful. Once assembled, it works as intended. The claw has some nice tension and the gripping part is lined with a soft material that should protect the paint. The crotch piece adds some stability, though it might not really be needed though could come in handy with heavier figures. This is the stand we should have received with Spider-Man and I hope it’s the standard going forward even for characters that don’t necessarily need it. It’s unfortunately not coming with Mr. Sinister, but is with Storm. Lastly, Nightcrawler comes with a Bamf doll accessory. He’s fully painted and plenty adorable. I don’t know why Nightcrawler has small effigies of himself, seems to go against his religious convictions, but it’s a cute little detail from the comics and an appropriate accessory.

This guy just looks terrific. It’s an instant upgrade for any display.

While I was and likely will remain salty about the removal of the original series portrait for the standard edition, it’s hard not to be pretty happy with how Nightcrawler turned out. He’s simply one of the best releases in the line combining the incredible presentation qualities Mondo is known for with an unexpected fun component the line ordinarily doesn’t possess. While I do enjoy swapping in and out portraits and effects, I rarely enjoy the act of posing these figures. That’s not the case with Nightcrawler and I feel like I’m wasting the figure’s potential when I leave it in the same pose longer than a week. Nightcrawler is a fan-favorite and that’s likely partly why the limited version did sell out relatively quickly, even at an increased price. It’s a reputation that’s been well-earned over the decades since the character’s introduction. If you can get past that increased price, even for the standard version, you’ll find an excellent figure. Other retailers won’t have the $20 surcharge Mondo charges, or their shipping fee, though many have added an apparent tariff fee to the base price. Big Bad Toy Store currently has this edition of the figure priced at $245 while Entertainment Earth has it at $250. Both have cheaper shipping options than Mondo so you’ll save some money going through them instead, but if you want to buy direct form Mondo he’s still in-stock there for $230 with an additional $20 tariff charge. If you’re in on this line or just a big Nightcrawler fan looking for a nice one-off in your collection then I think it’s worth it. And if you intended to just be collecting the main cast from the ’92 show then I do think you should think long and hard about passing on Nightcrawler. You may come to regret it.

For more from Mondo’s line of sixth scale Marvel figures look no further:

Mondo 1/6 X-Men ’97 Wolverine – Limited Edition

Back in 2021, Mondo unveiled for San Diego Comic Con a sixth scale Wolverine action figure based on the X-Men animated series from the 90s. It was a presale to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the show’s premiere and product went out in 2022 closer to that actual anniversary. At the time, Mondo wasn’t…

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by Joe

Mondo 1/6 Scale Spider-Man (Spider-Man ’94)

It took a long time for Mondo’s Spider-Man to get to me. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to even buy it. I passed on the Mondo offering in 2024, debated the symbiote costume variant, but ultimately passed on that as well. The X-Men line from Mondo is my true love and…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men ’97 1/6 Scale Cyclops – Limited Edition

After putting a real hurting on my wallet in 2023, Mondo decided to take it easy in 2024 with its line of sixth scale action figures based on the animated series X-Men which ran from 1992-1997 on Fox Kids. Two figures ended up getting released this year, Rogue and now the leader of the X-Men…

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by Joe

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April 29, 2024

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Nightcrawler

By Joe
The newest member of the animated team.

Since we don’t have a post this week for Turtle Tuesday I decided we should have a Mutant Monday. X-Men ’97 has returned the mutant superheroes to the spotlight and one of the main beneficiaries has been Hasbro. Their first wave of Marvel Legends based on the new show arrived last fall and, aside from Wolverine, found themselves in the clearance section by Christmas. The second wave arrived in-time with the premiere of the show, and wouldn’t you know, that seems to have helped sales as the wave rarely hangs around on the pegs longer than a day or two. Hasbro’s poor timing with wave one likely wasn’t the fault of the company, but Disney who had originally scheduled the show for a fall 2023 premiere, but opted to move it to the spring. This sort of thing has happened to Hasbro quite frequently with the MCU releases as well, but what are they going to do? The House of Mouse is far too powerful to concern itself with how well action figures are selling.

