Tag Archives: x-men

April 30, 2025

Marvel Legends Professor X with Hoverchair

By Joe
All right kids, back in your seats. Teacher is here.

Most view superheroes as idealized versions of people. Superman has all the power he needs to mete out justice as he sees fit. He’s a man who is super fast, super strong, basically invulnerable, and he even has laser eyes for good measure. Not every character can be Superman though and as the stable of superheroes increased over the years there was more room for nuance. I’m sure some folks in marketing at Marvel Comics scoffed at the idea of a team of superheroes being led by a middle aged paraplegic, but that’s the direction Stan Lee and Jack Kirby went in when they created the X-Men. That team was founded by Professor Charles Xavier, a powerful, telepathic, mutant (which is basically used to mean a superhero born with their powers) who just so happens to be confined to a wheelchair. Unlike a character like Daredevil, a blind superhero whose enhanced, super, senses essentially negate his disability, Xavier’s powers do not help him walk. Sure, some writers have played around with that over the years, but at his core Professor X is a man with a disability able to thrive in a world of super powered individuals.

He’s a bit of a little guy.

I don’t know for certain, but in a world where even female characters were treated like radioactive material, I can imagine folks at Toy Biz not being too excited about doing a Professor X figure. It took a little while for the head man to make his debut in that old toy line, but I was honestly pumped when he did. I think he may have been the final character from the cartoon series X-Men to be released and complete the team. I know we had to wait awhile for Beast and Morph, but I can recall getting those two figures on Christmas (1994, I want to say) and the following Easter Chuck was sitting beside my Easter basket (along with Ahab, a figure not exactly high on my wants list). And aside from having a blue suit instead of green, he was pretty faithfully depicted as he was in the show complete with his 90s, stylish, hoverchair. Because of the cartoon and Jim Lee’s run on X-Men, it’s the hoverchair I most often associate with Xavier. Hasbro certainly knows that’s the case for many which is probably why they released Xavier in a deluxe package with his famous chair.

Hope you like this gesture, because it’s kind of all he can do.

This figure was released a few years ago, but in 2024 Hasbro made it available once again to preorder. Having since acquired several characters from the cartoon in Marvel Legends form, I felt like I needed Xavier to pull it all together. The addition of the chair does make for additional cost. This thing was a whopping 50 bucks, by far the most I have ever spent on a Marvel Legends figure. I was pretty skeptical it would be worth that in the end, but when you’re basically one figure short of a full squad it’s the kind of thing one will extend themselves on. Toy companies are aware of this phenomenon, which is why I fully expect Xavier to be the last release in Mondo’s very awesome, but very expensive, line of X-Men figures. Trying to imagine what a sixth scale Xavier in his hoverchair will set me back is already giving me anxiety.

His chair comes loaded with a TV and some games so he doesn’t get bored.

That is a topic for another day, today we’re in the more familiar realm of 1:12, or there about. Xavier comes in an oversized window box and is featured prominently in the center. His chair is amusingly split in half so we can see one half of the chair on each side of the figure. The backdrop contains artwork of the entire, animated, team in a style that resembles the cartoon. Beast, for example, has pupils. It displays well, but I could not care less about that fact. Once removed, the chair requires some assembly. There are four pieces to it: each side, a backrest, and a cushion. The backrest slides onto either half while the cushion plugs into a slot in the center of one of the pieces. Then you just push it together. It’s pretty intuitive and most probably won’t need to consult any instructions. Not that there is any. I’m surprised they didn’t print some on an inside flap of the box.

I like the thought of this base, but not so much the execution.

The chair looks pretty good from a sculpting standpoint. It’s not painted though, so you get some of that swirly plastic effect Hasbro seems to love when it’s trying to create the illusion of a metal material. There is a big seam down the middle which is unfortunate. It makes me wish that at least the front was a third piece that snapped over the assembled halves, essentially the same concept as the backrest, to at least get rid of the seam there. On each armrest there’s a control panel that slides out. One has a monitor while the other a keyboard and at least those two parts are painted. Even though the artwork seems to be evocative of the cartoon, the design of the chair is from the comic. The most obvious distinction is the shape of the front and lack of headlights. The chair sits fine as-is, but there’s also an included base. It’s a white post with a transparent piece of plastic over it in the shape of smoke, I guess? The transparent portion is frosted over with white paint and the plumes are pointed so, to me, it looks more like ice. I don’t think ice is what they’re going for here, but it gives the figure a little height.

Cool hat, bro.

As for Xavier himself, he’s depicted in his green suit with white shirt and blue and black tie. He has a very serious expression on his face with his signature, arched, eyebrows. His right hand is in a two-finger gesture while his left hand is open, but curled. He has no extra hands which is unfortunate. He should at least come with another right hand so he doesn’t always have to be making this very specific gesture. And because the damn thing cost 50 bucks – throw in some hands! Outside the chair, Charles stands just a tick over 6″. He has a slight build with a very big head relative to his body. It strikes me as a little off as Xavier from this era was usually portrayed as being rather broad shouldered. This figure makes him look like a weenie. Most of the figure is colored plastic with the belt and tie being where the most paint is utilized. The jacket portion of the torso is an overlay while the sleeves are part of the sculpt. This is pretty standard, but the small shoulders means some white sticks through the gap between the arms and jacket. There is also a slight discoloration to the arms vs the shoulders with the shoulders being noticeably darker and shinier. This is an older figure so it does feature pins in the joints. I don’t find them particularly distracting, but there must have been suit guys made over the past few years on pin-less bodies, no? I’m surprised he didn’t get a minor cosmetic upgrade as a result.

Hey professor, you got some…ugh…stuff…squirting out of the back of your head.

Articulation for Charlie is pretty typical stuff for Legends. We have: ball hinge neck, ab crunch, ball-hinged shoulders, biceps swivels, wrist swivels and hinges, waist swivel, ball-socket hips, thigh swivel, ankle hinge and rocker, double-jointed elbows and knees. Range at the hips and shoulders is mediocre and the ankles are pretty limited too, though I guess that doesn’t matter much for a character who will be seated. He’s going to do what you need him to do, but if that’s something you want him to do is outside Professor X’s typical wheelhouse then you won’t be impressed. Like standing. This guy is really hard to stand because the range on the ankle hinged is poor and his feet are tiny. Again, for this guy it doesn’t matter, but if you wanted to swap in a different Xavier and use this body as a custom for someone else you may be disappointed.

If you’re curious, it can kind of fit the head of the X-Men ’97 Jean.

I have critiques for the presentation and articulation on this set, but the bulk of my criticism is going to reside with the accessories. I suppose one could consider the hoverchair itself an accessory, but since this is a set that’s double the price of a typical Legends release I think of it more like a two-pack where the hoverchair is almost like its own thing. And the hoverchair has the effect part stand and also a little blankie that can go over the lap of its occupant. That’s all fine, but for Xavier himself the accessory count is slight. He has his Cerebro helmet which is more of a classic design than one that’s evocative of the 90s or animated series (if you want a more TV helmet, the new Target exclusive Savage Land Xavier comes with one). It fits on his head fine though you may have to mess with it to get it aligned just right. It also has an effect part that plugs into the back. Its done in white plastic with a pearlescent coating. The shape is like a splatter effect and it’s supposed to represent his psychic powers which are sometimes illustrated with such a shape. For me, I think of them as being colored pink or blue (even the box art opts for pink), though I’m sure someone colored them white at some point in the comics. It’s just this color and this shape make it look like he’s getting hit in the back of the head with a balloon filled with milk, or a substance that’s much more disgusting.

Obviously, this is how everyone is going to display this guy.

For optional parts, we have the head of the Shadow King. Your mileage may vary, but for me, the Shadow King was always one of the lamest characters associated with X-Men. I loathe his episodes from the show so this isn’t an accessory that’s going to appeal to me. That being said, the sculpt and paint on the head is fine. There’s more paint on this thing than probably on the entirety of the rest of the set. It’s also just a head and it’s not meant for this figure. My understanding is that this head is designed to fit on the Kingpin body so if you want to create a Shadow King for your collection you need to go out and get yourself another Kingpin. Which is fine as a throw-in if they had room in the budget, but this head is the only other accessory in the box. We don’t get a second portrait for Charles, we don’t even get any extra hands! I wish he had some neutral hands for just when he’s sitting in his chair or at least one alternative to the pointing fingers hand. A portrait where he’s calling out commands to his X-Men would be appreciated too and I would happily trade this Shadow King head for accessories for Xavier that flesh him out. That’s the character I want. That’s what’s driving my purchasing decision. Not a random part that’s only useful if I go out and buy a whole other figure.

This set may be more expensive than your typical Legends release, but the end result is pretty much the same. This Charles Xavier figure is what you buy if you have a collection of Marvel Legends X-Men and you just want an Xavier. It’s going to slot into your display and anyone who sees it will know that’s Professor X. It’s not going to “wow” anybody though and there are a lot of shortcomings. The actual figure strikes me as a better representation of a 60s and 70s Xavier who was drawn more like an older guy. As a 90s Chuck, this guy is too small and slight. The chair looks fine, but the lack of paint also makes it look cheap. And if they had just done the thing in three pieces where the front portion that covers the characters legs was one piece it would have cut out that hideous seam right down the middle. The accessories are a bummer because the figure feels underbaked, and given that this is a re-release it’s an added bummer because they could have improved the figure at no added expense. There are better suit-guy molds at Hasbro they could have used or just more hands. It’s almost like they want you to go out and buy that Savage Land Xavier in the flight suit if you’re unsatisfied with this one and toss him in the chair instead. I prefer my Xavier in his green suit though, and I don’t like the portrait of that new Xavier. Plus, his assortment of hands are almost as bad as they are here (he comes with trigger finger hands – why would Xavier need trigger finger hands?!).

