Magneto was right.
That was the realization many characters seemed to share at the end of last week’s episode of X-Men ’97. As we roll into the penultimate episode of the show’s first season, a lot is on the line and the show is drawing inspiration from several different sources related to the X-Men over the course of decades. We’ve seen costume changes for both Storm and Jubilee, one to her original look harkening back to the ’70s while the other jumped forward to a slightly more modern interpretation. We’ve been seeing scenes of the Dark Phoenix Saga play out in the opening credits much of this season while Bastion, an enemy associated with the new millennium, has been the puppet master for much of the show, though only recently outed.
And then we had the conclusion of last week’s episode. The still alive and well Charles Xavier was outed to the world by Bastion through the media while the world would be reintroduced to another thought dead individual – Magneto. Valerie Cooper, heralded as the show’s center by showrunner Beau DeMayo before the season began, made the choice to free Magneto from Bastion’s clutches. We don’t know what Bastion had planned for the Master of Magnetism or if some of those plans may have already begun, but we do know that once freed Magneto immediately turned to a familiar refrain – revenge. Traveling to one of the Earth’s poles, Magneto unleashed a massive EMP through his magnetic powers which were likely amplified by the Earth’s own magnetic field. This both saved the mutants and quite possibly doomed humanity as the power grid was effectively neutralized. Wolverine called it a declaration of war.
And this is what made the original series and now this one so effective. It’s a melting pot of different eras of the team and their stories distilled into one. I’d call it a greatest hits, but some misses still managed to slip in (looking at you Cody and the Not Brood) and X-Men ’97 hasn’t been immune from that. It’s a great approach and whoever at Disney or Marvel is put in charge of bringing the X-Men back to cinema really should go back and watch the original series and this one. Not because they’re perfect, mind you, but because they had the right approach. And whomever does so can see what worked and what didn’t or what stories could have been expanded upon or resonated in a different way. Just maybe don’t do Phoenix. I know it’s a classic, but everybody does it. Or if you’re going to do it, make sure to bring something new to the table (or maybe don’t just jump right to the Dark Phoenix Saga).
That’s another a discussion for another day, today is all about “Tolerance is Extinction – Part Two.” The opening “Previously…on X-Men” responsibilities are turned over to everyone’s favorite Canadian Wolverine and the credits feature the return of Storm in her classic threads. We’re still checking out the Dark Phoenix Saga, Asteroid M, and Cable facing down Apocalypse as clips from the old show as clues to what is to come. When the episode begins, we’re reintroduced to Charles Xavier, better known as Professor X, as he wakes up in what remains of his bedroom. The mansion has been destroyed (really, no one should be trying to sleep in it) for the second time this season and at least the third overall (not counting the time Rogue put a hole in every floor of the thing including the roof). Xavier has to deal with not just the fallout of what Magneto has done, but the fallout for leaving the school in his care. Elsewhere, Bastion is seen collecting his mother’s deactivated body as the EMP deactivated all of the Prime Sentinels. This allowed both Roberto and Jubilee to escape, and they’re quickly rescued by the duo of Storm and Forge from a gang of angry humans.
Reckoning needs to happen between Xavier and his pupils. There’s a nice conversation between he, Scott, and Jean over his decision to leave the school to Magneto where Xavier’s intentions are well illustrated. Still, this isn’t a happy reunion as Cyclops wasn’t the only one displeased with the professor’s decision and they’re certainly not happy he wasn’t there when the world went to hell. There isn’t much time for all of that though as Magneto returns and he brought his asteroid with him. There’s no more words to be shared between he and his old friend. Magneto has made his choice and he is only there to offer an invitation to any who wish to join him on Asteroid M. Some will leave, most will stay, and for the first time the show will separate the members into Blue and Gold teams, though the membership of each doesn’t really align with such from the books aside from the leaders being Cyclops and Storm.
And why do we need two teams? Because in order to save the world, or at least prevent a full blown war, the X-Men must take down Bastion and restore the damage done to the Earth’s magnetic field through Magneto. That means one team seeks out Bastion while the other heads into space to confront Magneto. The tricky part might not be defeating either one or convincing Magneto to undo what he has already done, it’s that both teams need to be successful, but at different times. If the Blue Team succeeds before the Gold Team neutralizes Bastion then they very well may restore all of the Prime Sentinels to a functional state which would probably doom the Gold Team. Unfortunately for the Gold Team, Bastion is revealed to be what the show refers to as a technopath, meaning he can communicate with machinery like his Sentinels. He is likely unaffected by what Magneto has wrought so both teams are in for a fight.
And fights are what we get! One aspect of X-Men ’97 that has not been as strong as that of the original series is how the original was able to spotlight basically every member of the team. The show didn’t do it in every episode, that would have been foolish, but found a way throughout and especially so in the show’s second season. What X-Men ’97 has done instead is give characters their own moments typically in action scenes. And this week it’s Jean’s turn to kick some ass while Morph gets to unleash another cameo. We also get to see Mr. Sinister in action (I hope you didn’t forget about him) which is a lot of fun for those who grew up with the ’92 series. Perhaps those watching didn’t even realize it at the time, but that show’s animation budget just wasn’t what it needed to be for a complicated character design like Sinister. As a result, he basically just stood in fairly neutral positions. He couldn’t turn or do anything dynamic, but in X-Men ’97 he is unburdened by such constraints and it’s pretty cool to see in action.
Another major change for X-Men ’97 where the original is concerned is that it’s not afraid to change the status quo nor is it afraid to “go there.” The X-Men can’t expect to come out of every confrontation unscathed and this penultimate episode ends on a pretty major development. This is one of those episodes where I’m a tad jealous of the bingers who are just waiting patiently for the whole season to be available to them. Instead, we have to wait until next week to see how this all sorts itself out. That melting pot I referred to keeps us folks who know these stories from the comics slightly in the dark. We know how they all end, but the show is setting up for these stories to just smash in to each other. The results could be largely the same, or radically different. And that’s the beauty of it.
Previously…on X-Men ’97:
X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”
Ever since the episode list was released for X-Men ’97 I’ve been looking forward to what reads like an epic, three-part, season finale. In truth, given that X-Men ’97 is a serialized show you could basically call every episode “X-Men ’97 Season 1 Part 1” and so on, but the titles do add a dramatic…
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Last week’s episode of X-Men ’97 ended in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. If you were hoping to experience the fallout of that one, you’re going to be disappointed by this week’s episode. Like the week before which saw an episode end with Forge and Storm in a precarious situation, this week’s episode is willing to…
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The Nostalgia Spot 