Marvel obviously saw great promise in the previously defunct X-Men animated series that reigned supreme back in the days of Saved By The Bell and Beverly Hills 90210, otherwise they wouldn’t have taken such lavish care trying to recreate everything from the animation style, to inviting back original cast members to limber up the old vocal chords for one more mutant rodeo. However, while the show initially had a great start, I personally felt like that balance between new and old storytelling techniques was starting to get a little shaky with some fast episodes going too fast and the slow ones going too slow.
Well, scratch all that, because with X-Men ’97’s fifth episode, we finally see how hard the show can possibly hit as it offers up a devastating instalment of animated carnage that somehow manages to hit as hard as the last ten minutes of Avengers: Infinity War. Brace yourself, we’re about to enter a stunning new high water mark in the world of the X-Men. Even with a week of solid training in the Danger Room, you still wouldn’t be prepared, believe me.
The X-Men are still in a period of adjustment after numerous status quo shifts have put them somewhat off balance. The Jean Grey that Cyclops fathered a son with was revealed to have been a clone who has since taken her own name, Madelyne Pryor, after their son, Nathan, was zapped into the future to save him from an incurable virus. On top of that, Storm has left the team while Magneto, on the wishes of the late Charles Xavier, runs it, but surely the most far reaching shift is the fact that the mutant utopia known as Genosha has been recognized and accepted by the UN which means that thousands of mutant will finally have a safe haven to live and create their own culture.
In the midst of this, a surprising revelation emerges that years ago, back in their Savage Land days, both Magneto and Rogue had an affair due to Magus having the ability to be imune to her draining touch thanks to his magnetic fields. As shocking as that may be to us (the age gap alone is stupendous), it’s even more harmful to Gambit, especially considering that the Genoshan council have nominated Magneto to be their king who in turn nominates Rogue to be his queen.
However, all the other spots of drama soon pale into insignificance when a Sentinel the size of Godzilla suddenly arrives and lays waste to the entire city, killing mutants in biblical numbers and even the combined powers of Magneto, Rogue, Gambit and Nightcrawler can’t hope to make a dent in the collossal killing machine.
As the massacre continues unabated and mutants both familiar and new fall under hammering lasers, a sacrifice occurs that stand above all others as the greatest tragedy in mutant history makes it’s mark.
If you had told me a year ago that an episode of an animated show that was a sequel to a 90s cartoon would have my bottom lip quivering like mad, I would have laughed in your face, but straight talk; Remember It may be the single greatest achievement in Marvel television history. It’s scale is huge, but its focus is intimate and the ramifications of what occurs within this devastating slice of televisual is nothing short of stunning. All that business about story balance I’ve been harping on about over the last few episodes has been utterly and truly blown out of the window as the episode nails almost each and every plot point it has to serve up before delivering a climax that goes far harder than you could possibly imagine.
My earlier comparison to Infinity War is no accident as the episode lines virtually up all the currently dangling plot points to keep your focus well and truly away from the looming disaster so and it does it with impressive maturity. Take the opening moments that sees the X-Men being interviewed by news reporter Trish Trilby on the eve of Genosha’s big day; both Cyclops and Jean Grey are interviewed about their relationship and not only do both stumble when it comes to the whereabouts of Nathan Summers, but both give very different accounts of a pivotal moment in their lives. We also get a inner glimpse of Scott’s grief when his boy scout resolve finally crumbles and he starts ranting bitterly about human/mutant relations. Conversely, the doubt that Jean feels surfaces when she makes a pass at Wolverine, only for him to gently let her down – which is something if a big deal for the redhead loving Canuck.
Elsewhere, there’s more love triangle shenanigans when we find out that Magneto and Rogue were once an item tears ago when the latter was a young super-villain in training and the former was apparently a sliver fox with a thing for southern accents. While it’s quite a jarring thing to witness flashbacks while the two get it on, it finally gives Gambit and Rogue something really substantial to play with for the first time this season. In fact, the love triangle angle works incredibly well, delivering some genuinely emotionally charged moments and a breathtaking moment when Rogue and Magneto dance romantically a good twenty feet above a staring dance floor.
And then everything goes to hell and the episode goes from great to legendary. With side characters falling like nine pins, the best way I can think to describe the experience is like the first time I watched Transformers: The Movie when beloved Autobot characters suddenly had the survival rate of a skinny dipper in a Jaws movie. While some are shocking in a minor sense (the Morlocks don’t come out of things too well), there’s some major ones too that will shake the show down to its very core and it doesn’t feel cheap either as each fateful blast carries legitimately weight – let’s put it this way, when Nightcrawler gets caught in a blast, you’re so convinced that anyone could buy it, you’ll let out a legitimate gasp.
However, the most staggering moments are reserved for the most jaw-dropping deaths of the episode. Madelyne Pryor gets a quick visit from future warrior, Cable (actually her grown son, Nathan) who tragically tries to warn her far too late before getting vaporized, but the real headline is Gambit goes out in a blaze of glory when taking on the massive, Master Mold Sentinel on his own. Not only is the moment suitably epic (Akira-style bike slide ftw), but the way he goes out is so fucking awsome and heroic, I defy there to be a dry eye in the house.
The influence of the MCU here is immense as episode five manages to deliver genuine emotion while weaving it into kickass superheroics and some major call back that all pay off to deliver something truly memorable.
In fact, the only possible down point that I can think of is that Marvel Studios have maybe raise the bar too high for themselves when mutants finally enter the MCU for real.
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