X-men 97 Episode 1 and 2 Breakdown: To me my X-men

The new animated series X-Men 97 kicked off with 2 brand new episodes and revitalized the old Saturday morning cartoon X-Men92. With new storylines and immersive animation, the new series managed to captivate me as a viewer.

X-men 97: To my X-men

The first episode of the new season starts with the death of Professor Charles Xavier. Founder and beloved leader of the X-men. He was assassinated by the NSA’s Henry Gyrich. The death of Xavier has garnered sympathy for the mutants rather and a lot of people try to make the dream of Xavier a reality: A peaceful co-existence between man and mutant.

Meanwhile, Roberto DaCosta has been kidnapped by the Friends of Humanity, an organization that we have seen in the 92 incarnations. They hate the mutants and will do anything to eradicate them.

The FOH have managed to get access to Sentinel technology and don’t hesitate to use it on mutants or anyone they deem a mutant. This is worrisome, the show is drawing a big parallel to real-life militant and racist organizations – people who terminate with anyone whom they deem not human with extreme prejudice.

Roberto Dacosta is saved by the X-men whose great tactics had the FOH and their Sentinel down within the blink of an eye.

Roberto DaCosta is of course the New Mutant called Sunspot. His mutant power is absorbing sun rays and turning himself into one big chunk of energy. Roberto DaCosta is one of the first New Mutants, the junior X-men. He played a pivotal role in the comics but unlike his comic book counterpart, this version seems less of a hothead.

Back at X-men HQ

After the X-men free Roberto DaCosta, they head back to X-men HQ where we find a pregnant Jean Grey and the very jealous looks of Wolverine. I guess his healing factor can’t mend a broken heart in the blink of an eye.

And Morph taunting him by shapeshifting into Jean doesn’t help Wolverine’s lovesickness either. The scene where Morph changes into a pregnant Jean is hilarious.

Jean and Scott are pondering about their future as the X-men. Jean wants to leave and raise the child in a more peaceful environment while Scott has taken up the mantle of leadership after the death of Xavier.

And their dilemma is duty over parenthood. Of course, I am more inclined to side with Jean in this case. Being a parent is the biggest responsibility one can have.

The X-men gather in the War Room to discuss the Sentinel technology the FOH used to kill them when they tried to free Roberto DaCosta. The X-men conclude that there is a Master Mold, a huge robot that can manufacture Sentinels. And if there is anyone who knows the other location of the backup Master Mold, it’s Henry Gyrich. So they come up with the plan to visit him in jail.

Henry Gyrich has a dark view of the world

Cyclops and Storm visit Gyrich in jail where he taunts the 2 with his dark view of the world by telling them that while humanity appears to have garnered sympathy for the mutants, underneath they sure fear and hate them. Which is most likely true. The truth is, any small incident involving bad mutants would ruin all that goodwill in an instant.

What Gyrich didn’t think of was the very pregnant Jean Grey who uses the telepathic enhancement technology called Cerebro to get the information about that 2nd Master Mold the X-men need to take down any future Sentinels.

Once Jean is inside his head, we see the images of the 2nd factory thereby confirming that there is a second Master Mold. But what we also see are images of the Astral plane with a hatred so strong that even Jean has to get out. And I think that the big bad of the season is not Gyrich and his Sentinels but The Shadow King.

The Shadow King is the reverse of Charles Xavier. Where Xavier preaches love, the Shadow King tries to enslave and feed off the negative emotions of humanity. The negative emotions make him a lot stronger. Stronger than Xavier has ever been. But up to this point, this is all speculation and we won’t know until we get deeper into the season. But mind my words; The Shadow King is not someone to be trifled with!

Master Mold goes down

The X-men arrive at the destination where the 2nd Master Mold is and are welcomed by the Sentinels and Master Mold. The fight scene that follows is nothing short of amazing.

We even see Gambit powering up Wolverine using his kinetic abilities to take down Master Mold. It is a variation of the Fastball Special.

The Fastball Special was Colossus and Wolverine teaming up and having Colossus throw Wolverine at the enemy. It was an unstoppable move and I am happy to see that the makers of the show have the guts to make this variant.

The X-men however seem very overpowered. Especially Beast who takes down a Sentinel on his own. Something that took a lot of teamwork in the X-Men comics. And on top of that, the Sentinels register an Omega Level Mutant.

