Bishop, Rogue, Professor X, Magneto, and Nightcrawler take fighting stances. (Credit: Disney)
Directed by:
Chase Conley, Emmett Yonemura, Jake Castorena
Written by:
Beau DeMayo, Mariah Wilson, Anthony Sellitti, JB Ballard, Brian Ford Sullivan, Bailey Moore, Matthew Chauncey, based on the characters by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee (with Joe Simon given co-credit for Captain America’s creation).
Starring:
Ray Chase, Ross Marquand, George Buza, Jennifer Hale, Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, Alison Sealy-Smith, Matthew Waterson, Holly Chou, JP Karliak, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Gui Augustini, Chris Potter, Adrian Hough, Catherine Disher, Gil Birmingham, A.J. LoCascio
Monique’s review:
SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 BELOW
X-Men ’97 Season 1 was a tour-de-force, a breath of fresh air, a worthy continuation of the original animated series. Season 2, however? It’s wobbly, to say the least. At worst, the tight and refreshing writing has suffered greatly between seasons.
Does that depletion in quality hinge on Disney firing Beau DeMayo? I don’t know, especially if DeMayo did actually making the writing team a possible living hell, or did extracurricular activities that reflected poorly on Disney as a company. I don’t know what DeMayo actually did or didn’t do as far as possible poor conduct, and if he was a terrible boss, I’d never wish that on anyone. Also, certainly, the writing team can’t solely hinge on one man. But I do wonder if Season 2’s writing team needed someone with an overarching vision for the season. As I faithfully watched each episode every week, I realized with a growing, sinking feeling that this season didn’t have the clarity and stubborn vision as the first. The season finale clinched it.
En-Sabah-Nur, the man Apocalypse once was. (Credit: Disney)
According to comic book purists, Rogue had defeated Apocalypse before, including a time when she did have Celestial powers. Her being able to defeat Apocalypse this time in the season finale, therefore, does have comic-accurate roots. But, let’s be real–is it satisfying to see Rogue press heat-press Apocalypse into a gem to give to Cable, the man whose entire life has been defined by a destiny to kill Apocalypse himself? Can we really say it’s satisfying to see Rogue swoop in and quickly dissolve the tension and drama that had built throughout the episode? For me, it wasn’t. Rogue didn’t just defeat Apocalypse; she also defeated any powerful storytelling with one face-grab.
To be fair, it’s not Rogue’s fault–she was written to do that. And also to be fair to the writers, I know how hard it is to write something, much less nine episodes of a popular show with legacy characters. But this season was herky-jerky at the best of times, and just tonally abhorrent at the worst. How do we go from several episodes building up a detailed storyline of possibly defeating Apocalypse in the past, before he even becomes Apocalypse, to heading to the future for a jaunt with Cable, to Sunspot and Jubilee joining up with Cable and his crew, to Wolverine battling with alien roaches to get his claws back?
Season 1 made it clear to the viewers that stopping Apocalypse was going to be the biggest story in Season 2, yet Season 2 spent too many episodes away from the threat. Then, at the very end, we get the sense that, for the right mutant, Apocalypse isn’t really a threat at all. Overall, it just gives a big deflating feeling to the whole mystique (no pun intended) of Apocalypse as not only a villain, but an inevitable Nexus Being.
As for this season’s positives, Nightcrawler, one of my favorite X-Men characters, was a true highlight. We learned a lot more about his personal philosophy on faith and life, and frankly, if we followed him for most of the season instead of being stuck with the Apocalypse albatross, I would have been happy. But even then, Season 2 hits us with an unnecessary jab to the ribs–Nightcrawler sacrifices himself so that Rogue, who has used Ship’s portal to Eson the Searcher to gain the Celestial power, doesn’t have to give up her life once she saves Gambit from Apocalypse. I can see this sacrifice as something Nightcrawler could do, and I know no one’s really dead–if Gambit can come back after dying, Nightcrawler certainly can. But again, I ask–is it earned? Isn’t this just an “OMG, I can’t believe this!” moment for the show to go out on, only to renege it at some point in Season 3? Couldn’t the Mystique post-scene have been the in-show gotcha moment by itself?
Storm was also a cool highlight, but she wasn’t used this season nearly as much as I would have liked. (Credit: Disney)
Anyways, as for my final thoughts on this season, X-Men ’97‘s writing team needs to take a look at the season’s highs and lows and figure out how to come back stronger in Season 3. This season was fun with individual episodes. But as a whole, it just didn’t stand up to the tight storytelling and commentary that Season 1 had.
If things did all boil down DeMayo’s vision, then Disney had better find someone who matches his vision fast to lead the writer’s team. Because with Mystique’s characterization in the balance, the last thing we need is another villain to start strongly, only to peter out and trip at the finish line.