X-Men ’97 has seen the return of all of the principal cast members of the original X-Men cartoon as well as many of the cameo characters. And one such character is Nightcrawler. He appeared in two episodes of the original series and was an ally to the X-Men, but never a member. That happened a lot in the original series, but X-Men ’97 appears to be more willing to have a fluid team of mutants for the show’s fifth episode saw Nightcrawler reemerge and the sixth episode even added him to the opening title like a full-fledged member of the team. As I write this, the eighth episode has yet to air so it remains to be seen how long the fuzzy, blue, elf plans on hanging around. After all, Bishop received the same elevation early on, but has since left the team.

He looks good beside his new teammates.

Nightcrawler is a pretty classic character at this point having been part of the first expansion of the X-Men way back in the first giant-sized issue of the book. Had the pilot “Pryde of the X-Men” been picked up as a full series, Nightcrawler would have been on television sets every Saturday morning in several households. His absence didn’t seem to harm his popularity as I personally had many friends who referred to Nightcrawler as their favorite. Perhaps that was helped by his inclusion in the first wave of Toy Biz action figures for the property, his inclusion in the arcade and Genesis games, or maybe people just think he’s neat. While he’s never been my absolute favorite, he’s always been near the top and it’s mostly for his design as a blue devil which goes back to creators Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. I like the dichotomy of his appearance being devilish, but his spirit being one of faith, which is a fun juxtaposition and plays on expectations. I suppose it’s a little derivative of Beast, who despite his appearance and name is a gentle soul who relies more on brains than brawn, but I’m fine with both existing.

The two portraits Hasbro went with are just okay.

Nightcrawler’s appearance in X-Men ’97 is identical to his appearance in the first cartoon which was simply an adaptation of his original look. Marvel apparently nailed his look on the first try because he hasn’t changed much since the ’70s. As an action figure, it’s a relatively easy costume to capture since it’s just red, black, and white. Since I’m not a regular Marvel Legends buyer I can’t say with absolute certainty how much of this figure is new sculpt. My understanding is the torso is reused from a past Nightcrawler, but the head and limbs are new. It’s surprising Hasbro would spend money to re-tool Nightcrawler’s unique hands and feet if there was nothing wrong with the old ones, but maybe there was room in the budget and these can be used elsewhere? I’m not sure how such decisions are made, but collectors aren’t likely to complain in this case.

We’re a Creed away from a full family reunion.

Nightcrawler’s head is the most obvious connection to X-Men ’97. Similar to the wave one Gambit, his hair is a bit embellished. Unlike Gambit, I think this is less indicative of the source material though as his hair in the show seemed a bit more tame. The head is molded in blue with black dry-brushing on the hair to create some texture, but not quite the flat, black, shading of the show. That is reserved for the face and it’s applied well as is the yellow for his eyes. His default portrait has the vaguest hint of a smile while his alternate portrait is more of a grimace like he’s going into a fight almost reluctantly. I wish the default portrait featured his big, toothy, grin as that is the enduring image I have of Nightcrawler from the show and it’s even reflected in the artwork for him as well. Neither portrait is bad, it’s just there were better options out there.

This is a figure that would have definitely benefited from an included flight stand.

The body of the figure is mostly black plastic with little need for paint. The red portions on the upper torso are actually a red, plastic, insert which allows the shoulder pads to be soft and obviously reduces the need for paint. The red on the abdomen and crotch is painted and Hasbro actually did a really good job of matching the shades of red here. The painted portions of his wrists and shins is just okay. The red trim on the left arm is poorly applied and it doesn’t come up all the way to the shin cut either on both legs. The left arm is the only spot that’s bad enough to be visible from the shelf. The tail is pre-posed and not bendy and I suppose it’s okay. It would have been nice to have another option since Nightcrawler so often has his tail curl in front of him, or even wield a sword, but accessories were apparently not in the budget. In addition to the second head we just get two sets of hands: fists and style-posed. No gripping hands and no swords for said gripping hands even though his character card in the show features him dual-wielding his sabers.

“What is this?!”