Obligatory, “To me, my X-Men,” shot.

Should you get this one? I don’t know. It’s really just to fill out a collection which is honestly the worst reason to buy something. I try not to do it because money and space are precious resources and I don’t like wasting either on something I don’t love. And to get this guy into your display it’s going to take some work since he does demand quite a bit of shelf space. It looks okay, so I don’t hate it. I would like it a whole lot more if it were $35 instead of $50 so maybe I should have held out for a sale. One may come, one may not, as X-Men are pretty hot right now thanks to X-Men ’97 so anyone waiting for a sale somewhere is probably taking a risk.

There are more reviews here of X-Men action figures if you’re looking to fill out a shelf:

Marvel Legends X-Men Animated Series Wolverine

The toyline of my dreams was announced last October. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the television series X-Men, Hasbro is doing a dedicated line of Marvel Legends with figures based on the look of the show. The show was obviously inspired by the designs of Jim Lee, but there are differences in the…

by Joe

Marvel Legends X-Men Retro Card Marvel’s Beast

2022 was the year a dream toyline of mine was made a reality. Hasbro finally decided to do a line of Marvel Legends based on the animated series X-Men, which premiered 30 years prior on Halloween 1992. The line was staggered with a release coming every 6-8 weeks or so and ended up totaling 8…

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!…

by Joe

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December 27, 2024

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

By Joe
The leader of the X-Men has arrived.

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 Cyclops. With Cyclops though we get a slight change because easily the biggest thing to happen to the X-Men in 2024 was the release of X-Men ’97. Well, some would argue for a movie staring a foul-mouthed merc and an old man as being the biggest business in the X world, but I’m going with the Disney+ series. Since the show turned out to be quite the hit, and because it’s a continuation of the original X-Men series, Mondo decided its figures could use a little rebranding which is why Cyclops is the first release to be billed as hailing from the new show. What does this mean for the figure itself? Not a whole lot.

Yeah, I know, this isn’t a fair comparison.

Cyclops still comes in the same style of window box with artwork from storyboard artist Dan Veesenmeyer. The difference between his release and the others is that the character model definitely resembles the look from X-Men ’97 and not the original show. That’s not a huge change as the costume is the same, but Cyclops has a slightly slimmer profile and the detail work is a dead ringer for the same in the new show. For the figure, there’s really no change and Mondo via its YouTube channel has basically admitted that the figures are going to hew closer to the original series. It’s just now they will be able to toss-in items and accessories pulled directly from the new show where it makes sense.

“To me, my X-Men!”

And we pretty much know this to be true because concept art for Cyclops was shown well before X-Men ’97 debuted. Here we have another sculpt by the awesome Alex Brewer with paint by Tomasz Rozejowski that really harkens back to 1992 and that original Fox series. Cyclops stands a full 12″ and is clad in his yellow and blue Jim Lee outfit which he wore almost exclusively in that show. Like prior figures in this line, there were two editions of Cyclops made available and I opted for the limited version which came with extra stuff which we’ll get to.

You may want to separate these two on your shelf.

The sculpt for Cyclops may not be complex, but it gets the job done. He’s well-muscled and proportioned with a portrait that evokes the original series. The details one would expect are in place like the segmented straps on the belt or the pouches and straps. There’s even a little extra detail where the chest strap attaches to the lower belt that I don’t remember seeing in the show. The hair and the visor are all appropriate and the placement of the thigh straps appears spot-on as well (they’re also floating and slightly annoying as a result). That doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some nitpicks. Cyclops was nicknamed Slim early on, but by the 90s he was a pretty massive dude. This figure depicts him as a big guy, but maybe not quite as big as he could be. The legs look fine and so do the arms, but the chest and abdomen strike me as a bit undersized. It’s almost like Mondo aimed to fit this Cyclops figure in-between the 92 and 97 version. It could also be for a different reason which ties into the extra stuff. This version of Cyclops has removable arms and an optional flight jacket part like the Logan figure. If he were any bigger he might look huge with the jacket. If so, I disagree with the approach as the jacketed look should be a secondary concern, but the feature also seems to play a role with his shoulders being set apart from the body. These are all things mostly noticeable when the figure is just standing straight up and down, pose him and it’s less an issue, but it’s an expensive figure so we have to nitpick where it’s warranted.

He scales well enough with the bad guys too.

What really offers no room for disappointment is the paint. Mondo just slays when it comes to that part of the presentation and Cyclops is no different. The base blue is the perfect royal blue and the lighter blue used to shade it and the blacks all make him pop. The yellow is the right shade with just a hint of red of in it to lessen that lemony look the Hasbro figure of the same has. The different shades of gold used to apply the cel-shading for the yellow looks great and everything is rich and full. There’s an impressive lack of paint slop and issues as well. With such an ambitious paint job some of that is expected, but I’m finding it hard to notice with this one. There’s a visible brush stroke on the chest strap, but apart from that I’m at a loss. This is some really impressive execution so Mondo better hang onto whatever factory put this one together.

Mondo decided it was important Cyclops be able to do stuff like this.

Cyclops comes with new branding, but he also comes with new articulation. Mondo tends to keep things basic with its figures as they prioritize aesthetics over function. And at this scale, I think that’s the right approach. However, there’s no denying that certain characters need to be able to hit certain poses and for Cyclops it’s being able to place a hand on the side of his visor to activate his optic blasts (even though we also see him do so without pressing a button in the show, but lets just go with it). In order to achieve that function, Mondo opted to incorporate double-jointed elbows into this one. And they work great, no problem hitting that pose and he can pretty much put his hand to his X communicator on his chest as well. And the aesthetics trade-off is nil, as far as I’m concerned. We’re all toy collectors and we’re used to double-jointed elbows. They look fine, better than the swivel joint used on Wolverine and Sabretooth that has some miscolored plastic, so I hope they do this more going forward.

This is a team that loves a good, brown, jacket.

Aside from that, the articulation is pretty much the same as other figures. The head is on a double-ball peg and the range is pretty nice. It is a little more gappy than past figures, but I’m guessing they prioritized plus range at the head given his unique skillset. The shoulders are the usual ball-hinges with a bicep swivel past that. Wrists are ball-hinged and they can be tight, but I didn’t experience any issues. The torso is where things get less impressive. Cyclops has the usual ball-jointed diaphragm and waist, but he also has that unique belt that goes around his chest. It’s connected to the belt at his waist so it’s going to get in the way. It has some play and will float when you manipulate the chest, but the range is okay, at best. Hips are ball-sockets with thigh swivels built in, but the rubber trunks will hinder the figure’s ability to kick forward and back. I can get him into one knee poses, but it’s awkward and one must be mindful of paint rub. Knees are double-jointed and the ankles hinge forward and back with an ankle rocker. The ankles are pretty tight, but I didn’t need to heat them up to get them working. Shoulders are really tight too, but again, no heat needed as I just went easy.

Multi-blast!
This is the big one.
It sags a little.

Cyclops has a ton of extra stuff to go through so let’s not waste any time. We’ll do the standard version accessories first which include a stoic head and a yelling head. Both feature interchangeable visors and come with a standard one by default. Getting the visors off and on is pretty painless, and both heads can use all of the visors. The extras are a visor with a lens flare and one with a slot in it for blast effects. And for blast effects we get two by default. The first is a pretty standard Cyclops blast. It’s 4″ long or so with a splash effect at the end. The easiest way to put it on is to slot it through the visor first, then plug it into the head. It can only go in one way so if it doesn’t fit just spin it around. The other blast effect is an arc with four short blasts. It strikes me as a very Marvel vs Capcom effect and it looks pretty cool. Both are done on translucent red plastic which feels appropriate for a Cyclops effect. They’re rigid so hopefully none arrived warp. I love the look of the blast, and the lens flare part is also pretty cool, so settling on a display is actually quite challenging with this guy. You’ll want to swap some stuff from time to time.

“I was raised by a cup of coffee.”

Cyclops also has an assortment of hands to make use of. By default, he comes with a set of fists which are always useful. In addition to that he has two clenching hands, two “finger bang” hands, a set of two-finger hands for his optic blasts, and a single right gripping hand. The gripping hand is for his cup of coffee which is included. This was seen a few times in the first season, most memorably for me in “Deadly Reunions,” and it’s a pink cup with sculpted steam wafting off of it. Even though Mondo included a gripping hand for it, I find the clenching hands work just as well to hold it. Swapping heads and visors is painless with this guy, but the hands are tough. The pegs going into the arms are ribbed when they probably don’t really need to be. The ball hinge also plugs into the hand and each hand is on its own, which is how Mondo always does it. Initially, I felt like the fists were more likely to come off at the hand and not where they’re supposed to in the forearm, so I heated the forearms of my figure with warm water. It’s made easier by the fact that the arms are designed to pop off. I was then able to get the hands out, but it was dicey. I’m reluctant to really jam any of the hands into his forearms as a result, though I haven’t had the same level of difficulty with the other hands.

Sometimes it gets cold out there.

That’s all the stuff that comes with the standard, $220, version. The $240 limited edition has a few more things including the aforementioned jacket. Swapping the arms isn’t too bad and the jacket arms come with bare fists. The fists are actually the exact same as the standard fists just painted flesh colored. They are removable, though I haven’t bothered since they’re in there pretty good. He sometimes wore gloves with the jacket in the show so the other hands work with this look as well. The arms are also double-jointed at the elbows just like the standard ones so there’s no loss of articulation in swapping them. I think he looks great with the jacket and it’s a tough call on how to display him. Right now, I’ve gone without, but I’ll be changing it from time to time for sure. Oh, and I had to try because this look is so close to Morph, but the Morph heads don’t fit. The opening is way too small, which is probably good so that I’m not tempted to attempt a very expensive custom.

