"To Me, My X-Men" X-Men '97 Recaps: "To Me, My X-Men" & "Mutant Liberation Begins"

 X-Men '97

It was a great twist of fate that I finished my re-watch of "X-Men: The Animated Series" just in time for the March 20th premiere of "X-Men '97." And man, it has made me extremely happy to see the love this show has gotten. And deservedly so. I am extremely excited to talk about it and geek out about it. And i'm really bummed that as of me writing this the first season is just over halfway through.    But let's get to chatting about the two episode premiere.

"To Me, My X-Men"

Sentinels: "Surrender, mutants."

Cyclops: [clicks on his communicator] "Give 'em the forecast."
Sentinels: "Omega-level threat detected."

[Lightning strikes the sand, turning it into glass.]

Storm: "Ancient sands, heed my command and reclaim these relics of hatred."

[Storm destroys the Sentinels with a tornado of glass]

It's been a year since the apparent death of Professor Charles Xavier at the hands of Henry Peter Gyrich. Only the X-Men know that he left earth with his paramour Lilandra, empress of the Shi'ar. In his absence the X-Men have carried on, trying to make his dream of a peaceful co-existence between mutants and humans a reality. And they have made steps towards that. With the help of Dr. Valerie Cooper, the X-Men and mutants find themselves with allies in the UN. Things aren't great. Carl Denti and the Friends of Humanity are still attempting to abduct mutants using stolen Sentinel tech and the father of the Sentinels Bolivar Trask is still out there somewhere. There's drama at home as well as Scott Summers and a pregnant Jean Grey contemplate leaving the team after their baby is born and Gambit and Rogue seem as i they are ready to put their fighting days behind them.

Chills.

I have to admit that when I saw the trailer for "X-Men '97" I wasn't super excited. I wasn't sure about the animations style and some of the voice work sounded off. I wonder now if I was just trying to protect myself by having lowered expectations because these first two episodes blew me out of the water. They gave me everything I was looking for from this revival since I heard it was coming and I can't imagine any real fans of "X-Men: the Animated Series" watching this two episode premiere and not having their faces rocked completely off. It was like no time had passed, but tat the same time this is an elevated version of the series. It doesn't lose what made the original so great and such a touchstone for so many people my age, but it enhances it.

We sometimes get caught in this trap of nostalgia. And I think we are all guilty of it. We love something so much. It has meant so much to us. That it comes back and we are willing to give it passes even if it doesn't deserve it. And in the end, this new thing ends up kind of tainting the legacy and memory of this thing that you adore. So, it's refreshing when a reboot or revival doesn't fall into that nostalgia trap and "X-Men '97" definitely doesn't do that. Everyone involved is wanting to provide a quality product and they do.

The animation is great. It's so smooth. It evokes the feeling of the original series, but brings it into 2024. The voice acting is top notch. Cal Dodd slips right back into Wolverine. Alison Sealy-Smith gave me chills when I heard Storm giving one of her signature speeches before unleashing the brunt of her powers on the FOH. The new voice cast is uniformly excellent. They aren't doing impressions of the actors they are replacing. They are doing their own take on what has came before. And it's nice to hear the original voice actors in new roles. Catherine Disher, the original voice of Jean Grey, is voicing Valerie Cooper. And we get the phenomenal Jennifer Hale taking over voice duties for Jean. If you've played the Mass Effect games, you probably recognize Jennifer as the voice of the female Commander Shephard.

The action in this episode is so freaking good. I think it's the aspect of "X-Men '97" that really laps the original. And that makes sense. Action in animated series have come so far and it's super cool to see that with this episode. It's awesome to see the full extent of the X-Men's powers. I'm not a huge Cyclops fan but he gets some awesome moments in this episode. The best being when he uses his optic blasts to save himself from death after the Blackbird is destroyed. Firing full force at the ground to slow his descent. But it's Storm that really shines in this episode. Storm was one of the characters that kind of got shafted in the original series and "X-Men '97" works to remedy that. Her "giving them the forecast" is a instant classic Storm moment a I'm sue that it made so many viewers Storm stans.

"X-Men '97" doesn't forget that X-Men comics are some of the greatest soap operas in comics. They bring that energy to this episode. There are some fun callbacks to the old series. The original series opened with the team rescuing Jubilee and taking her in and here we see them rescuing Roberto Da Costa, a. young mutant who has different feelings about what it means to be a mutant. It's fun to see Jubilee in the mentor role it will be interesting to see how their relationship develops. Cyclops and Jean are contemplating leaving the team once their baby is born something that Logan knows is coming despite them trying to hide it. Rogue and Gambit seem to be more interested in making beginets in the kitchen then fighting the FOH and their Sentinel tech. Jean uses her mental might to infiltrate Gyrich's brain to learn where Bolivar Trask is and also has a vision of disaster. The episode ends with the reveal that Xavier left everything to his oldest frenemy, Magneto.

This is really a pretty flawless premiere episode. If I had one minor quibble, it's that they maybe should have replaced Lenore Zann as Rogue. I love her. Her voicework on the original was iconic. But she's an older woman and that is difficult to disguise. Rogue sounds like a 60 year old woman. It's really a small, tiny complaint that isn't really a complaint. Because the fanboy in me loves that Zann is voicing Rogue even if she maybe should have been given a different role in the series.

Grade: A

"Mutant Liberation Begins"

[Jean enters Storm's room to discover that she has disappeared, leaving a letter for her.]

Storm: [narrating] "Jean, my sister. You of all the X-Men know the heartbreak of saying goodbye, having said it so many times. So I ask that you help the others understand why I could not stay to say it this day. My faith in your family's future is strong. And I cannot rob you of a bond you have more than earned. It is human nature to crave connection, as it is also mutant nature to be heard, seen, to feel another soul finally seeing yours." 

