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In thisFandomWireVideo Essay, we explore what the MCU can learn fromX-Men 97.
Check out the video below:
The MCU Should Learn From X-Men 97
THIS…..is one of the greatest things Marvel Studios has ever produced. WhileMarvel’s live-action projects have been in a bit of a slump recently, with works likeAnt-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaandSecret Invasionrevealing previously unseen chinks in the once-thought-invincible armor of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the House of Ideas has actually been on a bit of a hot streak when it comes to animation.
TheWhat Ifseries has quickly garnered a passionate fanbase and largely positive critical reception thanks to its, in the words ofThe Mary Sue’s Rachel Ulatowski “unique and refreshing” take on the franchise; and while not made by Marvel Studios directly, the twoSpider-Versefilms have been heralded as some of the greatest superhero movies ever made. And of course, most recently,X-Men 97revived the beloved 90s animated series with remarkable gusto.
The same lovable characters, epic action, and charmingly melodramatic soap opera-style shenanigans you remember crossed with a truly stellar blend of 2D and 3D animation and storytelling and character developments that go deeper, darker, and more sophisticated than the admittedly boundary-pushing for Saturday morning original ever had have madeX-Men 97not simply a fun nostalgic revival, but a genuinely compelling and moving story in its own right.
So, how exactly did they pull this off? In a time when the larger MCU has begun to lose some of its pull with audiences, what is it about this at-first seemingly unassuming animated revival that pulled them back in? Well, sharpen your claws and grab your nearest Ruby Quartz visor as we dive into what makesX-Men 97work so well and what the rest of the MCU can learn from it. Oh, and just to be clear,MAJOR SPOILERSforX-Men 97Season 1 from this point forward. You have been warned.
One of the most common criticisms of recent MCU projects is the so-called “homework” argument: the idea that there are so many new Marvel movies and shows coming out, most if not all of which connect to one another in some way, that it makes keeping up with everything feel more like an overwhelming chore; regardless of quality.
How much this truly applies varies from project to project and the post-Endgame MCU has produced its fair share of standalone works, such asShang-ChiorWerewolf by Night, but the effect is there regardless. Thankfully,X-Men 97avoids this issue entirely, mostly by not being set in the mainline MCU continuity.
While the presence of the Watcher in the sky during “Remember It” and the discussion of absolute points in “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1” firmly cement the series as part of Marvel Studios’ larger multiverse, it is very much NOT on the Sacred Timeline that serves as the franchise’s default main setting. Instead,X-Men 97takes place in the same Marvel Animated Universe spawned by the original series and carried on by the 1994Spider-Mancartoon among others. So despite being made by Marvel Studios, it feels like its own distinct entity rather than another MCU project to add onto the pile.
“But doesn’t the originalX-Menshow have five seasons’ worth of continuity you’d need to be caught up on?” you might ask. Technically, yes. But none of it is required to understand and enjoyX-Men 97. The show does carry on directly from where the original left off and carries over several plot points such as Morph’s trauma with Mister Sinister, the continuing development of Genosha as a nation, and most notably, Professor X’s presumed death and the romantic relationship between him and Shi’ar Empress Lilandra. But aside from arguably the Shi’ar stuff, you aren’t required to have seen the original to understand any of it.
Everything you need to know is explained within the show itself. And the first episode, “To Me, My X-Men,” does an excellent job at reintroducing the original series’ core cast of characters, their abilities, their personalities, and how they interact with one another, just within the opening action sequence, let alone the rest of it. Throughout its 10-episode run, the first season smartly takes time to give the audience a sense of who these characters are so you care about whether they win or lose regardless of your familiarity with the original. Small moments like Scott and Jean’s frequent heart-to-hearts or Jubilee and Roberto bonding over video games make bigger moments like Magento’s impassioned “Never again” speech or Storm’s rebirth after losing her powers that much more impactful.
