It’s arguably the year’s most highly anticipated Marvel series, and it’s finally here in a two-episode series debut. Today, we look at all things X-Men ’97!
SPOILER WARNING! The following contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Episodes 1 and 2! Do not proceed if you wish to avoid spoilers!
MAJOR POINTS
- Magneto now runs Xavier’s school and is the new leader of The X-Men
- Sunspot is in the premiere, and likely the new team member
- Jean gave birth to Nathan, but now there are TWO Jean Greys
Episode 1
The TV news covers the “death” of Charles Xavier. Roberto, aka Sunspot, is captured by thugs who want to sell them into execution, but the X-Men rescue him. However, Sunspot runs off soon afterward. Jubilee finds him in a dance club.
Meanwhile, the team interrogates Gyrich, Xavier’s killer, to find Trask’s whereabouts. While flying to find Trask, the team is attacked by a resurrected Sentinel. This leads to a classic X-Men-style battle with the half-working Sentinels seen in the trailers.
After the battle, the team returns home… Only to find Xavier willed The X-Men and the school to Magneto!
Episode 2
Magneto surrenders to UN custody and stands trial for his crimes against humanity. Friends Of Humanity protesters invade the UN and tussle with The X-Men. Meanwhile, Jean goes into labor. The FOH leader shoots Storm with a Mutant Nullifying ray that takes her powers. Magneto takes the UN Ambassadors up into the sky and pleads his case that earlier he would have killed them for doing less. However, to show his change of heart, he yields to the ambassadors, who then pardon him for saving their lives.
Baby Nathan is born, but due to Storm losing her powers, Scott and Jean decide to stay instead of leaving to start their family. Storm instead decides to leave since she no longer has her powers.
In the final segment, the X-Men cry over Storm’s leaving. But then another Jean Grey rings the doorbell desperately saying she needs the X-Men!
MAJOR QUESTIONS
- How will they explain TWO Jean Greys in the same place at the same time?
- Is Sunspot a potential love interest for Jubilee?
FINAL GRADE: A
This lived up to my expectations. And judging by other reviews, I’m not alone. One of the things that makes this show work is that Marvel took the extra steps to make the animation look like the 2D hand-drawn days of yore. It is a welcome change from the standard 3D CGI we have today. The only change is it’s widescreen instead of the standard 4:3 definition. On top of that, the setting also remains in the 1990s with references to pagers and pop culture references, such as Cyclops saying “–NOT!”.
The show again took the story heavily from the comics, much like the original series did. Especially the second episode with Magneto’s UN Trial.
Everything from the trial to the attack by the FOH to Jean giving birth was pretty much the same as the comic, except for the twist with Jean Grey. But I’ll get into that in the next episode of Geekville Radio…