[pause]

Storm: [narrating] "Connection is a fragile treasure. One we sacrifice so much to maintain. Only to then sometimes watch it break in a blink that changes your life forever."

[pause]

Storm: [narrating] "We are no longer connected, Jean. And now we walk in two very different worlds. But trust that I will cherish what we shared as X-Men, memories that already feel like a lifetime ago."

[Jean reads the letter to the other X-Men]

Jean Grey: "Like another woman's life. Or another person's dream. Love, Ororo."

The X-Men are attempting to acclimate to the idea that their biggest enemy is now living in their home and trying to give them orders. The world is acclimating to the fact that someone who was considered a mutant terrorist is now saving humans from death. He's not even killing the FOH when he finds them terrorizing the Morlocks. Magneto's re-emergence leads Val Cooper and the UN to the X-Men's doorstep, where they declare they are going to put the Master of Magnetism on trial for his many crimes. Things take a turn when the FOH being led by Denti as the X-Cutioner arrive on the scene. Will Magneto be given a fair trial or will the X-Cutioner pass judgment on him before the UN can?

Sisters

One of the things I love the most about these early "X-Men '97" episodes is that they are righting the wrongs that were committed by the original animated series. In the last episode, we saw Ororo Munroe finally get her due. She was delivering iconic lines and moments and that continues in episode two. We are also seeing the redemption of Jean Grey. This is not the fainter of the original series. She easily infiltrated Gyrich's mind in the last episode like a badass. Now, we are seeing the Storm/Jean friendship that was terribly neglected in the original series. In the comics, Jean and Ororo are like sisters. They form a quick, strong bond after Ororo joins the team after Giant-Size X-Men #1. We didn't really see that in the first series. It's really lovely to see that love here when Jean and Ororo have their heart to heart about the baby. Jean trusts Storm enough that she feels comfortable talking to her friend about how she has hoped that her child wouldn't be born a mutant. Storm reciprocates that trust by admitting that while she loves being a mutant there have been times sh has wondered what it would be like to be human. This is such a wonderful moment and it makes sense that they shared a snipped of this scene before the premiere. Watching this, I started to think that "X-Men '97" may end up being something truly special.

This episode may focus on Magneto, but Storm goes through it. She again shows how much of a badass she is when she lays into the FOH and the X-Cutioner when they attack the UN. She selflessly throws herself in front of Magneto when the X-Cutioner fires at him. She doesn't think twice. This man was once her enemy but now he is her ally and Storm takes that extremely seriously. She ends up losing her powers and again, Alison Sealy-Smith slays her vocal performance. The anguish in Storm's voice when she realizes that she can't feel the elements is palpable. I don't think there will ever be a time where I see this episode and don't tear up watching that scene. I am not a huge fan of powerful black woman loses her powers, but this is a direct pull from the comics and will lead into the show's version of "Lifedeath." Storm leaves the team at episode's end and again Sealy-Smith gives us a stirring vocal performance.

One of the things that the original series did was take these classic X-Men stories and making them fit into the world of the series and it's great to see "X-Men '97" doing that again with their take on the Trial of Magneto. It's not shocking that the UN shows up on the mansion's lawn to take him in considering that a y year ago, Magneto was ready to start a war with humanity. What is surprising is that he goes with them willingly. Ready to put his fate in the hands of humans to prove to the world and the X-Men that he is serious about honoring his friend's wishes. Like, this episode does so much for Magneto. It gives him so much more depth than the original series did. It reminds viewers that Magneto is a holocaust survivor. And that informs everything about him including his mutant pride. We get so many great Magneto speeches, but the one that will go down in history is the one he gives high above the Earth to Val Cooper and the rest of the judges. I was legit on the edge of my seat watching this because I didn't know which way it was going to go.

We get some more of the action which I feel like will become a trademark of "X-Men '97" when all is said and done. The X-Cutioner is a classic X-villain and it's great to see him make his debut in the animated series. And he gives the team a run for their money. We haven't talked much about Morph. I love that he's back, in the opening credits and everything. I am a fan of them using his more comic book appearance, the smooth gray skin and white eyes. Morph is a great character because his shapeshifting powers allow them to really cram int he cameos. During the fight with the FOH, we see him morph into Psylocke and Lady Deathstrike. It's doing fan service the right way.

We talked about soap operatics in the last episode, but this one really cranks it up. We learn that Magneto and Rogue have a secret past from back when she was working with Mystique and Destiny. And at the end of the episode, it seems like Gambit has an idea that there is something Rogue isn't tell him. And since Magneto can use his powers to touch Rogue things aren't looking good for the ragin' Cajun. Jean goes into labor while the team is fighting the X-Cutioner and FOH. It lends some comedic relief to the episode as well with Logan not getting it at first that Jean is in labor. And then him driving on the sidewalk while Jean telekinetically moves pedestrians out of the way. The doctor refusing to deliver Jean's baby at first almost teeters onto the wrong side of melodrama, but I think Rogue absorbing the doctor's memories and the nurses just going along with things saves it.

"X-Men '97" continues leaving us with cliffhangers when Morph opens the door to find another Jean standing there who collapses into is arms. A nice wink wink to the OG series. Remember how Jean fainted all the time guys?

Grade: A

Next up, we learn what's up with these two Jeans, Roberto and Jubilee fall into Mojo's clutches and Storm meets Forge.

What did you all think. Clearly, these episodes were basically perfect for me. I want to complain, but I just can't. If you have some complaints feel free to air them in the comments.