An Apocalyptic Mix: A Review of X-Men ‘97

X-Men ‘97 blends nostalgia with new innovation, continuing where Season One left off with sharper animations and better visuals. At the end of Season One, the X-Men were mysteriously separated and sent to different times on their timeline after almost meeting their ends following the destruction of Asteroid M. The X-Men then discovered that they were sent to different times to stop the main villain, Apocalypse (Ross Marquand), from his rise throughout different eras. The plan failed, and they were sent back to the present time, still needing to stop Apocalypse. Season Two of X-Men ‘97 is great and lives up to season one, but it falls short in some areas. 

The highlight of seeing the future timeline is getting a deeper look into the Summers family dynamic. Last season, Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) and Scott Summers (Ray Chase) had to send their child Nathan (Michael Johnston) into the future after he was given a fatal virus by Mr. Sinister (Chris Britton). In this season, they end up in the future as a result of time travel and encounter Nathan as a child being raised by the Askani clan. Nathan gradually begins to trust Jean and Scott, and they eventually tell him that they were his parents. The scenes between Jean, Scott, and Nathan add not just an emotional element to the show, but they also show how strong the family truly is. 

While the X-Men were in the past with Nur, Professor X (Ross Marquand) and Magneto’s (Matthew Waterson) relationship is once again challenged. While Magneto wants to save Nur, Professor X thinks it is too risky. Yet, their complex relationship is cut short after they are unable to change Nur’s destiny and Magneto is killed by Apocalypse. After Magneto dies, Professor X replays the moment over and over again in the Danger Room (Rachel Kimsey), eventually causing the Danger Room to become the true danger. This breakdown is gut-wrenching since the connection that Magneto and Professor X shared went deeper than physical and mental love. Seeing Professor X replay Magneto’s death again and again perfectly captures the grief and guilt that he felt. In the same episode, Polaris (Carolina Ravassa) comes back to the X-Men after being kicked from X-Factor, a group of government-employed mutants. She unlocks her true powers when she taps into her emotions and her connection to her father, Magneto, saving Professor X and the X-Men from their very own Danger Room.

This season tackles Apocalypse’s morality in a fascinating way, painting him as a bad person, yet showing glimpses of his humanity through his past self, En Sabah Nur (Adetokumboh M’Cormack). Following his traumatizing childhood as an abandoned child forced into slavery, he adopts a “survival of the fittest” mentality and the idea that people are cruel and do not deserve to live. This deepens the message of the show because it shows how society shapes mutants into villains. Unfortunately, there is not nearly enough of Nur’s transition into Apocalypse. Past Episode Four, the end of the time travel storyline, there is no further development on Apocalypse. The thousands of years of transition are not mentioned at all, and Nur suddenly turns into such a large-scale villain, trying to destroy and rebuild the world as Apocalypse. 

While the X-Men are stuck in different timelines, the X-Force steps up as sort of a replacement. Jubilee (Holly Chou), who joined X-Force, displays the full strength of her fireworks after she gets captured by the opposing team, the X-Factor. Jubilee goes against the orders of her team and frees the rest of the mutant prisoners in the facility. With Veruca Salt’s “Volcano Girls” playing in the background, she delivers an action-packed yet fun and stylish escape, showing the potential of her explosive powers.

The ending of X-Men ‘97 is satisfying, with Apocalypse finally being defeated after Rogue (Lenore Zann) goes to Eson the Celestial (Matthew Waterson) to allow Gambit (A.J. LoCasio) to live in place of Apocalypse in exchange for her life, but the substance leading up to it is unresolved. Seeing Gambit become the Horseman of Death as Apocalypse is extremely dark, yet really compelling. He is a completely different person, yet the true Gambit remains inside him. The true Gambit is devoted to Rogue, and this later helps him fight back against Apocalypse in his mind with Rogue’s help. Their romance is one of the highlights of the season, with Rogue truly realizing her love for him after he sacrificed himself in Genosha in Season One. Their relationship is much deeper than physical affection. Rogue is willing to sacrifice her own life for Gambit’s after spending so long without him, but then Nightcrawler’s sacrifice came. His sacrifice is the perfect ending to the season since his devotion to siblinghood is very strong, and it eventually cost him his life. In his eyes, it’s all worth it for Rogue. However, it would have been interesting to see Gambit without Rogue after seeing Rogue without Gambit throughout the whole season. 

The animation quality is even better than the already excellent first season, with the fight sequences looking epic with flashy, bright colors and sharp animations. In particular, Storm’s (Alison Sealy-Smith) scene in Episode Two is jaw-dropping, with her calling on the higher powers to power the ship for their escape back to the present. The sun flares are animated so vividly yellow, and it emphasizes the power that Storm can wield. Seeing her create the tornado of sun flares after just recently gaining back her powers is both inspiring and empowering. 

The episodes themselves are paced really well, but the lack of content in the season leaves some questions unanswered. Although the characters grow and develop, there is too much jumbled into the season to fully appreciate them individually. There are too many separate plotlines, especially with the time jumps and the additional teams, and there is not nearly enough time to cover everything in full detail. 

As always, the X-Men are the main focus of the teams, but it would have been really interesting to see the other teams develop as well. Although the X-Force gets their very own episode, their whole journey to stop Apocalypse is not shown at all. Seeing more of them would have expanded our understanding of the team’s conflicting morals and how they dealt with it. On the other hand, the X-Factor are shown more like side characters. It would be extremely intriguing to see the point of view of the team members because they are working against some mutants and with the government. It’s hard to believe that their morals always lie with the government, and it would have been interesting to explore any conflicts they had within the team.

The script is also stiffer than last season’s. There are good moments in the season, but the script falls short in some areas. There is way too much content jumbled within the script to make each character’s development stand out within the many characters introduced and continued. The emotional scenes feel a bit stiffer, as they always come in the middle of an action-packed episode. An example is the scene where Rogue and En Sabah Nur talk about grief over her loss of Gambit and his abandonment as a child, leading to both of them building an emotional connection over their shared pain. Although this scene is emotional, its placement seems a bit awkward because in the same episode, En Sabah Nur turns on the X-Men. This gives the emotional scene less weight. 

Overall, Season Two of X-Men ‘97 is solid but lacking in pacing, as it feels extremely rushed, even though the episodes themselves are paced perfectly. There is too much going on with the time-travel, new characters, and new teams to fit into just one season. However, the season does build a relatively strong foundation for characters old and new, has even better animation and fight sequences, and has a solid plot that only falls short because of pacing issues. Season Two of X-Men ‘97 is weaker than Season One because of the rushed pacing and the lackluster script, but the character development and animations redeem the season, making it solid.