X-Men '97: Episodes 1 + 2 Review/Spoilers

[ChronoRogue]

I feel like Big Bad-wise:

Season 1 - Bastion

Season 2 - Stryfe

Season 3? - Onslaught

I agree S1 is probably Bastion, but think they'll use Onslaught sooner. I'm not sure if he counts as a big bad, but Exodus with the disenfranchised Acolytes popping up would be neat.

It's weird we haven't seen such a powerful mutant show up in any of the cartoons.

[superjosh]

I hope his new voice sounds okay because judging by X-Cutioner his old one's still got it.

His new one is Chris Potter, formerly the voice of Gambit!

[Frontier]

His new one is Chris Potter, formerly the voice of Gambit!

That's so weird .

[yogaflame]

I agree S1 is probably Bastion, but think they'll use Onslaught sooner. I'm not sure if he counts as a big bad, but Exodus with the disenfranchised Acolytes popping up would be neat.

It's weird we haven't seen such a powerful mutant show up in any of the cartoons.

Proteus is plenty powerful in the OG show.

[ChronoRogue]

Proteus is plenty powerful in the OG show.

Oh, no sorry, I meant specifically Exodus not showing up in any of the cartoons or media (?) as far as I'm aware. Maybe one of the video-games...

[Android 17]

Oh, no sorry, I meant specifically Exodus not showing up in any of the cartoons or media (?) as far as I'm aware. Maybe one of the video-games...

Exodus was in the Mutant Apocalypse game for SNES.

The fucker was tough from what I remember. I don’t think I ever got to his stage in X-Men 2 for Genesis.

[Purplevit]

I feel like Big Bad-wise:

Season 1 - Bastion

Season 2 - Stryfe

Season 3? - Onslaught

Season 1 - Bastion & Sinister

Season 2 - Onslaught

Season 3 - Apocalypse

[Mutant God]

I wonder if instead of being Goblin Queen, Maddie will raise Nathan in the future?

[Grunty]

I feel like Big Bad-wise:

Season 1 - Bastion

Season 2 - Stryfe

Season 3? - Onslaught

Perhaps that's just the comic reader thinking, but it's weird to have Bastion and by extension OZT before Onslaught, given that the later was the direct catalyst to make Bastion's rise and the eventual activation of OZT possible in first place.

It's like having Decimation or Messiah Complex before House of M.

Exodus was in the Mutant Apocalypse game for SNES.

The fucker was tough from what I remember. I don’t think I ever got to his stage in X-Men 2 for Genesis.

Wasn't the Acolyte stage in X-men 2: Clone Wars the 2nd one total of the game?

[ChildOfTheAtom]

I guess you all forgot "Courage" from Season 4 of the OG series. Morph turned into Sasquatch to rip off a Sentinel's head, turned into Angel to catch Jean and fly her to safety, turned into Omega Red and used the tentacles to toss two Sentinels by their legs. I mean, even in the original comics series, as Changeling, Kevin was somehow able to replicate Xavier's telepathic powers(maybe Charles helped him understand the intricacies of a telepathic brain's morphology and he was able to precisely replicate it, much like Reed Richards did in Earth X following a detailed schematic of Charles's brain, thus becoming telepathic himself). And in Exiles, Morph was depicted as more of an omnimorph, with a very high degree of durability, making him more like DC's Plastic Man. I don't quite understand how turning into Psylocke gives Morph her acrobatic fighting abilities, but making durable 'swords' is well within Morph's ability.

i think i might have a new favorite X-MAN… he’s awesome in this show

[xiyon]

I mean she didnt commit a genocide so the impetus to kill her wasnt there. spoilers:

The team ended up giving up a portion of their life force to help spare Jean from the Phoenix

end of spoilers. Something like that

spoilers:

I'm sure I'm not in the minority that doesn't remember how the TAS Phoenix Saga ended. That being said, I'm also curious how different '97s take on the Maddie / Scott / Jean thing will go. What's the possibility that the "Jean" that turned up at the end of Ep2 was, in fact, Maddie, given the TAS Phoenix Saga? Think the showrunners would throw that curveball to the formula?

end of spoilers

All that said, despite all the RogNeto stuff, it's clearly not the endgame.