The big blast needs a little help.
“Take that, hairball!”

Cyclops would wear the jacket in the field plenty, but sometimes also to look more casual. To that end he has an uncowled head. It looks great and his eyes are painted red, which makes sense. Maybe some would have preferred brown eyes for the few times he was depowered in the show, but many won’t display him like that because he also has his shades. They’re black with the red lenses that have some white shading on them which looks nice. They’re a little brittle feeling, but have held up fine so far. They slot into his temples and look great when in place. He also has yet another visor that’s been removed so he can either hold it or stick it around his neck or something. It’s a nice touch. I will say, this head is the most X-Men ’97 looking part of the package, which could be intentional. This version also comes with another effect part that is one, massive, blast that’s almost 8″ long. It has a large splash effect at the end and it looks cool, but it’s heavy. There’s some drooping with this one so I’m reluctant to leave it in place for long stretches of time. It probably works best in tandem with an enemy getting blasted so there’s some added support for it.

Probably not going to be the preferred look for most collectors.
This head can make use of the blasts though.

Oh, but we’re not done! Mondo likes to toss in a goofy accessory with all of these special editions. We had the elf Jubilee portrait, Gambit as Mystique, and the Morph heads. With Cyclops, it’s a Sentinel head styled to resemble Cyclops. This is taken from the episode “Till Death Do Us Part – Part One” where Wolverine is battling Cyclops robots in the Danger Room. It looks the part and is pretty ridiculous when placed on the head of the figure, but it’s there if you want it. And Mondo went the extra mile and also included a swappable visor piece so he too can make use of the blast effects. It’s a little tighter a fit than the other visor, but it works. I’ll never use it, but it’s funny. Maybe it can be used as a head of a fallen Sentinel with Wolverine or something? Lastly, there’s also the usual Mondo stand. I don’t use them so I didn’t even take it out of the plastic. I wish they’d put an X emblem on it like the Logan one, but it’s fine.

“How do I turn these darn things off?!”

Ultimately, this is another home run by Mondo. Cyclops is a much needed addition to the roster of characters and he turned out pretty great. Did I have issues? Yeah, because nothing is perfect. I’d have liked to see a little more beef in the torso, but that is basically the end of my complaints. I do think the hands could have been made to swap easier and the hands are a longstanding issue with the line (though it’s been better, Magneto was rough). I get why things are tight though because these are big, solid, figures and loose joints would kill them. This figure poses reasonably well and the swappable effect parts and heads are all a ton of fun. This is probably the figure that is the most fun to pick a display, though Gambit and Jubilee are pretty great at that too.

It’s the Blast Squad!

Cyclops is definitely the last figure from this line to see release in 2024, but on-deck is another Wolverine. Alex Brewer has sculpted all of the figures in the line since the original Wolverine so Mondo wanted to get his take on the character and the looks we’ve had are promising. There’s also a retro Cyclops coming based on his look in the season finale of X-Men ’97. I have not gone for the variants in this line and I didn’t go in for that one either. We should also start seeing the first figures from the Spider-Man ’94 line very soon. I don’t plan on going all-in with that one, but expect at least a couple reviews of that line. Beyond that, we don’t know what’s next, but it sure seems like this line is going strong. If I had to guess, I’d say Storm will follow Wolverine, but I hope we get all of the core cast from the ’92 series. Even though it gets harder and harder to find room each time one arrives.

If you liked this review, then check out more from Mondo’s X-Men line:

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Rogue – Limited Edition

The conclusion of X-Men ’97’s first season has left behind a void. For 9 consecutive Wednesdays, we had something awesome to get up for. Now the long wait for a second season has begun, but here to help fill the void while we wait is Mondo. Mondo has been dishing out some very impressive sixth…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Gambit

It is my belief that when it comes to X-Men, the animated series which debuted in 1992, the breakout star of the show was Gambit. Wolverine was the closest thing we had to a household name going into the show and was the de-facto pick for favorite character of many. And while the whole roster…

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by Joe

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November 14, 2024

Marvel Legends Deadpool & Wolverine Wolverine

By Joe
“Bet you thought it would never happen, bub.”

It might be hard for the young folk to believe, but once upon a time movies based on comic book characters were treated like box office poison. Unless you were Superman or Batman, you just didn’t belong in cinema. Even those characters weren’t bulletproof. Superman had a nice run, but fizzled out with the fourth flick while Batman basically did the same in the 90s. Still, 1989’s Batman was a massive hit in all of the ways Hollywood dreams up. It not only did well at the box office, but it was a cultural phenomenon with a hit soundtrack, tons of merch, and home video sales to back it up. Because it did so well, studios started to look at Batman as the blueprint for what could work in movie theaters when it came to comic book characters. If you couldn’t fit a franchise into that mold, then why bother? That’s probably why Spider-Man could never get off the ground despite someone always holding the option to start a film franchise. It’s also probably why a little known comic book hero in Blade did manage to sneak into theaters and actually do fairly well. And it meant that when it came time to bring the X-Men to film that franchise needed a dash of Batman.

“Why are you so short?”

This mainly manifested in the film’s look. Audiences weren’t going to believe a bunch of people in blue and yellow spandex could save the world. They’d look stupid, so out with the colors and in with the black. Almost all black, and since the film ended up being a hit I guess the lesson to take from X-Men was that approach worked, but was it the only way? When we finally made it to the now Marvel Cinematic Universe there seemed to be a willingness to just take the costumes people liked in print and just go with it. The Fantastic Four film franchise isn’t celebrated as a massive hit these days, but it made money with blue spandex. Spider-Man wore his traditional costume and faired well, so when Marvel got to Iron Man they basically let him do the same. Along with Captain America and, to some extent, Thor. Fox’s X-Men franchise still tiptoed around the subject, but eventually some of those comic blues made it in, but one thing we never got was Wolverine with the mask, with the yellow (or brown, for that matter), until a little movie called Deadpool & Wolverine.

Is this what we’ve wanted the whole time?

I didn’t do a review of Deadpool & Wolverine here. I probably should have, though it would have been lost in the many other reviews of the same. If I were to summarize it briefly, I’d call it Fan Service: The Marvel Way. It was plenty fun, maybe a little too long, but an overall enjoyable movie-going experience. It sure seemed like a big reason for the movie to exist was just to get Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine into a movie with a proper Deadpool (not that abomination from the Wolverine movie) and in a costume more reflective of his comic book self. Mission accomplished. The only surprise was that Hasbro wasn’t at the ready with Marvel Legends figures at opening. Now, I suspect there’s a good reason for that. Marvel and Disney probably wanted to keep the whole Wolverine look under wraps for as long as possible, at least until that first big trailer, and in doing so froze out action figure makers. They need a long lead time to get product on shelves and it probably wasn’t doable. They did manage a filler wave of older releases to try and placate fans, but now we finally have the first go at proper Deadpool & Wolverine figures and today we’re looking at Wolverine.

And who could forget his trusty sidekick, Deadpool?

Wolverine stands at approximately 6.5″ to the top of his noggin and comes clad in that bright yellow and blue suit you’ve likely seen by now. By default, he’s sporting his cowl which is interesting because this figure depicts a version of the character unseen on the screen. That’s because he has his yellow sleeves. If you’ve seen the movie, and I suppose light spoilers if you have not, then you know he begins the movie with the yellow sleeves, but eventually discards them. Before doing so, we never see him with the mask on. That’s saved for a big reveal later. He could have worn the mask at any time so I guess this figure is sort of like a depiction of the character before we ever meet him when his life was presumably better. And had Hasbro withheld the masked portrait people would have likely complained. They’re complaining anyway, but we’ll get to that.

I hope you like yellow.

What stands out with this figure right away is holy yellow, Batman! Or Wolverine. The yellow is very bright, though not necessarily inaccurately so when compared with the film. It’s just that in the film Wolverine acquires a fair amount of grime pretty quickly which this figure does not reflect. The yellow is also bare plastic which gives it a cheap look. Yellow is a tough color to sell and it would not surprise me if a lot of would-be customizers out there give this guy a wash to dampen that effect. There is a lot of blue on the costume as well which is mostly painted on. It’s fairly clean and Hasbro also painted the little, silver, rivets on the front of the costume which is a nice touch (they’re unpainted on the back, a fairly common tactic utilized by Hasbro). The X emblem on the belt looks nice and there’s black mixed in with the blue on the gloves and boots. The yellow is also all textured so it’s not a smooth figure. It almost has a sandpaper feel to it.

Deadpool and Wolverine from the film.
Proportions aren’t great here.

There are good and bad things to be found with this sculpt. The somewhat cheap look is one of those bad things and another would be the almost frumpy look Wolverine has. If you’ve seen Hugh Jackman in the role, then frumpy is probably one of the last words one would use to describe Jackman’s Wolverine. We see a lot of these issues with the comic Legends figures, but it’s largely a matter of proportioning. His chest is very narrow and there isn’t much thickness to it either. It doesn’t taper in like a human’s torso (or superhero’s) should and the head is too big. The legs seem short and he’s got these wide, birthing, hips. Now, this is all an issue when you have the figure just standing straight up and down on your shelf. Widen his stance and the issue is mitigated, but there’s no hiding completely that this body shape is off. And that’s a shame, because I bet we’re going to see most of this figure again at some point in the future. The other noticeable blemish that shows up more in pictures than in-hand is the different shades of yellow. The torso is almost a pale yellow while the limbs are more vibrant. The torso feels a touch harder and it’s thinner which may be the cause of the discoloration because both are cast in yellow as opposed to painted.