Articulation is where an acrobatic character like Nightcrawler needs to shine and this figure has some good about it and some not so good. The ball-hinge is in play so you’ll get decent up and down range, but little in the way of nuance. The arms are standard for Marvel Legends and he does have butterfly joints in the shoulders, but they’re almost useless because there’s no cut in the chest to let the arms come forward. The torso only features an ab crunch and a waist twist with no diaphragm articulation. Hips are ball and socket joints and the knees and ankles are standard stuff with no boot cut. The tail is just a swivel joint. The lack of a diaphragm joint and proper butterfly joints means he can’t do Nightcrawler-type crouches. His articulation should be on par with Spider-Man, but it’s not. It isn’t terrible and for Marvel Legends it’s fairly typical, but that means it’s also not impressive.

Siblings need to look after one another.

I picked up this Nightcrawler for my animated X-Men shelf and he’ll look fine there, but this is an action figure that definitely could have been better. The almost complete lack of accessories means the aesthetics and the articulation have to carry the $25 asking price and they’re not quite up to task. Hasbro spent some money on new tools here so it’s a shame they didn’t use that money to just make the body work better. And they already have past gripping hands and swords they could have tossed in, but opted not to which is to say nothing of a BAMF! effect. It’s a figure that’s pretty illustrative of Marvel Legends these days, a sort of high floor action figure line without much of a ceiling. This figure makes me want to see what a company like Medicom would do with the character, though I can’t see myself being excited about paying their asking price.

If you want to read more of my thoughts on the action figures from X-Men ’97 then read on:

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Gambit

Everyone can relax – Gambit has returned. Or arrived, since I’ve never reviewed a Gambit action figure in this space, but that’s because I haven’t bought a Gambit figure in about 20 years until now. When X-Men arrived on airwaves in the fall of 1992, hardly anyone on that team could be considered a true…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Jean Grey

If you are reading this the day it goes live then Happy X-Men ’97 Day! Today is the day the long-awaited sequel series to X-Men debuts on Disney+. Rather than fast-track a review of the first two episodes to this blog, I decided instead to do what I most often do: review an action figure!…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men ’97 Bishop

We’re going to keep this Marvel/Mutant Monday thing going for one more week! After taking a look at a trio of figures from Hasbro’s new X-Men ’97 line of figures in its Marvel Legends catalog I’ve decided to do one more: Bishop. The first three figures I looked at were basically all missing pieces to…

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by Joe

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April 12, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

By Joe

Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 saw the show take a breather with a fairly low stakes plot involving Jubilee and Roberto getting sucked into a video game. The last 7 or 8 minutes of the episode concluded with a more serious tone as Storm and Forge found themselves at odds in the wildlands of Texas. It ended with a shocking visual and if you wanted immediate closure on that thread you’re going to be left wanting by this week’s episode, “Remember It.” I don’t think that will bother many because “Remember It” is the most impactful episode of the season so far and has a lot of people already declaring it the best episode yet.

The phrase “Remember It” is a callback to a particularly bad ass line delivered by not one, but two, characters from the original series. Interestingly, those two characters now have a real world link as the former voice actor of Gambit, Chris Potter, is now the voice of Cable who makes his X-Men ’97 debut this week, albeit in a brief manner.

It’s a bit hard to tell, but I think this week’s “Previously,” is delivered by AJ LoCascio, otherwise known as the current voice of Gambit. The opening title features a lot of clips that we’ve seen before as someone really wants the Dark Phoenix plot to be at the forefront it would seem. Newly added is a recreation of Cable’s encounter with Apocalypse from the “Beyond Good and Evil” arc and it’s nice to see that Apocalypse still has his unique to the show color combo of blue and purple.

It seems Madelyn has found a new purpose.

“Remember It” features an A and a B plot in a more traditional manner as the episode isn’t split like last week’s. At the mansion, reporter Trish Tilby (Donna Jay Fulks) is on-hand to interview the X-Men for television to give them a chance to humanize themselves in front of the world. At least, she’s interviewing the few willing to go on camera which seems to be limited to Beast, Cyclops, and Jubilee. Elsewhere, Jean is still trying to sort out her memories while Wolverine is ducking the cameras and checking up on her. Magneto, Gambit, and Rogue are enroute to Genosha as they’ve been invited by the new council there for unknown reasons.

