YMMV / X-Men '97

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Is the Adversary truly trying to kill Storm in "Lifedeath Part 2", or — given the ease with which it could have done so — is it actually trying to help her overcome her Psychomatic Power Outage, just in an incredibly harsh and brutal Die or Fly fashion?
  • How much of Bolivar Trask's behavior in the first episode was genuine and how much was performative, now that we know he was doing the bidding of Mister Sinister?
• Aluminum Christmas Trees: Believe it or not, Gambit's crop top shirt was actually a men's fashion choice in The '80s and The '90s. Further more, iconic Chick Magnets Peter Parker and Tony Stark have worn them before in the comics.
• Angst Aversion:
  • Some fans have been wary of the increasing plights fallen on the X-Men, just in Season One alone. The series peppers in some recreational moments among the team, along with jovial personalities, only for them to be ripped away due to supernatural or human forces they're ironically powerless to completely stop for good. At least, not without a cost. The sacrificial death of Gambit in "Remember It", a fan-favorite example, only served to exacerbate this mindset.
  • "Lifedeath, Pt. 2" finally started counteracting this, to some extent, as Storm regains her powers and Xavier is revealed to be alive and decides to return to Earth in the wake of the attack on Genosha. Whether it will win back those who were averted by the angst is yet to be determined as the season continues.
• Awesome Art: The animation looks very crisp, keeping the artstyle of the original series but updated with the technology of the 2020s. There's even a subtle filter like you'd get from watching on VHS.
• Awesome Music:
  • The new version of the classic theme song sounds as rocking as ever.
  • "Happy Nation" by Ace of Base is the song that plays during Rogue and Magneto's dance in "Remember It," perfectly setting the tone.
• Catharsis Factor: Horrific as it was, Henry Peter Gyrich's death in "Bright Eyes", courtesy of Bastion, was satisfying after all the pain and misery he had caused since the original series.
• Character Rerailment:
  • Since most newer X-Fans tend to lean towards media outside the comics, especially the live-action movies, one would be forgiven for thinking that Cyclops and Storm just weren't that interesting. The first episode alone easily shows why fans of the comics love them, especially Storm tearing apart the Sentinels with ease. The show also gives Rogue, Gambit and Jubilee so much needed limelight after years of being sidelined and in Rogue’s case being given Chickification.
  • In the original animated series, Jean had a not entirely undeserved reputation for being a wimp, spending a lot of time fainting, screaming, passing out from using her powers too much, getting easily knocked out or being easily captured. Here, the show has her having taken several levels in badass, with many impressive demonstrations of her power.
    • In "Bright Eyes" she goes toe to toe with the Prime Sentinel in a battle, and even though she does lose at the end, she had the best showing against him than any of the other X-Men (Including Rogue, who the Prime Sentinel knocked out in one hit.
• Continuity Lockout: Given that it's a sequel series that kicks off some time after the finale of the original, many fans are going to get lost. Marvel uploaded a video to their YouTube with clips from some recommended episodes, perhaps to mitigate this.
• Fan Nickname: The Combination Attack with Wolverine getting his claws energized by Gambit has become affectionately known among the fandom as "Cutting the Deck," or if you prefer, "Pair of Threes."
• Friendly Fandoms: With Invincible (2021), oddly enough, as both comic book-based animated series started airing in March (Invincible's Season 2 second half and X-Men '97's first season respectively). Some fans have even noted how uncannily similar Jean and Eve are.
• He's Just Hiding: Given Cable's brief appearance before the climax of "Remember It", more than a few have theorized that he'll be trying to Set Right What Once Went Wrong and undo the episode's events including the deaths of Gambit, Madelyne Pryor, and Magneto. Even among those who don't think it'll get retconned, there's heavy speculation that Magneto and/or Madelyne survived due to Never Found the Body. Sure enough, "Bright Eyes" reveals that Magento is alive... and is being held prisoner by Bastion.
• Ho Yay:
  • The gay subtext between Magneto and Xavier is through the roof.
    Magneto: Back when we were friends, I would always sense Charles in my mind. I was in his thoughts and he in mine. Not invading, more a presence. I told myself I needed [my helmet] to protect myself from his psychic powers...
    Rogue: But you were worried if you still felt how much he loved you, you wouldn't be able to go through with your crusade.
  • Morph and Wolverine aren't too far behind either, despite Morph currently using nongender pronouns. In episode three Morph is presented with an illusion that begins with Wolverine in the shower, and they react by making a joke about joining him.
• I Knew It!:
  • Storm loses her powers by episode 2. Titles of future episodes are "Lifedeath", a reference to a solo Storm story that deals with her losing her powers. Episode three ends with her meeting up with Forge, who played a key role in the "Lifedeath" storyline, further confirming where her arc was headed.