That’s a good looking face.

What undeniably turned out well though are the portraits. Well, specifically one portrait, but the masked portrait is solid too. It’s a good likeness of Jackman in the mask from the film which, honestly, looks a little goofy, but this is what we wanted, damn it! The yellow paint on the bridge of the nose is a little dingy, but that’s what happens when you paint yellow over black. The facial hair is a little messy too and there’s some overlap of the flesh on the edges of the jaw opening. It will look okay on a shelf, but up close isn’t all that impressive. And that’s assuming you want to display Wolverine masked and I’m not sure many will because this Jackman alternate portrait is fantastic. I don’t know if any other company at any other price range is going to top this likeness. It’s uncanny how lifelike this looks. Sure, get up real close and you see that almost pixelated paint app that’s a result of the face printing Hasbro uses, but at half an arm’s length it’s going to look awesome. The paint for the beard will probably vary a little from figure to figure and there’s a missed spot near my figure’s right ear, but overall I am very happy with this portrait. It’s the main reason why I decided to get the figure since the import versions look like they won’t even have a Jackman portrait.

The extra set of hands are kind of worthless. Just stick with the claws.

Accessories with Marvel Legends are rarely a selling point these days. Aside from the stellar unmasked head, this figure just comes with a set of clawed fists, a non-clawed right fist, and a trigger finger left hand. He has no gun to shoot so I guess Wade will have to loan him one. The clawed hands are probably what most care about and they’re fine. Claws are fairly straight and look good. The yellow paint on the hands is a little like the yellow paint on the nose, but what are you going to do? My hands did have some excess yellow paint in places, but I got it off with a Magic Eraser sheet. Obviously, the big omission here is the lack of optional arm parts. I mentioned earlier how we only see Wolverine in the film with bare arms while wearing the mask and that was certainly needed here. Was Hasbro not aware of that detail when the figure was designed? It’s possible. Or, they looked at all of this unique tooling they had to do in order to create this figure and decided a double-dip was in order. They can re-release this figure, throw in some arms that may not even need to be tooled, and call it a day. Maybe we’ll get a new head or something. An angry masked head, a yelling non-masked (which they could also repurpose from another figure), or maybe just this figure with bare arms. Personally, the bare armed look is the one I like best. Wolverine just looks weird in sleeves, like he’s wearing pajamas. Because it feels like such a certainty, I definitely don’t blame anyone willing to play the waiting game.

“Oh great, now there’s two of them.”

Wolverine’ articulation is a little different from what we’re used to. The head is a double ball peg and while it’s not executed perfectly, it is better than most Hasbro double ball pegs as Wolverine can look up, down, and there’s some tilt at play. He doesn’t have a neck joint though so those low Wolverine crouches aren’t really in play. The shoulder joints are basically big ball pegs. It’s what a lot of import companies use, but they do it in tandem with other joints to create more range. This one doesn’t. There’s a black, floating, cap and some space cut out of the chest to get a little range going across the chest, but it’s minimal. There’s almost no range going back so I wouldn’t even consider this a butterfly joint of any kind. Perhaps worse is that the shoulder pads just peg onto the shoulder itself. And it’s a big old peg with no play which means the shoulder pads are static and will hinder range at the hinge. He can’t raise his arms out to the side a full 90 degrees and even rotation is a bit cumbersome. The bicep, double-jointed elbows, and wrists are fine. The trigger finger hand has a horizontal hinge which is mostly worthless.

“And I thought Gambit was horny.”

The torso features an old school ab crunch. It goes back basically one “click” and forward two clicks. There’s a little nuance in between clicks, but not much. It’s very limited and the lack of a ball joint there is unfortunate. The waist twist is just a waist twist. The belt is floating so it can get out of the way. The hips are big ball sockets. He can almost hit a split and kick forward about 90 degrees with no room going back. There’s a thigh twist, but it breaks up the pattern on his thighs which is one of those things that may bug me more than most. The double-jointed knees work as expected as do the ankle hinges and rockers. The gloves and boots appear to both be separate pieces, but there’s no rotation to them. Overall, I’d call the articulation mediocre to average. Wolverine not being able to rear back with a fist is pretty disappointing and I don’t know why they let the shoulder pads become such a problem. I’m guessing there was a reluctance to break up the sculpt in the chest, but I personally would have done so for a ball-jointed diaphragm joint as well as a neck joint. I guess we’ll have to look to another company if we want a super-articulated Wolverine.

Friends forever?

Hasbro’s first stab at Wolverine from Deadpool & Wolverine is a bit of a half-baked release. It’s lacking in accessories including a major one and doesn’t hit a homerun with the articulation. It’s sacrificing articulation for sculpt, but the sculpt isn’t exactly deserving of such reverence. It does however deliver an incredible likeness of Hugh Jackman in the form of the unmasked portrait. Even with the limited articulation, it’s still possible to pose away some of the sculpt’s shortcomings. Because fans have been waiting so long to see Jackman in such a costume, it feels a little bit like this is a figure from a company that knows the fans were going to eat it up no matter what. And as a result, they only managed to deliver a satisfactory product. Hey, I’m clearly part of the problem in this instance since I bought this even though I really wanted a version of the character sans sleeves. And I fully expect such a character to come out in 2025. Knowing it’s likely to happen makes this a hard recommend. If you just want an MCU Wolverine right now and the imperfections don’t bother you then I guess go for it. I think the future S.H.Figuarts Wolverine will be a better action figure, but it too appears to lack a set of bare arms and I don’t think it’s even coming with an unmasked head. Plus it costs more than triple the amount of this one so I guess what I’m saying is I understand anyone who decides that this is good enough for now. I clearly did and while I’m not entirely satisfied with the decision, I’m not exactly regretting it either. Maybe I will when and if I replace it with something better, but who knows when that will be? At least for right now I get to enjoy tiny Hugh on my desk.

Do you like Wolverine? Do you like Deadpool? Well, I’ve got some other stuff you can check out:

Marvel Legends X-Men Animated Series Wolverine

The toyline of my dreams was announced last October. In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the television series X-Men, Hasbro is doing a dedicated line of Marvel Legends with figures based on the look of the show. The show was obviously inspired by the designs of Jim Lee, but there are differences in the…

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by Joe

Marvel Legends Deadpool 2 Two-Pack

Look through my various toy reviews and you’ll probably notice that I’m not much of a Marvel guy. That wasn’t always the case for me though as I was huge into Marvel Legends once upon a time. I basically stopped around the time Hasbro was awarded the Marvel license. I felt there was a dip…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS Wolverine 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Action Figure

When San Diego Comic Con was cancelled for 2021, many of the entities that would have sold exclusive merchandise at the event pivoted to web sales. And since the 2020 iteration of the famed event was also canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many seemed to expect the same for 2021, or the massive delays…

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by Joe

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June 10, 2024

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Rogue – Limited Edition

By Joe
Rogue is here to add a little drama to your shelf.

The conclusion of X-Men ’97‘s first season has left behind a void. For 9 consecutive Wednesdays, we had something awesome to get up for. Now the long wait for a second season has begun, but here to help fill the void while we wait is Mondo. Mondo has been dishing out some very impressive sixth scale action figures based on X-Men, the ’92 version. I’ve been waiting since that show debuted for action figures dedicated to that show that match the quality and accuracy that I want from a figure line. I probably wouldn’t have selected this scale for such a line, but basically everything else has been great. And now here to bolster the ranks of the X-Men is the best female member of the team: Rogue.

The only surprise with the packaging is that they didn’t use the storyboard from the Apocalypse episode. You know the image I’m thinking of.

X-Men was my formal introduction to the character Rogue. I had seen her on the cover of comics, but always in her 80s look. When the cartoon debuted I only knew the two characters were the same because of her unique hair color. Rogue, despite looking like a super model, is the muscle of the team. She can knock a Sentinel’s head clear off with a punch and look good while doing it, but like all good characters her powers come with a price. And for her, it’s that she can’t touch another living person without sucking the life from them. This allows her to steal other powers from her fellow mutants which is pretty cool, but not being able to physically touch or kiss another human is a trade-off she often wrestles with. Her inability to touch makes her one of the most empathetic members of the team and someone that’s easy to sympathize with. Despite that personal torment, she is often able to maintain an upbeat personality, can dish out puns with the best of them, and doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty when the situation calls for such.

There’s a lot to like about this figure, but I don’t think they quite nailed it with this default portrait.

Rogue from Mondo is a lot like the other figures released so far. She’s designed and sculpted by Alex Brewer and comes in a box featuring original artwork by storyboard artist for the show Dan Veesenmeyer. Tom Rozejowski handled the paint master and the rest of the packaging is adorned with recreations of original storyboards from the show from the episode “Till Death Do Us Part.” Original series showrunner and writers Eric Lewald and Julia Lewald provide the character bio which is situated on the inner flap of the box. Behind that is a window box showcasing Rogue and her array of accessories. This version of the figure is the limited variant which sold out much faster than any other limited edition to come before it in this line. Is that the popularity of Rogue or did she get an X-Men ’97 aided boost since anticipation was building to a fever pitch when she went up for sale?

That’s more like it!