That trio will land to discover that Genosha is a pretty happening place. Mutants parade out in the open in a Mardi Gras like atmosphere of music and dance. Gambit takes notice of the incredibly high prices at street vendors and seems to be the only one who thinks maybe not everything is as it seems. Magneto is expected to meet with the council of Genosha while Rogue and Gambit get to do some sightseeing with an old friend. Returning from X-Men is voice actor Adrian Hough reprising his role as Nightcrawler. The fuzzy, blue, elf is a much happier and high spirited character now that he’s in a place that accepts him. He’s eager to reconnect with Rogue and Gambit and happy to be their escort on this day. Also in attendance on Genosha is Madelyn Pryor, aka the clone of Jean. She has accepted a position on the council and is Magneto’s introduction to the rest.

Everybody is happy about the return of Nightcrawler!

And that council is comprised of a lot of old faces, some more welcomed than others: Sebastian Shaw (Todd Haberkorn), Emma Frost (Martha Marion), Moira McTaggert (Marion), Callisto (Courtenay Taylor), and Banshee (David Errigo Jr.). Valerie Cooper is also present, but not a part of the council, and if she was she would object to what Magneto has been summoned here for. They wish to make him chancellor of Genosha by reason that since Xavier entrusted him with the X-Men, they can entrust him with Genosha. Magneto requires little convincing, but has one requirement for accepting the position: that Rogue be his queen.

There aren’t many people on this council I’d call trustworthy.

This puts the love triangle at the forefront that’s been percolating a bit since the second episode between Rogue, Gambit, and Magneto. If you have been waiting for some resolution there, as well as more info on just what happened between Rogue and Magneto before the events of the original series, your questions will at last be answered. At the mansion, we will similarly see Cyclops and Jean start to address their own issues as a couple, as well as the fact that Cyclops had to bid his newborn son farewell. It gets heavy at times and certainly adds to the soap opera nature of the show (Nightcrawler even has a quip about that), but it’s what we’re here for.

There’s a lot of good character detail in those moments, but what everyone is going to talk about where it concerns “Remember It” is really just the last seven minutes or so. I do not want to spoil anything, but there is an attack on Genosha and it leads to a spectacular action sequence. X-Men ’97 has firmly established that it knows how to stage flashy and creative action pieces with its cast. If you’re someone who has been waiting for Gambit to do something in this show, you’ll enjoy this section as he gets to go into full bad ass mode in a way that we’ve never seen. The original show had far more restraint when it came to the powers of basically everyone on the X-Men, but X-Men ’97 is breaking those chains. And it’s not just action on display as there are some very emotional moments captured in the chaos and you may need to keep some tissues handy for this one.

How does he do that? With style!

“Remember It” is a spectacle and an episode that is getting a lot of just praise. It’s a pivotal episode as well, and once you’ve watched it I would advise you to check out the Twitter handle of series creator Beau DeMayo as he has shared a lot of thoughts on this one. It’s an episode that will stay with you, especially those who grew up on the original series, and it’s one I needed to let gestate a little longer than the last few before sharing my thoughts. There is an undeniable heaviness to the episode, though there are some light elements and fun portions. Genosha is a setting designed for cameos and there’s plenty of that to be found. There’s even a really well choreographed dance scene too, but virtually all of that is overshadowed by the final act. This is one we’ll be talking about for a long time and is a prime example of why the weekly release schedule is so much more rewarding than the drop even if the wait for next week is going to be excruciating.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Motendo/Lifedeath Part 1”

X-Men ’97 continues on into it’s fourth episode with a bit of a change-up. The first three episodes were rather weighty dealing with the fallout of Xavier’s death, Storm losing her powers, and the whole clone situation of the third episode. And that third episode did reveal a few cracks in the foundation of the…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Fire Made Flesh”

Well, that was a long wait! After the two episode premiere of X-Men ’97 on March 20th I was ready for that third episode. The week long wait felt both excruciating and exhilarating. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an X-Men show to get excited about, or really an X-Men anything, and it’s…

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by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Mutant Liberation Begins”

The first episode of X-Men ’97 left me grinning from ear to ear and eager to see what would happen next. I’m happy to say, the show’s second episode left me feeling very much the same. “Mutant Liberation Begins” starts off right where the previous episode ended. Magneto, has revealed that it was the wishes…

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by Joe

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Television