This is something that Marvel’s live-action shows have frequently struggled with, largely because so far everything besidesLokihas been limited to one season and everything besidesWandaVisionandShe-Hulkhas been limited to only six episodes. Recently,Echoonly had five to tell its story. The limited series structure has severely, for lack of a better term, limited Marvel’s ability to take advantage of television as a storytelling medium, and the shows have suffered for it. While the approach makes sense for some shows, it’s hard to imagine the aforementionedWandaVisionhaving a second season given its story structure and ending, shows likeMs. MarvelandMoon Knightfeel primed for additional seasons with more standalone episodes that they may never get. Moreover,Secret Invasionbeing forced to cram the epic sweeping story of the original comic into only six episodes made everything feel rushed and the finale’s dismal 7% score on Rotten Tomatoes reflects that. Whereas,X-Men 97was made with the knowledge that a second season would be happening and now both that and Season 3 are officially in the works. Therefore, the writers could afford to slow down and develop the story and characters over time.
But perhaps the biggest accomplishment ofX-Men 97and what the rest of the MCU can best learn from, is the way the show truly shocked its audience. Even prior to the Multiverse Saga, the MCU has been frequently criticized for adhering too closely to pre-established tropes and formulas. Think of how often Phases 1 and 2 in particular had villains with the same powers as the heroes for example. And at first glance,X-Men 97seems like it’s doing the same thing. The first three episodes, while extremely compelling in their own right, are all about what you’d expect from anX-Men: The Animated Seriesrevival. From a structural standpoint, they’re all about the X-Men working as a team to stop a villain with some character development and social commentary sprinkled on top. Typical Saturday morning cartoon affair with just a smidge more depth than average. Episode 4 starts to shake things up with more focused development for Jubilee and Storm within “Motendo” and “Lifedeath – Part 1” respectively, but it’s in Episode 5, “Remember It” where the show takes a turn and truly becomes its own beast, pardon the pun.
At first, things seem to be going about how you’d expect. The two love triangles of Rogue, Gambit, and Magento and Scott, Jean, and Madelyn are dealing with obvious personal tensions, Genosha is joining the UN, it’s compelling but it’s all things we expected to happen. And then all of a sudden, the bright sky over Genosha is filled with dark clouds, an army of Sentinels comes crashing down from above, and innocent mutants we had just seen thoroughly engrossed in the utopia first envisioned by Professor X are coldly and ruthlessly massacred. And not just minor characters either, Magneto sacrifices himself and seemingly dies in an effort to rescue civilians, though he is later revealed to be alive and taken prisoner by Bastion at the end of “Bright Eyes.” Gambit, on the other hand, was not so lucky.
He’s stabbed through the chest by a giant Master Mold Sentinel, and with his dying breath, uses his powers to charge it with kinetic energy, exploding it and him in the process. His sacrifice and Rogue’s heartbroken reaction afterwards are hard to watch, but it’s extremely powerful and has lasting consequences for the rest of the season.
Not only does Gambit stay dead, a rarity not just in the MCU but superhero media in general, his death and the larger fallout from Genosha are what cause Professor X to return to Earth after “Lifedeath – Part 2,” what drives Rogue into a globe-trotting rampage that eventually leads her to kill Bolivar Trask in “Bright Eyes,” sets off the start of Bastion’s master plan in the “Tolerance Is Extinction” three-parter, and by all accounts, will serve as a major motivation for whatever Apocalypse is planning in Season 2. With how many seemingly major plot points the mainline MCU has left dangling without consequence, such as how the Eternals leaving a giant Celestial just sitting there in the middle of the ocean has thus far only been addressed in Easter eggs, a big shake-up like this with such an overarching impact certainly feels like a refreshing change of pace.
While theMarvel Cinematic Universemay not be in quite as dire a position as some might think, with the upcomingDeadpool and Wolverinegenerating plenty of hype and even a box-office flop likeThe Marvelsfinding an audience on streaming, there still could be room for improvement given its often rigid storytelling structure and frequent overreliance on pre-established knowledge of previous films and shows.
X-Men 97, with its newcomer-friendly storytelling approach despite having its own backlog of existing canon to work with, a multi-season storytelling plan that leaves room for character development, and shocking twists that have real consequences and ripple effects across the narrative, provides a perfect template for the studio to draw from on future projects. With the show’s consistently compelling narrative, epic action, and engaging character work, it’s easy to see whyX-Men 97works so well and how the rest of the MCU, with how simultaneously too predictable and too inconsistent it can sometimes be, can learn from it.
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Reilly Johnson
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Reilly Johnson is a businessman and a staple in the online entertainment community contributing to some of the largest entertainment pages in the world. Currently, Reilly is the President of FandomWire.