Per Mondo, Rogue stands at approximately 11.75″ and I’m willing to take them at their word. She’s taller than Wolverine and Jubilee, but shorter than Gambit, Magneto, and the rest. That seems suitable and she seems much closer to true sixth scale than some of the other characters. She is wearing her show accurate yellow and green bodysuit with olive drab coat. She sports a variation on thigh-high boots in the show and Mondo’s approach for that was to make the green straps at the top of the boot as well as the yellow cuff separate, floating, pieces. Perhaps going this route made the figure easier to paint? Or maybe it was to allow these legs to be repurposed for a Storm down the road? Either way, the moving parts on a figure with so much paint are a little worrisome, but they can be seated in such a way that they’ll seldom move. Just do be careful when positioning them to not create a paint rub situation.

And if you want to get cheeky.

The head on the figure has received some criticism and it’s not unwarranted. The default portrait is basically a neutral expression. Rogue’s face has always been tough to duplicate in plastic for some reason. I think it’s because the female characters tend to not have hard facial features so there’s not a lot to key-in on. For the figure, Rogue features a very glammed-up look. Her eyes are narrow with long lashes and her lips are full and pouty. The paint is applied well as are the eyes (Mondo sent out a warning before the figure shipped that some heads featured poor eye placement. If your figure looks off just email their customer service and they’ll replace it), but it doesn’t really resemble Rogue. More like an artist’s interpretation of what a more sultry Rogue might look like. Or Rogue if she were in a Barbie line.

It might not be show accurate, but this power absorption hand is pretty neat.
Sorry Logan, not this time.

Thankfully, we have other, better, heads to choose from and the limited edition has far more than the standard. The alternate head for the standard edition is an angry expression and this works just fine. The right eye on mine features a dot of skin tone, but otherwise looks great. I think a lot of people will go with this for their display, whether they bought the limited edition or standard. If you did grab the limited version then you have some harder decisions to make. First up is the winking smile. The smile is very wide so this head doesn’t quite resemble the character from the show, but damn if it isn’t cute. I really like this one, though it does make me wish we had a non-winking smile portrait as well. Or perhaps a more subtle smile.

This is just fantastic.

Our next portrait is pulled directly from the show. In the episode “Deadly Reunions,” Cyclops gets knocked unconscious and stops breathing momentarily. Rogue, in an effort to save him, gives him mouth-to-mouth (C.P.R. back then called for this) and it works, but it also causes Rogue to absorb his powers. Rogue’s eyes start blasting red energy until Cyclops is able to instruct her to just shut her eyes. The included portrait is a screaming Rogue with those lasers streaking from her eyes. They’re done with translucent, red, plastic and it looks awesome. In some ways, I think this head most looks like Rogue from the show, probably because we can’t see her eyes and she looks kind of angry. The last head in the box is a bit of a gimmick one as it’s Rogue from X-Men: Evolution. Like the fairy Jubilee or unmasked Sabretooth, this head doesn’t work with the body since that Rogue had a very different look. It’s more of a fun inclusion. It looks fine, but I do think they should have added a touch of shading to the brim of her nose since that was something always present in the show.

I guess this one is for the younger fans.

That’s a whole bunch of looks for Rogue and one, if not more, are sure to please those who pick this one up. Also included are a whole bunch of hands. Rogue comes packaged with open hands, but she also has a set of fists, a right trigger hand, a left gripping hand, a more casual gripping right hand, and a bare left hand. When the left hand is removed, the yellow cuff is a separate piece which slides off to sell the look of her going ungloved. There’s also a removed glove accessory which slips into the casual gripping hand quite well. I do wish we got two bare hands since she did grab enemies with both hands at times, but one is better than none. If you want her to look like she is actually draining someone’s energy, she has yet another open left hand, but this one is encircled in translucent blue plastic. I don’t think her power absorption abilities were ever depicted like this in the show, her hand usually just glowed white and the light sometimes traveled up her arm, but I can’t deny that this hand looks pretty cool. Another included effect part of sorts is a gripping right hand that’s crushing a small gun. I don’t recall this gun or scene, I remember her crushing Bishop’s armband, but it’s an effective accessory at showing her strength.

This thing is all kinds of rad.
And the base works pretty damn well as a stand too.

The last major accessory included in the limited edition version is a base. Rogue is the first figure to get a base and Mondo stated they felt it was important to include something that hinted at her power. To do that, Mondo decided a decimated Sentinel head made the most sense. It’s well sculpted and really well painted and resembles a Sentinel from the show. There are two foot indentations, one towards the front and one towards the back, that the figure slides into rather effortlessly. It does a pretty good job of holding Rogue up too, though she has tumbled to the side on me once already. It’s not super heavy, so the figure took the base with it in falling over. I’ve resituated the figure on the base amongst my other figures in the line and hopefully she holds true. She also comes with a standard Mondo stand and I could potentially use that in conjunction with the base for added stability. One of the stands from a past release (Magneto?) that I have also has worked well to hold her off the ground just a little bit. That particular one has a very strong, telescoping, arm to it and can support the figure’s weight while some of the others feel too loose. I’m sure there will be folks in search of a proper flight stand for this figure and if I come across any that work I’ll be sure to update this.

Magneto has something to show you, Rogue.
A little X-Men ’97 preview, I suppose.

The visual aesthetics are what this line goes for, but this is an action figure so it does articulate. Rogue moves about as well as the rest of the line, and in some respects, perhaps a bit better. The head, shoulders, elbows, and wrists are all standard for the line. We’re talking a double ball peg at the head, single-hinges and swivels at the elbow, ball-jointed wrists, and ball-hinged shoulders. The head is limited by her big hair, but they did a decent job of sculpting out some room so the head can turn a bit and tilt. The shoulders and elbows are the most limiting. She can’t bring her arms across her chest or her hands to her face and it’s just something you’ll have to work around. Rogue does not have a waist twist, but does have a ball-jointed diaphragm. Mondo used a curved cut for it and I’m a tad surprised they didn’t try to conceal the cut under her bust or perhaps along the rib cage. It at least works well enough as a rotation point and it allows for a little forward and back. The hips are big ‘ole ball sockets and have probably the best range of any joint on the figure. They’re almost loose and I’m curious if they’ll get to the point where I do consider them loose, but for now they hold their pose fine. The knees are double-jointed and work okay while the ankles feature a hinge and an ankle rocker.

“Hey Remy, you got any plans tonight?!”
“I didn’t know you could read minds, ‘cherie.”

Since Rogue does wear high heels, she is a bit of a challenge to stand. It’s not as bad as I was expecting though. If you’re just looking to place her in a vanilla pose, she’ll stand okay. It might take a bit of adjusting, but it’s do-able. If you want her to do anything more dynamic then you’re better off with a stand. Even lunging positions are a challenge because she’s so top heavy, and I’m not talking about her chest. That hair adds a lot of weight, but since she doesn’t feature a trench coat or a cape, the Mondo stands actually can help out with this figure when normally I consider it useless. And if you have the limited version then you also have the base to rely on.

Cyclops and Jean kind of dominate the conversation, but this was the couple I was always rooting for.

Rogue is perhaps not a perfect, 1:1, encapsulation of the character model from the show, but she’s still a damn fine addition to the Mondo roster. The paint on this release is incredible. Not in the sense that it’s perfect and free from blemishes, but in that it just pops and really nails the cel-shading from the show. Yeah, you will likely find a dab of paint here and there where it shouldn’t be or even a slight smudge, but that’s the nature of hand-painted items. On the whole, the figure looks terrific and I’m very happy with the limited edition. With the Sabretooth figure, I wasn’t sure if the limited version was really worth it, but I feel completely different about this one. I love the base and the extra heads are probably the best heads in the box. The articulation may not be on par with figures in the 1:12 scale, but I haven’t had any real challenges in finding a display pose and I doubt many will.

We’re about halfway through the main roster and Cyclops is soon to be on deck.

Unfortunately, if you do want this version of the figure with extra stuff then you’ll have to score it secondhand. As I mentioned earlier, it sold out surprisingly fast leaving just the standard version as an option. Mondo sold out of the standard version as well, but has another preorder open right now on their website for $210. Other retailers may have open preorders as well that could be fulfilled sooner than Mondo’s estimate of September 2024. Even if I could only get the standard version, I’d consider it well worth it. She has the angry portrait and comes with all of the same hands as the limited edition version so you’re just missing out on the three extra heads and base. Rogue is an essential character for any X-Men display and she will certainly look good in your collection.

Now, nobody fall!

Interested in seeing more from Mondo’s X-Men line of sixth scale action figures:

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Gambit

It is my belief that when it comes to X-Men, the animated series which debuted in 1992, the breakout star of the show was Gambit. Wolverine was the closest thing we had to a household name going into the show and was the de-facto pick for favorite character of many. And while the whole roster…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale SDCC Exclusive Logan

Mondo has been absolutely killing it with its sixth scale line of action figures based on the now classic animated series X-Men. The company also really ramped up production in 2023 on the line by soliciting five new figures during the year. At over 200 bucks a pop, it was quite the hit to the…

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by Joe

Mondo X-Men TAS 1/6 Scale Magneto

If you showed a random individual this blog and asked them what my favorite cartoon was as a kid I’m guessing they would go with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And they wouldn’t be wrong as that was my favorite for a time, but come 1992 I was starting to drift away from that show. Batman:…

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by Joe

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May 15, 2024

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

By Joe
Written by Beau DeMayo and Anthony Sellitti.