An Omega Level mutant is the strongest of the strongest mutants. So they are already overpowered and then get the help of an Omega Level Mutant. I mean, how much more power do you want to put on display?

I am quite the purist when it comes to comics and I don’t mind some creative liberties but this was over the top. On the other hand, we do get to see how powerful Omega Level Mutants are and in this case, it’s Storm’s powers on full display!

After their grand victory, the X-men go back home where Jean and Scott announce to leave the X-men to raise their child. Only to be interrupted by an intruder and this turns out to be their archnemesis Magneto. Charles left a will before he died and in it says that Magneto inherits everything he ever owned. A baffled X-Men stand with their jaws on the floor in the doorway before the episode ends.

Episode 2: X-men 97 Mutant Liberation Front Begins

The episode picks right after the 1st one ended and the team doesn’t trust Magneto since he was the one who tried to kill them over and over for his mission: To prevent a genocide of mutants even at the expense of the X-Men or anyone who gets in their way.

Magneto, of course, is shaped and formed by his time in a Jewish concentration camp during World War 2. Although there may be an alternate more modern history retelling of his origins.

Magneto however explains that he was challenged by Xavier to try and live his way and help him make the dream of peaceful co-existence between mutant and men a reality. Magneto does so with grace, despite struggling to convince the team of his intentions.

Just when Magneto comes back from a mission that took down an entire squad of FOH members, a squad of UN soldiers has a warrant for his arrest. Under the leadership of Valerie Cooper, a major character in the comics: she is the liaison between the X-men and allied teams and the government and works with Nick Fury.

Magneto is put on trial and while he makes his case to be pardoned for his past crimes and promises to atone for his past crimes, the UN Tribunal wants none of it. This puts the world, the UN, and the mutants in a tough spot. The mutants would lose their goodwill but then again, the X-Men would harbor a criminal.

Outside people are protesting against Magneto and mutants. And then we see the X-Cutioner coming up to try and assassinate Magneto. When he takes the shot, Storm sacrifices herself by throwing herself in front of it.

Her harness saves her from death but the outcome is far worse: Storm has lost her powers! So that is one less Omega Level Mutant. Storm leaves the X-Men mansion at the end of the episode.

In the comics, Storm also loses her powers to a mutant named Forge. She didn’t know that it was his invention that took away her powers when the two fell in love.

And despite her not having any powers, she still led the X-Men. And got in a fight with Forge after she found out that he was the one who invented the technology that depowered her.

The X-Cutioner is a foe that was created back in the 1990s with the same approach as the animated series counterpart: extreme hatred for Mutantkind and will terminate with extreme prejudice. There is a reference to the armor he wears and in the comics, it is shown that he uses Shi’ar Technology, a race from a galaxy far far away. Which makes him nearly unbeatable.

During the fight, Jean goes into labor and Rogue flies Cyclops to the hospital. Despite the goodwill and credit, the mutants build up, the doctors won’t help Jean because she is a mutant. There is still a lot of discrimination towards mutants.

With the help of Rogue, who absorbs the skills of the doctor, Jean gives birth and names the baby Nathan Summers. This is of course going to be Cable in the future. The same Cable we saw in the X-Men 92 series.

Is it Jean Grey or Madelyne Pryor

Back at the X-Men Mansion, there is a knock on the door and we find another Jean Grey. What? So there is a little explanation here using the comics:

Back in the comics after the Phoenix committed suicide, Cyclops fell in love with a Jean Grey look-a-like named Madelyne Pryor. The two have a child named Nathan. But then the original Jean Grey comes back having been put in a cocoon by the Phoenix Force.

Madelyne turns out to be a clone of Jean created by Mr. Sinister who has been manipulating the X-Men for years as it turns out. Either of the Jeans will turn out to be a clone or the revival of Phoenix. We will have to watch the show to see who is who in this tête-a-tête.

Both of the episodes were amazing and I even cried a little when I heard the opening theme song. It brought back so many memories that I struggled a bit.

The best scene of the two episodes was of course Wolverine and Jean when she goes into labor. Wolverine takes out his claws to see if there is an enemy before Jean makes it clear that there is no enemy but that her water broke. Hilarious!!