Just a minor nitpick on the animation for me--- as awesome as '97 looks, idk, it feels kinda too... crisp? Or the colors are too bright? There's just something slightly 'off' about the animation for me that takes me out of it.

[Havok83]

spoilers:

I'm sure I'm not in the minority that doesn't remember how the TAS Phoenix Saga ended. That being said, I'm also curious how different '97s take on the Maddie / Scott / Jean thing will go. What's the possibility that the "Jean" that turned up at the end of Ep2 was, in fact, Maddie, given the TAS Phoenix Saga? Think the showrunners would throw that curveball to the formula?

end of spoilers

Im not sure I get that. How does the Phoenix Saga factor ito any of that?

[Sisterhood Of Mutants]

Anyone else get really excited when Colossus, Psylocke, and Deathstrike showed up? I felt so silly when Cyclops said it was Morph.

Deathstrike (and Emma!) is now in the opening credits, so crossing my fingers she shows up for real. Hoping we get real Psylocke, too.

Freedom Force is also on my wishlist since Val Cooper’s here.

I loved the use of Rogue's powers to deliver Jean's baby. I want to see her ability to be an expert in any field used more often in comics. Writers usually just rely on her strength and flight and then use other people's powers for one or two panels when she has potential to do so much more.

I’m hoping for this. Rule of cool, etc, but that scene was still a fun surprise. It’s such an underrated aspect of her power. I’d love them to lean into it more.

lol some of you guys are so hard on Rogue. You guys seriously undersell the feeling of physical touch. She may love Gambit, but she wants to feel some skin, peeps.

I'd have prefered, though, if that connection was born during the episode, with Rogue finding out she can touch Magneto. The whole "they have a secret past" thing, I don't love.

I wonder if we'll get Mystique this season and could we hope for Destiny's debut? If we're gonna delve into Rogue's past before joining the X-Men, I want the entire thing.

I’m not loving their retconned past history, either. I’m trying to look on the bright side - mostly still (vainly) hoping it’s an elaborate soapy misdirect, but if it’s an excuse to give me some Mystique/Destiny’s Brotherhood flashbacks, I’d be thrilled. If they can retcon Magneto/Rogue having history, they can give Rogue both her mommies back lol.

Essentially after Jean was killed by a blast from a Sh'iar battleship, the Phoenix entity came to its senses and offered to restore Jean to life by transferring a small portion of each X-Men's life force to Jean, which restored Jean, but cut down the life span of all the other X-Men, probably by a couple of years.

Totally forgot they changed it to that. Surprised Ray Bradbury didn’t smack them with a lawsuit lmao.

[xiyon]

Im not sure I get that. How does the Phoenix Saga factor ito any of that?

Like I said-- I can't remember the specifics of how the TAS Phoenix Saga went down.

In the comic version, Maddie came along after Jean died. Then, Jean gets revived and Maddie is revealed to be her clone.

spoilers:

How did the events play around again in TAS? 'Cause I wonder if the showrunners will try to throw a curveball to the storyline just to spice things up: that's the real Jean that Scott has a baby with, and the "Jean" that turns up in episode 2 is, in fact, Maddie.

end of spoilers

[Havok83]

Like I said-- I can't remember the specifics of how the TAS Phoenix Saga went down.

In the comic version, Maddie came along after Jean died. Then, Jean gets revived and Maddie is revealed to be her clone.

spoilers:

How did the events play around again in TAS? 'Cause I wonder if the showrunners will try to throw a curveball to the storyline just to spice things up: that's the real Jean that Scott has a baby with, and the "Jean" that turns up in episode 2 is, in fact, Maddie.

end of spoilers

I dont see how anything from the comic could play out here

In the comics, the PF cloned Jean and that body diedi. Maddie was only brought to life bc the PF was seeking out Jean the original Jean, whom had rejected it.

on the show, there was no PF clone. Jean was possessed by the PF and it left her. I dont see them going back. I mean they could but it unnecessarily complicates things. Remember that in the books the X-Factor/Inferno revelations only happened as a way to make sense of the retcons