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 to indulge myself before we get to this week’s episode. When one thinks of childhood trauma baked into media, the death of Bambi’s mom is probably the most often cited. If you’re an 80’s kid it might be the death of Optimus Prime in the first Transformers movie or the death of Littlefoot’s mother in The Land Before Time. The 90s kid has Mufasa while the comic book readers like me have X-Men #25. No one truly died in that issue, but it’s the infamous issue where Magneto decides he’s had enough of Wolverine and uses his magnetic powers to rip the metal off of his bones and force it through his pores and open wounds. It’s all anyone wanted to talk about concerning X-Men when it happened and it changed the character of Wolverine in a big way. Like basically all things in comics, Wolverine eventually regained his awesome adamantium skeleton, but it took a surprising amount of years for that to happen.

They did it. I can’t believe they did it.

Despite being one of the most singular, powerful, moments in X-Men history, that confrontation with Magneto has really just been confined to the page. The original X-Men animated series had just kicked-off its second season when it happened, but never touched it during the rest of its run. I remember feeling anxious during the Asteroid M episodes, “Sanctuary,” out of fear it might happen, but Wolverine escaped that arc unscathed. I remember my friend jumping in his seat when we saw the first X-Men movie in theaters when Magneto lifts Wolverine up on the train and asks “Does that remarkable metal run all through your body?” He thought, and I too, that Magneto might give a tug in that moment and I certainly thought it could be him laying the groundwork for a future confrontation that never arrived. Other animated efforts and movies that followed never did go to that well, but in its ninth episode X-Men ’97 did.

For a brief moment I thought we may be jumping straight to the mind wipe Xavier inflicted upon Magneto in response to his attack on Wolverine.

When Magneto emerged from Bastion’s imprisonment in the eighth episode and used his magnetic powers to attack the whole planet’s electrical grid is when I first felt X-Men #25 was on the table. It was similar to his attack to open that issue on the planet’s satellite defense system which knocked out power all across the globe. Even though much of the events of last week’s episode were mirroring the events of New X-Men from 2001, there was always the possibility of multiple plotlines converging. As I said in my review of last week’s episode, that “Greatest Hits” approach the original series and this one is able to take is part of what makes it so successful. When it was Wolverine who was tabbed to deliver the opening, “Previously…on X-Men,” line I pretty much knew what we were in for. It became even more obvious when Rogue basically assumed the role of Colossus from the Fatal Attractions plotline X-Men #25 is a part of by joining Magneto (along with Roberto) midway through the episode. It made it hard to enjoy all of the fan-service leading up to the final act with the return of the old costumes, the Hulk cameo, or Cyclops’ return dig at the film costumes as I was expecting the worst for old Wolverine. And even during the episode, my X-Men animated Wolverine figure decided to take a shelf dive. I’d love to say it was during that scene, but I don’t remember because I was engrossed in the show and only after it was over did I check to see who fell. He knew.

Wolverine’s claws covered in blood – something we never could see in the original series.

The final scene of the episode was done exceptionally well, though it still left a glimmer of hope that Wolverine would not be subjected to his worst injury to date. When he removes Magneto’s helmet to allow Xavier a chance to attack him with his telepathic powers, the imagery was evocative of Xavier’s answer to Magneto’s brutal assault on Logan from X-Men #25. For a brief moment, I thought he might be spared. Then Cyclops blasted his mentor, not because he was turning on him or anything, but because Gold Team had not yet taken down Bastion and they couldn’t risk Xavier, through Magneto, re-activating the Prime Sentinels.

“Been in a lot of wars, bub – the brave always die first.” A great callback to Magneto’s line from the season finale of the original show’s first season, “The Final Decision.”

That’s when Wolverine struck. In actually more graphic fashion compared with the comic from which the story was taken, we get to see a flash of his claws and then the ends protrude through Magneto’s torso. At that moment, I could only watch with both dread and awe since there was no going back now. The attack was brief. We got just a quick shot of each character’s reaction, friend and foe alike, at Wolverine’s attack. It was like all of the participants in the melee up to that point were just made aware that violence has consequences, like a bunch of kids play-fighting in the yard until someone gets really hurt. The final image of Wolverine in mid-air with the adamantium oozing out of his body was a near 1:1 recreation of Andy Kubert’s artwork. It was chilling and a hell of a way to end an episode of television. I was riding an exercise bike on my first viewing and I wish I had thought to check my heartrate readings on my fitness app when it was all said and done. I was covered in sweat, more than usual after a workout, and that same pit in my stomach I felt as a 9 year old in 1993 had returned.

The plot with Wolverine made me completely forget that we may have witnessed the death of Jean. Again.

The moment was so captivating that it practically erased everything that came before it. I had to watch it again to be reminded of the fact that Morph and Beast had been defeated and were at the mercy of Bastion last we saw them. Sinister had taken control over Cable like he did his mother before him unleashing his telekinetic powers on Jean. She was able to make psychic contact with Cyclops, and through her, he saw what was going down just long enough for her to tell him she loved him before Cable’s blast engulfed her. And at Asteroid M, Magneto is likely mortally wounded or damn close to it while Xavier had Magneto’s helmet basically crushed around his skull neutralizing his psychic powers. This concept is new to the show as when the original aired the idea that Magneto’s helmet was designed to protect him from Xavier had not been invented yet. You can even see in the show’s fourth episode Xavier attack him with the helmet on, but I don’t mind it being a new wrinkle for this show as basically every version of the X-Men has done the same.

We open on a flashback we’ve heard about before.

As a kid, I don’t know how many times I read X-Men #25 and its follow-up, Wolverine #75, so I had a good idea what was going to happen in this season finale (in case you forgot, that’s what we’re here to talk about today) in space. I was less certain about the Bastion plot, but I had some ideas. Given the nature of how the last episode ended, there isn’t much I can say about the plot of this one that doesn’t spoil something, but I’m sure I can find something to talk about. The “Previously…” line is delivered by Magneto and our opening credits contain few surprises. More Dark Phoenix, more Apocalypse, but also a new scene of Magneto and Xavier unleashing their powers for the first time in front of each other on some terrorists from “Enter Magneto.”

Wolverine will not be doing much this episode.

And we’re shown that flashback because that is essentially where the episode begins. A young Xavier and Magneto having some drinks in a bar in a war torn country chatting about the potential for mutants. The war setting is even established by the opening chords of the famous song by The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which I thought we all agreed we were done with? That and Credence Clearwater Revival. It’s at least brief which probably saved Disney a few bucks. Outside of the flashback, the episode is going to pick-up right where we left off with Wolverine in bad shape and the Earth heading for catastrophe. The only one who can heal the Earth’s magnetic field is Magneto and he needs some convincing.

Gold Team! This is no time for a nap!

At ground level, we last saw Bastion essentially victorious. And he will be ready for his victory lap that villains are so fond of, but as is often the case, the celebration is premature. Again, I’m not here to spoil anything, but I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that the X-Men will need to deal with this guy. If last episode was more of the Magneto conflict, then this one is definitely more on Bastion. He is pretty set on eradicating mutants, and once that is done, he intends to rule over humanity since they can’t exactly be trusted either. And if he can’t do either, well, let’s just say that’s something he won’t respond to very well. And if that weren’t enough, the world super powers are left mulling what to do about the Magneto Protocols. Should the grid get restored, not only will the Prime Sentinels be reactivated, but President Kelly will have access to the missile defense system crafted especially for targeting Asteroid M.

Okay, perverts, happy now?!

The X-Men had split into Blue and Gold teams last episode, but it’s going to take all able-bodied X-Men to stop Bastion. A large portion of the episode is devoted to the battle that you knew was going to happen and, as has been the case with this show, it’s quite satisfying and spectacular. The action direction continues to be a strong point and the animation staff is up to task. Since we’re dealing with a finale here, there is an effort to give everyone some time to shine, provided they were able to stand at the conclusion of the last episode. The episode also pays more than lip-service to actual character growth and this is the episode that is able to cash in on the smaller moments (and some big ones) that we saw throughout this first season.

Sunspot has been allowed to cut loose these past few episodes which has been fun to see.

Where this episode did stumble a bit for me is that it’s basically a small portion of fallout from the previous episode, then a whole bunch of action, and then setup for next season. It’s become routine in the streaming age for shows to be serialized and include a lot of cliffhangers and X-Men ’97 is no different. I received some Game of Thrones vibes from the show when watching this one as the penultimate episode was where a lot of the spectacle was while this one felt a bit more like clean-up followed by setup. They left no room for the characters to really respond to what happened last week. It’s mentioned only in passing and we see Wolverine’s banged up body a few times, but we get almost nothing from the characters. How is Jubilee processing this? She and Wolverine were tight. Is anyone mad at him for pushing Magneto as far as he did by getting all stabby on him? Again, we don’t know and the way the episode ends makes it seem like it’s a thing we’re just not going to address at all and that feels like a real missed opportunity for a show that loves the soapy drama.

At least Morph seems to care.

Like last week, expect to be tickled by several cameos. Some are repeat cameos, but many are all new. Sure, it can feel like stunt-casting or something akin to it, but considering the plot in this episode has worldwide ramifications it makes sense to get a look around the globe. It’s certainly interesting and makes me wonder if X-Men ’97 will turn into a launching pad for an animated universe set in the 90s. Nostalgia for the period will likely never be hotter than it is now so it wouldn’t be Marvel and Disney’s worst idea. As long as my X-Men show doesn’t become overrun by non-mutant superheroes I’m all for it. Even if I personally have little interest in revisiting the other 90s Marvel cartoons.

I love everything about this shot.

I may seem a little down on this episode, but that’s only because the prior two were so strong. This is indeed a good episode, and it’s a long one at that, and DeMayo and Sellitti do some great stuff with their dialogue. There are certain characters they write so well and it’s on display in this episode. There’s also more callback lines to the original series and its woven in effectively and with purpose. There’s some heavy stuff intermingled with the action concerning Xavier and Magneto and this episode is one of the first pieces of X-Men media that really convinces the audience that Xavier and Magneto care deeply for each other. They’re not just paying lip-service to the “old friend” label they like to toss around so casually.