  • The Jean that gives birth to Nathan actually being Madelyne Pryor is hardly a surprise to anyone with some knowledge about X-Men, as Nathan is the birth name of Scott and Madelyne's son Cable.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Oh, crap."^note Probably one of the most genuinely hilarious moments as of episode 2 was Logan's look of horror when he realized that Jean was going into labor at the worst possible time. Jokes were made that he would rather fight Apocalypse (whom he made mention when Jean said "...he's here!") than deliver a baby and comparisons to Worf, who also had poor experiences with a woman going into labor at the worst possible time, were made.
  • She fainted! It's the real Jean!^note At the end of episode 2, a mysterious red-headed woman faints in Morph's arms looking for the X-Men with Cyclops uttering "...Jean..." in confusion and shock. Since a Running Gag in the original series was Jean's constant fainting spells, many fans have determined that this woman is the real Jean. The next episode confirmed that the mystery woman was in fact the real Jean, and the "Jean" who had been on the show until now was actually Madelyne Pryor.
  • "Milky Way Ghetto"^note In episode 6, Deathbird claims that Xavier marrying Lilandra means that he’ll move the Throneworld to Earth, calling it a “Milky Way ghetto”. Viewers were either laughing their asses off at such a description or wanting to throw down with her for saying that..
  • Maximilian mourning.^note During Gambit’s funeral, some of his family, including his brother Bobby, are there mourning. However, he looks strikingly like Maximilian despite the character being introduced three decades before.
• Misaimed Fandom: When a clip of X-Cutioner's "The Reason You Suck" Speech began circulating on Twitter, many users began praising him for his ideology and claiming that Mutants do deserve to be hunted due to their dangerous powers. This is in spite of the fact the show makes it clear he's a massive Hypocrite, as the scene in question has him saying this while he's attempting to murder Cyclops, who isn't fighting back. It's also been established numerous times in the original series (and in this very episode) that Mutants are hunted down regardless of how harmless their powers are, and many don't even pose a threat to humans at all. Best example is Sunspot, who doesn't even know how his powers work and thus can't even use them, is hunted down and even offers X-Cutioner's gang a massive reward for his release. They turn him down even though the reward from an affluent family could have funded more of their work, just because they want to see another mutant squirm. A big part of this is due to the obvious parallels being made between X-Cutioner's tirade against mutants and real life bigotry as he actually invokes common real life dog whistles, so a number of Alt-Right groups have jumped to the X-Cutioner's defence claiming he's right despite his actual argument to justify his attempted murder (mutants whine too much) being Insane Troll Logic.
• Moral Event Horizon: Mr. Sinister was already a piece of work in the original series, but he reveals himself to have somehow become even worse in '97 by orchestrating the massacre of Genosha, killing an untold number of innocent mutants all for his own ends. Two episodes late would reveal Bastion was pulling the strings on this atrocity, making this moment a line-crossing for him as well.
• Most Wonderful Sound:
  • The updated version of the classic theme had many fans dancing around in joy.
  • Ray Chase as Cyclops has been praised for sounding almost exactly like the late Norm Spencer. Hearing him cry "To me, my X-Men!" is glorious.
  • All of the voice actors returning to their original series characters have slipped back into their old characters like a glove.
    • Cal Dodd still embodies Wolverine's gruff but kind personality with his low, scratchy baritone.
    • Lenore Zann still carries Rogue's charm and passion through her trademark Southern accent.
    • Alison Sealy-Smith once again delivers Storm's trademark Large Ham descriptions of her powers with buttery-smooth gusto.
    • George Buza remains soft-spoken and friendly in his role as Beast.
    • Adrian Hough's accent for Nightcrawler displays his warm and compassionate personality, while also showing Kurt's astute observational qualities and penchant for good advice.
    • On a darker note, Christopher Britton continues as Mister Sinister, and is terrifying and maliciously over-the-top as ever.
  • The "SNIKT!" of Wolverine's claws.
  • The line "Previously, on X-Men" still effortlessly builds hype for the show to follow up on old plot points, with the new voice actors matching the original cadence and tone perfectly.
• Narm Charm: Madelyne declaring herself the Goblin Queen after putting on her Evil Costume Switch comes out of nowhere and sounds goofy to those who aren't familiar with the source material, but the fact she demonstrates exactly why Jean Grey is one of the most powerful psychics on Earth more than makes up for it.
• Older Than They Think:
  • Forge pulling out a spellbook and temporarily banishing the Adversary came out of left field for viewers who only know him as a Gadgeteer Genius, but the comics have long established that Forge is a trained shaman. He rarely uses sorcery unless facing a magical foe, but it's implied that even his mutation might have been induced by magic running in his bloodline.
