It’s finally time! If you’re reading this, I can only assume you have the theme song stuck in your head. So with that tune playing, let’s revisit the premiere episode of X-Men ‘97, which is now streaming on Disney+.
After X-Men: The Animated Series left us with the death (or at least as far as Earth is concerned) of Charles Xavier. Now, we get ot see the X-Men as they learn to cope not only with the loss of their leader but also how to move forward as a team and a family.
Before we even get into the first episode itself, we get an interesting new Marvel Animation scroll, that includes brief glimpses of Spider-Man, Wolverine, The Thing and Silver Surfer from various classic animated series. It then ends with a few images from Marvel’s What If.
Then, to the delight of X-Men fans everywhere, we get the return of the iconic theme song. While the song has only been slightly modified, the opening title sequence has seen quite a few changes. In addition to the updated animation, we also see Morph and Bishop added to the sequence.
The episode then truly opens with a look at New York City before cutting to a news report of Charles Xavier’s assassination, which is revealed to have been a year ago. The report also lets us know there is now a level of public sympathy towards mutants following Xavier’s death. However, it becomes clear that doesn’t apply to all humans as we see men dragging a collared mutant out of a car. The collar is in place to keep the mutant the seemingly teenaged boy from using his powers.
As the boy is brought into a warehouse, we see a banner that reads “FOH.” This is the Friends of Humanity, a mutant hate group that has crossed paths with the X-Men and other, less friendly, mutants in the past. Two of the goons discuss a buyer that is going to pay them for every mutant they can get and that he is “using them for target practice.”
The boy is revealed to be Roberto Da Costa, better known in the comics as Sunspot, a mutant with solar-based powers. Aside from the comics, Sunspot has also appeared in X-Men: Days of Future Past and had a much larger role in The New Mutants.
As the FOH threaten Roberto with some high tech weapons, they get distracted by storm clouds. The leader orders the men to “grab a Sentinel blaster,” so clearly they have somehow picked up Sentinel technology. Storm then comes crashing through the ceiling and tries to reason with the men. They refuse to stand down, which starts a fight. Bishop comes to Storm’s aid but the pair of X-Men are eventually derailed by an explosion.
As the FOH try to take Roberto away, Cyclops bursts through the wall. While he makes short work of most of the goons, one of them eventually unveils a full Sentinel arm, which is used to tie up Cyclops. With a classic 90s “not” joke, he uses his optic blast to take the rest of them out. From outside the building we see and explosion as a copy of the Daily Bugle flies past the screen. There are some interesting details on this newspaper. First, one headline asks “Is Spiderman a mutant?” (and yes, it misspells Spider-Man). And next to that there is a story on the Hellfire Gala, a more recent X-Men comic event that is essentially Marvel meets the Met Gala. Even more interestingly though, the story is written by Eddie Brock with photos by Peter Parker. Could we see the ‘90s Spider-Man return too?
Back at the X-Mansion, Cyclops complains to Gambit that they needed him out there, but he and Rogue shrug it off. It’s clear there is tension regarding how the team should be run. Suddenly, the Professor enters the room, much to the surprise of Cyclops. Of course, after a few seconds it is revealed to be Morph in disguise. Jean Grey enters and we see that she is pregnant. She tries to encourage the team to keep the peace, especially with their guest, Roberto, in the house.
Roberto wakes up in a bed to the sound of Beast humming opera. Beast overwhelms him with science before Jubilee translates for him. Cyclops and Storm try to get information regarding where the FOH got that technology but Roberto simply wants to leave. Storm informs him that the FOH are still out there and that if he leaves they could find him and “kill” him. It’s interesting that she uses the word kill, as the 90s animated series would always replace the word with “destroy” or something similar. I suppose that would be the rules of television vs. streaming.
After Roberto agrees to stay at the mansion for a day, Jubilee shows him to the Danger Room, the simulator the X-Men use to train. After he is unimpressed by a simulation of Magneto, Roberto is pinned down by the very real Wolverine, which gets his attention.
Cyclops and Jean try to get information regarding the Sentinel tech in a video call with Dr. Cooper, a UN contact for the team. She mentions Madripoor, a fictional city with lots of X-Men history and e brief appearance in the MCU, in an episode of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. She sticks to her story that the UN has destroyed all Sentinel tech but adits that Bolivar Trask, one of the men responsible for creating the Sentinels has been missing.
After Jean and Scott reminisce about their younger years, she proposes they should walk away to live a simpler life with their child. Cyclops protests but their discussion is interrupted when a basketball crashes through the window. They rush outside to find the Wolverine has scared Roberto off. Cyclops orders him, Jubilee, Gambit, Rogue and Morph to go find him. There’s a brief moment of tension that reminds us of the love triangle between Jean, Scott and Logan. As they separate, Scott tells Jean they need to see the man who killed Xavier in order to get information on Trask.
The team arrives at a club in search of Roberto and splits up. Rogue and Gambit share a moment that plays on Rogue’s classic story of wanting to be able to make human contact. Wolverine and Morph also have a moment that again calls back to that aforementioned love triangle. The team notices that some of the FOH enter the club but Jubilee finds Roberto just in time. He protests but Wolverine convinces him.
Cyclops and Storm speak with Henry Gyrich in a prison. When he refuses to give them anything on Trask though, Jean uses cerebro to invade his mind. She gets pulled into his thoughts and finds a site where Trask is building a new Master Mold to create new Sentinels. However, she also has a vision of her baby and an explosion that wipes out everything.
The X-Men fly to the location but the Blackbird, the team’s jet, is grabbed out of the air by a Sentinel and brought down. Now on the ground, the team finds Trask in front of a new Master Mold. Sentinels rise from the ground, surrounding the team and starting a fight set to the classic theme song that will have fans smiling throughout. Storm eventually joins the fight, which prompts the Sentinels to acknowledge an “omega level threat.” This is a reference to Storm being an omega level mutant, meaning there is no known mutant with her specific abilities to a greater degree. This would be the first mention of an omega level mutant in the series. Storm makes short work of the Sentinels and Wolverine, with some help from Gambit and Morph, takes out Master Mold. Trask is taken into custody and Dr. Cooper assures the X-Men that Master Mold will be dismantled.
Back at the mansion, Jubilee has another conversation with Roberto. She seemingly convinces him that this school could be a new home for him. He finally reveals his powers to her and explains that his family doesn’t know he’s a mutant. He gives her his card before leaving.
The team starts a basketball game before responding to an alarm set off by an introducer. They race to Xavier’s office to find Magneto, who informs them that everything Xavier built has been left to him. The episode comes to a close but does so with the familiar video game-like credits sequence that was used during the original series.
It’s clear this show is going to give us a lot to talk about. While this first episode was an original story, the series promises to adapt classic comic arcs, much like the original series. And with so many familiar characters popping up, there will be a lot to break down. More importantly though, this is a great start to what is sure to be a very fun series for fans new and old.
The first two episodes of Marvel Animation’s X-Men ‘97 are streaming now on Disney+, with new episodes coming every Wednesday.