This episode concludes what has inarguably been a successful first season for X-Men ’97. The second season is in production so the wait should not be as long as it was from announcement to premiere. I suspect we will hear more at San Diego Comic Con this summer. Series creator and showrunner Beau DeMayo was heavily involved in the second season and it can be assumed much of his vision will make it to air. Following that, we’ll be heading into some unchartered waters with the show. Disney and DeMayo have remained tight-lipped on why he was let go from the series just before the premiere which is unfortunate because it would be nice to know if fans should be advocating for Disney to reverse that decision. If he was fired because of an OnlyFans account or creative differences, then that was probably a stupid decision given how well this show has turned out (and for the record, the OnlyFans thing would be stupid if the show sucked too). If he was fired over workplace misconduct or something (and full disclosure – I have no idea why he was let go and I’m just tossing out examples) then all right, that’s not someone I’d want to go to bat for. This stuff has a way of getting out so it’s more probable than not we’ll know in time, but for now, I’m extremely satisfied with how X-Men ’97 turned out. I’m also extremely bummed about not having a new episode to look forward to next week. This is going to be an intolerable wait.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

Keep reading
by Joe

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

May 8, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 2”

By Joe
Written by Anthony Sellitti.

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.

Have we witnessed the death of a dream and the realization of another?

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.

A “blink and you’ll miss it” moment from the opening title is the insertion of Prime Sentinels in the middle of the Xavier and Magneto confrontation.

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).

Look who came back.

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.

It’s quite a mess Charlie returned home to.

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.

Not the happy homecoming Charles may have been looking forward to.

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.

Magneto has an offer to make to his X-Men and it’s an offer he’s made before.

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.

I don’t like to spoil the easter egg moments from this show, but this time I’m making an exception: Raise your hand if you had that Wolverine motorcycle as a kid!

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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

May 1, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1”

By Joe
Written by Beau DeMayo and Anthony Sellitti

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 element. Pretty much all of the episodes have been linked and the only two that feel even a little stand-alone were the two containing parts of the Lifedeath arc. Otherwise, X-Men ’97 has pretty much stuck to its central conflict of humanity and mutants and the violence that can lead to. Violence like what we saw in the fifth episode, “Remember It,” which has proven to be the catalyst for what’s to come.

Look who is back in the opening title.

The “Previously…” intro is delivered this week by Cyclops once again, so apparently Wolverine, Morph, and others had their turn skipped. Returning to the character lineup this week is Professor X. I guess knowing he’s alive and likely on his way back to Earth is reason enough to add him in. Nothing really new in the opening credits to speak of when it comes to the scenes. The inserted scenes are the recreated Danger Room scenes from the original show’s intro plus a quick look at Magneto orbiting Asteroid M from the “Sanctuary” arc and a return of Cable vs Apocalypse (he’s got to be coming at some point, right?). This also reminds me that showrunner Beau DeMayo shared a list of recommended episodes of the original series for viewers to brush up on before embarking on this three-part finale. Those episodes include: One Man’s Worth (Parts 1 and 2), Sanctuary (Parts 1 and 2), Descent, and Graduation Day. I’m pretty well-versed in all of those episodes, but I never need much of an excuse to go back and watch episodes of the original series, especially good ones like the ones above.

Cable and the X-Men must work together to find Bastion.

Last week’s episode ended with a lot of reveals, some more shocking than others. Rogue had been searching across the planet and trying to figure out what “OZT” referred to. Well, now we know and it’s Operation Zero Tolerance. And the one leading that is called Bastion (Theo James), a mutant-sentinel hybrid. It was actually revealed by DeMayo that Bastion has been lurking this whole season and has brief cameos in other episodes. The only one I saw on first viewing was in the fifth episode, but I do plan on going back to search for more (if it’s not spoiled for me ahead of time). At the end of “Bright Eyes,” it was revealed that Trask was converted into one of these hybrids and he packs a hell of a punch since he felled Rogue in one blow. Old pal Cable resurfaced to put him down and in the process Jean mind-zapped him to discover that he is Nathan Summers from the future (a detail she seemingly forgot after doing the same in the “Time Fugitives” arc from the original series – that’s probably why it wasn’t on the recommended viewing) and he’s tangled with these things before. We also learned another detail about the attack on Genosha and it’s the one reveal I mentioned I felt the show had given away and it’s that Magneto lives. We got to see the Master of Magnetism strapped in a barber’s chair and collared as Bastion shaved his face to the sounds of “Flying Purple People Eater.” He seemingly has plans for Magneto and he needs him to look his best.

Bastion takes smug to another level. Also, I’m sure there are some cameos bathed in pink on those monitors some of which are revealed later.

Another reveal for the characters, but not the viewer, was Bastion revealing to Sinister that Xavier lives. He was able to get footage of Xavier’s introduction as emperor to the Shi’ar people via a satellite or some nonsense. Either way, it’s a catalyst for stirring anti-mutant sentiment as Bastion has released that footage to the globe via the United Nations. The news paired with the assassination of Henry Gyrich (by Bastion in last week’s episode) is not well-received by humanity as the conclusion many seem to be drawing is that the X-Men faked Xavier’s death to gain sympathy for mutants. Never mind that the last the world heard from Xavier was a recording that he’s fine (which was Morph) so I have no idea how his death was faked. Did no one demand to examine his corpse? A man was presumably tried for murder over it or at least detained.

I’m loving the addition of Nightcrawler to the team as he serves as a moral anchor for the group.

Early in this episode, Cable explains what’s going on and all he knows about Bastion and his new Prime Sentinel creations. Perhaps the most important detail, and likely the question all would be asking if it wasn’t explained, is that Cable has tried in vain multiple times to stop the attack on Genosha, but every time he gets pulled out as we saw in “Remember It.” The poor guy has likely witnessed the murder of his mother more than once. He’s taking a new approach now as he gained some intel on where Bastion may have been operating from. He, Cyclops, and Jean are dispatched to check it out while the rest hang back.

Two people the world assumed were dead are very much alive.

Elsewhere, Bastion has Magneto chained to a wall on a giant “X” evoking memories of a famous Uncanny X-Men cover featuring Wolverine. And it’s here in his base we learn the fate of another – Valerie Cooper. It seems she survived and has some connection to Bastion. She is here to give Bastion a soundboard, someone to explain his plans to, and react in a manner similar to the audience. At the mansion, Beast is busy examining the remains of Bolivar Trask while Nightcrawler keeps vigil over an unconscious Rogue. Jubilee is also still hanging out with Roberto’s family and isn’t really enjoying herself since Roberto’s mother, Nina (Christine Uhebe), is far more concerned with making sure no one knows her son is a mutant rather than helping out in a meaningful way. As someone who has maintained a life of privilege, she sees no reason for involvement in human-mutant conflicts outside of sending some money Genosha’s way and doesn’t understand why the status quo should ever change.

In true X-Men ’97 fashion, all of this build-up is for an action-packed third act. The X-Men can’t go looking for a guy like Bastion without getting into some fights and viewers will be treated to some fun. There’s fan-service to be had in these battles and if you’re someone who has been waiting for Wolverine to do something ever since he and Gambit’s team-up move back in the first episode then you’ll be happy with what unfolds.

There has been some great action in this series, but this sequence from Wolverine’s perspective as he impales a robot and Nightcrawler teleports them is amazing.

This first part of the season’s finale is mostly as expected. It needs to lay the ground work for what’s to come and there’s plenty of exposition to be found in order to get there. We’re fed breadcrumbs when it comes to the X-Men’s adversary and we’re likely to learn even more over the coming episodes. The show has done a tremendous job of not losing sight of its central conflict and the racist undertones that conflict contains. Bastion is a great example of this as he highlights how portions of humanity has felt left behind. It echoes real world racist manifestos like The Great Replacement Theory only in this world there’s actually a touch of truth to it as Bastion explains how a mutant-powered human can do things a normal person can’t which could actually cut into job opportunities. Mostly, Bastion is like any other figurehead preying on ignorance and fear who sees racist tropes as a path to power. Racists typically do not function on logic and reason so having even a kernel of truth to his replacement theory makes it all the more powerful.

Storm a couple of episodes ago plus Jubilee here has me wondering if we’ll be phasing out the Jim Lee looks for the characters.

The episode does end with a “bang” moment that is sure to leave viewers eager for more. We’re adapting an era of the X-books I’m not as intimately familiar with as other eras and it’s nice not knowing where this is headed. It’s unlikely the adaptation will be direct anyway, but I’m doubtful this will all be wrapped up in a neat little package in two weeks since a second season is in production already. And that’s fine, give me all the X-Men ’97 you can, Disney!

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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

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 24, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Bright Eyes”

By Joe
Written by Charley Feldman and JB Ballard.

When we last saw our beloved X-Men, their world had just been destroyed. An idyllic place set to the soundtrack of the very on-the-nose choice of “Happy Nation” by Ace of Base in Genosha was laid to waste. Mutants of all backgrounds were slaughtered including our beloved Gambit and less beloved Magneto. In the aftermath of the episode’s airing, series creator Beau DeMayo took to social media to explain his reasoning for writing such a destructive story. In his view, the first four episodes were the nostalgia episodes. Things weren’t perfect, but a lot of what the X-Men had fought for in the original series had come to pass. Genosha was now their place where they belonged. It was a safe haven, but it was all so fragile.