  • Some fans online reacted negatively when it was leaked that Captain America would appear in the seventh episode, decrying it as being forced "MCU synergy" since no non-mutant heroes existed in the original show. In actuality, the original show did acknowledge the wider Marvel universe at points, including Captain America appearing in two episodes. And that's not even accounting that it shares a continuity with Spider-Man: The Animated Series which it crossed over with and had even more Captain America appearances.
  • Cap briefly mentioning "my team" led to speculation on whether or not the Avengers exist in the show's continuity yet. But their presence was confirmed back in Spider-Man's very first episode when he mentions them, suggesting that (as in the comics) the team actually formed before Captain America was revived in the modern day.
  • Equally, The Watcher's appearance in episode 5 also lead to cries of "MCU synergy" since this series arrived a few months after the end of What If…? (2021) season 2. In actuality, the comics have shown that Uatu has existed in every universe, even if he doesn't show up in series. Furthermore, Uatu did show up in the original series, appearing as one of those noticing the Dark Phoenix's awakening.
• Questionable Casting: Sunspot, a character who was explicitly Afro-Brazilian when first introduced, being voiced by Gui Agustini, a white actor of Brazilian descent, has caused controversy, not helped by fandom's bitterness over the character being whitewashed in Days of Future Past and The New Mutants in the past. The backlash got so bad it led to the original showrunner Beau DeMayo temporarily deleting his Twitter account.
• Shocking Moments: In Episode 5, "Remember It," a massive Tri-Sentinel attacks the mutant nation and island of Genosha under the orders of Mister Sinister, injuring or killing a massive number of mutants including named characters like Banshee and Sebastian Shaw, apparently killing Magneto, and definitively killing Gambit.
• Squick: The show doing a romantic relationship between Magneto and Rogue received very mixed reactions from fans. Despite the pairing having been a thing in the comics, it still didn't sit too well with a lot of viewers who were grossed out by the age difference as well as the power imbalance, with Magneto essentially being Rogue's boss after inheriting the X-Men from Xavier. "Remember It" did nothing to change this mindset with the reveal that Erik had met Rogue at a time in her life when she was extremely vulnerable and still under her mother's thumb, with the premise of a lost-feeling young woman being taken with a charismatic much older man being uncomfortably reminiscent of grooming to some fans.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Some fans felt it would’ve been more interesting to have Jean Grey be Nathan aka Cable’s mother, rather than Madelyne. The series plants the idea of Jean and Scott having to raise a mutant infant in a mutant-fearing world, but chooses to speed-runn the Inferno storyline to get Cable into the future. Despite the Summers family having loads of kids, Jean has technically never given birth herself in the comics, meaning it would’ve been a refreshing change at least.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Given the show is a sequel to a '90's show, is built around '80's-'90's X-Men storylines, and the marketing heavily focused on the nostalgia aspect, you wouldn't expect the show to have any characters introduced after 1997. But "Remember It" features Glob Herman (debuted in 2001), Squid-Boy (2002), Pixie (2004), Cipher (2008) and Nature Girl (2014) among the Genoshan populace. The same episode featured a brief cameo of the Watcher in the background.
  • Episode 6 surprisingly features Ronan the Accuser, who is wearing his comic accurate green armor, as well as another character who debuted after the 90s: Vulcan (2006).
  • Episode 7 not only guest-stars Captain America, but also General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who name drops the Hulk!
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic:
  • Magneto’s attitude towards Rogue especially in “Remember It” where he wants to make her Genosha’s queen. While it’s supposed to be a well-intentioned move for the betterment of mutantkind, it instead makes Erik seem like a Dirty Old Man who wants an excuse to marry Rogue and her initial fury at his proposal is perfectly justified. Also not helping Magneto’s case is how willingly he rubs it in Gambit’s face despite knowing how close he and Rogue are, making him look quite petty as well.
  • Jean’s fury at Scott and Madelyne for having a Mental Affair, while her situation obviously hasn’t been easy either, she still needs to respect Scott, as up until only a few days ago, he thought Madelyne was her and now he’s lost both his son and the person he thought was his wife. She calls Scott out for his ego, but doesn’t acknowledge how entitled she’s being. And to top it off, Jean willingly kisses Logan, just because she's mad at Scott.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: Despite being a continuation of the kid-friendly original show, the series has a good deal of content that wouldn't be appropriate for the original's target demographic including light swearing, sexual references and Body Horror imagery in the third episode. And then came Episode 5 ...
• WTH, Costuming Department?: Magneto forgoes his customary red and purple outfit when taking over leadership of the X-Men to instead don...a sleeveless purple leotard with an enormous M on the front, and evening gloves that leave his shoulders exposed. Admittedly it's accurate to the comics that the show is based upon, but it looks even stranger now than it did in the 1980s. Even worse, he wears this ensemble nearly all the time, including to breakfast.

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