To Me, My Readers

X-Men is back, baby! I recap the first two episodes of X-Men '97.

Author

Cameron Huppertz
March 22, 2024

X-Men ‘97 - S1 E1 & E2: Recap and Reactions (with Spoilers) 

X-Men ‘97 is finally here! This week, Disney+ dropped the first two episodes of their sequel to the beloved 90s animated series. As most of you probably know, I’m a big X-Men fan. That 90s cartoon inspired me and gave me a framework for understanding my own identity as a little dyslexic kid. I’m enjoying this trip back to the 90s show, even if I’m concerned about the larger impact of 90s nostalgia on the franchise. 

The Friends of Humanity are a good tool for reintroducing these characters and grounding the X-Men in their defining struggle: trying to save a world that hates and fears them. Episode 1 of ‘97 opens with the anti-mutant group kidnapping young mutant Roberto Da Costa. In contrast with the original show’s first episode, focused on Jubilee escaping the Sentinels, giant mutant-hunting robots (more on them later), ‘97 puts the human faces of mutant oppression front and center. They’ve got a real “where were you on January 6th?” vibe that feels both true to the comics and extremely relevant. This isn’t just a story about fighting giant robots or villains with god-like powers; this is a story about humans at our best and at our worst. 

Our familiar heroes show up to rescue Da Costa and discover The Friends of Humanity are now armed with Sentinel weapons. We’re reintroduced to the core X-Men team as Cyclops tracks down the Sentinel tech’s source and Jubilee tries to connect with Roberto. Jean’s pregnant, Morph is on the team now, Gambit’s rocking a slutty crop top, oh and, Professor X is dead. 

All of this leads to a big showdown fight with an army of Sentinels and their creator, Bolivar Trask (Trask is kinda like Elon Musk if Elon actually knew how to build things). It’s a good “play the greatest hits” moment with a few new twists. Morph is a really dynamic addition that lets you bring in other mutant powers for a fight without needing to justify a cameo from that character. Cyclops fluidly optic blasts himself around the battlefield, showing off the new animation style and his skill as a tactician. We get a few great mutant power combo moves (referred to as Mutant Circuits in newer comics). Storm, who is literally a goddess in the comics, gets a deus ex machina moment. Good stuff. 

We wrap up episode one with a big shakeup to the status quo. Magneto’s in charge now. That’s right, Charles Xaviar left the X-Men’s base/mansion/school to his ex-boyfriend (don’t read the comics or watch the 90s series and try to tell me they didn’t date). He’s all like, “my ex is dead now, so I’m going to try to finally change into the man he wanted me to be before we broke up.” Plus, Magneto is rocking a version of his purple side-boob costume from the 80s. I’m team “Magneto Was Right” (but Quentin Quire was NOT) and love seeing him on an X-Men team, so I’m sold. 

The second episode says, “now that you’re caught up, let’s start upping the stakes.” There’s attention to both the super-powered scale conflict and the interpersonal soap opera conflict here. Scott and Jean are trying to decide what kind of parents they’ll be and what that means for their place with the X-Men. Rogue is tempted to rekindle her connection with Magneto, putting strain on her relationship with Gambit. Val Cooper is trying to make moderate politics work. 

Speaking of Val Cooper, she’s an Ambiguous Government Official who tries to arrest Magneto after he goes on a helping people, saving mutants, mourning his ex spree. Our bisexual king and master of magnetism, filled with feelings about his dead boyfriend and a desire to rebound hookup with Rogue, surrenders and allows Val to put him on trial at the UN. 

Cut to the trial, which, based on how equally pregnant Jean is, was scheduled in record time, and the X-Men (minus Jean and Logan) are there because plot. Before the UN can pass judgment on Magneto, the Friends of Humanity show up again to storm the Capitol, sorry I mean, interrupt the trial. The X-Men jump in to protect the UN and face off against the QAnon Shamon, sorry I mean, the X-Cutioner (yes, that is how it’s spelled, 90s baby!). Meanwhile, Jean goes into labor. 

The real heart of the episode lies with Storm and Magneto. At the climax of a fight with the Friends of Humanity, Storm jumps in front of X-Cutioner’s laser beam aimed at Magneto. Turns out the gun was a mutant depowering ray. Instantly, she’s cut off from her powers, her unrivaled connection to the planet and forces of nature. We see her reaching out to feel the breeze as she once did and collapse in tears, feeling nothing. Magneto goes ape shit on X-Cutioner, the UN tribunal, and Val Cooper, dragging them up to the edge of breathable atmosphere to deliver an A+ reformed villain speech. 

Charles Xavier entrusted me with his dream, and it does not ask you to love or embrace my kind as you own, but merely to accept that this is a shared world with a common future, and that my kind, like yours, have the right to live in it.

The real violation of Storm’s depowering hits home later, back at the mansion. Thunder and lightning, once hers to command, now frighten her. Storm has left a note for Jean explaining she’s quit the X-Men. Without her powers, she feels cut off, not just from nature but from her sense of self. 

Connection is a fragile treasure. One we sacrifice so much to maintain. Only to then sometimes watch it break in a blink that changes your life forever. We are no longer connected, Jean. And now we walk in two very different worlds. But trust that I will cherish what we shared as X-Men, memories that already feel like a lifetime ago. Like another woman’s life, or another person’s dream.

Ripping away her mutant powers didn’t just remove her ability to control the weather; it’s shaken her identity and how she views herself existing in community with other mutants, even the mutants she considers family. We see her board a bus, unsure if or when we’ll see her again. 

All this plus a surprise visit from a panicked woman who looks exactly like Jean (which could be any of like 3 different major characters, not including shapeshifters). We’re off to a fantastic start. Big mutant themes of belonging, acceptance, and community. Serious melodrama. Awesome mutant power combo moves. Slick animation. Guitar riffs. I’m a very happy 90s X-Men kid. 

But I’m not a kid anymore, and it’s no longer the 90s. Comics and their readers have evolved a lot since the first X-Men animated series aired. 

X-Men comics, in particular, are winding down a multi-year run of amazing stories centered on all mutants (heroes and villains) coming together to form a sovereign mutant nation-state and society on the island of Krakoa. There’s fun action, soapy drama, and silly references, but the Krakoa Era also asked some big questions about intersectionality in the mutant metaphor, assimilation vs. separatism, when forgiveness is possible, the ethics of state-sanctioned violence, and more. Big, complex, and extraordinarily relevant stuff. 

As this chapter of X-Men comics comes to a close, it feels like the new crop of comics replacing Krakoa are meant to be a return to a familiar status quo. Something close to the 90s version of the X-Men most people know from the animated series. The version of the X-Men that will probably influence how these characters eventually show up in the MCU. We’ve only seen press preview info on the new comics, they aren’t published yet. I’m clearly enjoying ‘97 so far, and appreciate its willingness to engage with the inherently political themes of this franchise. But as an X-Men fan, it feels like the world just got a little smaller. We stepped back in time to something that’s still relevant and fun but also familiar and safe. Good art can, and often should, challenge us. It should, at times, feel dangerous. I hope we get more dangerous X-Men soon.

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*I’m very dyslexic, and this is a largely free project/hobby. I do not set aside the same time for proofreading that I do for other professional work. If you spot a typo that would cause a communication error, please reach out to gently let me know.