DeMayo likened the attack on Genosha to both September 11th and the Pulse nightclub shooting. As a gay man himself, DeMayo designed much of the atmosphere of Genosha to mimic that of a gay club. Both are places where individuals who may normally feel pressured to hide who they really are can be themselves. And who they are is what also makes them a target. The world is not a safe place and we’re reminded of that constantly. In that, the world these characters inhabit is not unlike our own.

Rogue gets to do some ass kicking in this one.

This week’s episode doesn’t just have the events of “Remember It” to dwell on, but also those of last week’s episode, “Lifedeath – Part 2.” In that one, Storm regained her powers and also seemingly rediscovered some classic threads while Xavier had a vision of what transpired on Earth and was compelled to give up his life with the woman he loves. And in the closing moments, we saw who orchestrated the attack on Genosha. Mr. Sinister, with an assist from the DNA of Bolivar Trask, has seemingly assumed the role of catalyst for what could be a war between humans and mutants. It’s not surprising that a man who literally named himself Sinister is the one behind such a thing, but what does it mean for the character? Did he find another way to synthesize his perfect mutant from the DNA of Scott Summers and Jean Grey and is now ready to unleash his creation upon the world? Or is he acting on behalf of another? Perhaps someone who has always desired to bring about the apocalypse itself?

The opening “Previously…” for “Bright Eyes” is delivered by Rogue. In the scenes to follow, we mostly bare witness to what took place in episode 5 with the only piece from last week’s episode being Xavier’s voice over as he received his vision of what transpired. The opening title appears to be completely unchanged from last week. Storm has not been added back in and Nightcrawler gets to go two weeks in a row in a prominent spot. When the episode does begin, it gets right to the aftermath we have been waiting for. It’s Gambit’s funeral, and in attendance aren’t just X-Men, but Gambit’s former allies and would-be wife from the Thieves Guild. They’re just window dressing and it falls on Nightcrawler to lead the service since he’s a man of the cloth. It’s an understandably somber scene, but once absence garners much attention.

Perhaps Nightcrawler’s role will be like a team chaplain going forward?

Rogue, apparently not yet willing to deal with her grief, is on a one woman mission to find the man she believes is responsible for the loss of Gambit and so many others on Genosha: Bolivar Trask. Her mission will take her all over the globe and include in some interesting cameos from the greater Marvel Universe. She’ll eventually be forced to deal with her grief, but there’s a lot of anger in the woman and it’s fun to see Lenore Zann get to play Rogue in a different manner from what we’re used to. Elsewhere, the X-Men have decided their place is on Genosha helping out with the clean-up. Scott and Jean are still in a bad place, but this isn’t an episode with much room for the soapy drama we’re used to. Sunspot is also left to ponder if keeping the fact that he’s a mutant a secret the right way to go about things. After all, what if he was on Genosha that day and his parents found out he’s a mutant by IDing his corpse?

Eventually, anger gives way to sorrow when confronted by a great loss.

The last act of the episode is what pushes the narrative forward. We’ll learn more about how the attack on Genosha came about and the show is clearly setting the stage for the three-part finale that’s to follow. The X-Men will have a new enemy, and if there is a theme to this enemy it’s probably escalation which has been building since the start of the season. Whenever humanity scores a win over bigotry, be it in the real world or a fantasy like this one, the bigots always fine a new way to attach the marginalized. When the Emancipation Proclamation was put in place, the country went to war to actually free those from the bondages of slavery. When the war ended, Jim Crow surfaced followed by segregation, Tulsa, the Voting Rights Act, etc. Victory is often temporary, and the X-Men learned that the hard way. The end of the episode contains a pair of reveals as well. One we, the audience, were already in on and another we technically weren’t, but the show basically telegraphed. As such, I don’t think the final scene lands with the impact the show may have wanted, but people are sure to remember the song for the scene, at least. If you thought Ace of Base was an interesting pull, just wait until you hear this one.

“Bright Eyes” is another slow episode, one that is clearly building towards something. The show is clearly setting up for something spectacular, and now we get to see if it can stick the landing. I’m a bit sad there are only three episodes of X-Men ’97 left before the first season comes to a close, but I am very excited to see how it ends.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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

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April 17, 2024

X-Men ’97 – “Lifedeath – Part 2”

By Joe
This week’s episode was written by Charley Feldman, his first sole writing credit on an episode of X-Men ’97.

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 let those characters dangle a bit longer because now we’re going back to check-in on Storm. And we’re also going beyond the stars to check-in on the one major plot thread still left unaddressed from the original series.

This week’s episode, “Lifedeath – Part 2,” begins with the usual “Previously…” tagline and this time it’s delivered by Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith). In keeping up with current events, both Magneto and Gambit have been removed from the opening title because it does not care about your feelings. There is a surprising addition in the form of Nightcrawler, but if you’re wondering just what’s going on with that situation then it’s again something that will have to wait until next week. The recreated clips of the old show inserted include shots of the Shi’ar along with a shot from “One Man’s Worth,” Mastermold, Nim’rod, and Apocalypse.

Look who has been added to the opening title!

The episode opens with a battle taking place in space. The Shi’ar are taking on the Kree, and people just jumping over from the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be surprised to see a comic accurate depiction of Ronan The Accuser (Todd Haberkorn). He’s in some trouble as upon him is the Shi’ar Imperial Guard lead by the virtually indestructible Gladiator (David Errigo Jr.). Also there is princess of the Shi’ar, Deathbird Cari Kabinoff), who was last seen in the original series serving at the pleasure of Apocalypse. They’re interrupted by a transmission from the empress herself, Lilandra (Morla Gorrondonna), who has an important announcement to make: she is to be wed. Her chosen suitor? None other than Charles Xavier.

Xavier (Ross Marquand) being alive isn’t what I would consider a spoiler. The final episode of the original series depicted Xavier being taken to space by Lilandra where the technology of the Shi’ar could potentially save his life. This outcome was expected and it was only a matter of time before we’d hear from Charles Xavier once more. And it would appear he’s made a full recovery from his mystery ailment, and not only that, the Shi’ar have a suit capable of allowing him to walk again. Still, the announcement from Lilandra that she intends to wed what the Shi’ar term a Terran is met with resistance, especially from her sister, Deathbird. It would seem even in the far reaches of space, Xavier is still a victim of racial prejudice. And it turns out, there’s an ancient, Shi’ar, custom that allows for the people to make a demand of any outworlder looking to marry into power. It’s played as a “gotcha” from Deathbird who clearly hopes to draw a wedge between her sister and her lover first, then between her sister and her people following that, all in a bid to take the throne for herself.

Ronan The Accuser makes his X-Men ’97 debut.

In order to wed Lilandra, Xavier will have to make a terrible sacrifice that will prevent him from ever seeing his X-Men again. As an audience, we’re privy to more information than Charles and we obviously want him to not make a decision that will keep him from returning to Earth. The show does a good job of framing the decision in a sympathetic light so that we can see why Xavier might do so, and needless to say, we’re pretty invested in where this will go.

Elsewhere, the other plot of the episode concerns Storm and Forge. When we last saw them, they were under attack by The Adversary, a demonic entity (also voiced by Sealy-Smith, but with a monstrous quality), which had grievously injured Forge. The bite of the demon is poisonous, and Forge is in bad shape when we find them. The Adversary is there to prey on fear and self-loathing which is what draws it to Storm who needs to overcome both the demon and herself in order to save Forge. And the only cure for this demon bite rests with a certain cactus known to grow in dark places. In other words, an old mine shaft which is a place that will be a challenge for Storm to traverse given her extreme claustrophobia.

It can’t be fun having a literal demon dwelling in your rafters.

Storm’s plot is one of self-discovery, while Xavier’s is more on the lines of cultural integration and power. The events in Texas move at a fairly brisk pace as they did in the previous episode featuring this pairing. It does lead to some problems, but it feels less severe than it did before. As for the events in space, they move at a much more leisurely pace. It helps that we’re getting reacquainted with two characters with a lot of backstory and a pre-established relationship and the show operates in a manner that tells the audience you better know your stuff because it’s not slowing down to bring new viewers up to speed. And as much as I want to see the show deal with the Genosha fallout, this is the right time to bring Xavier back into the fold as a plot element. The X-Men have lost their Xavier replacement, it’s foundational pieces in Cyclops and Jean are at odds, and they have lost members of their team and community on top of that. It’s a time of tremendous turmoil and uncertainty and I bet they would love to have the guidance of Charles Xavier once more.

Deathbird has designs on her sister’s throne. She should really hire a PR firm because that name “Deathbird” seems like it would be a hard sell.

“Lifedeath – Part 2” might not be the episode people wanted to watch this week, but it’s the one we got and it does tie-up some loose ends of its own. It’s another cool down episode (what episode wouldn’t be following last week’s?) for X-Men ’97 and it moves at a more deliberate pace. Those waiting for a big action piece may be left wanting, but it has its own moments of elevation and there is some nice action bits at the front of the episode. There are also some cameos for those who enjoy them, and one in particular definitely feels like one the show wants you to notice. My only real gripe was some tonal changes in the Storm/Forge plot, but I think that’s just the reality of a show speeding towards what showrunner Beau DeMayo has described as a big one. And that finale is going to air in three parts which means we only have one more episode of setup before it can begin. I expect next week to be the show setting the stage for a major climax. And I’m already bracing myself for a major cliffhanger of a finale and, if so, the wait for Season Two will be excruciating.

Previously…on X-Men ’97:

X-Men ’97 – “Remember It”

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…

Keep reading
by Joe

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…

Keep reading
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

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