X-Men ’97 is a big hit with audiences. The animated show – a sequel/continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series – made its debut last week and has been embraced by fans old and new.
Not only does X-Men ‘97 offer plenty of excitement, and some very intriguing storylines, the show is also respectful to the original series. As discussed in a previous post, the series contains all the fan-favourite characters from X-Men: The Animated Series (Morph, Bishop, Gambit, etc), and there are plenty of in-jokes and references in the new series, which provide call-backs to the original show.
I’ve previously covered 23 references and in-jokes to Episode One, in my look at ‘To Me, My X-Men’, and now it is time to turn the focus onto Episode Two, ‘Mutant Liberation Begins’. This episode also contains plenty of little nods and winks to the past, as well as a few references to the wider X-Men universe, and I want to highlight all the details so they don’t get missed.
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Don’t skip the credits
First up, these days it is customary to skip the opening credits to TV shows, and streaming services are falling over themselves to encourage subscribers to hit the ‘skip intro’ button, but don’t do it for X-Men ‘97! Even if you’re slightly tempted, just don’t do it!
Not only will you miss out on the show’s awesome theme tune, but you’ll also be missing out on some fun new details! The opening credits to Episode Two are slightly different to the credits used in Episode One.
The opening credits to Episode Two, ‘Mutant Liberation Begins‘, contains some new additions, beginning with the inclusion of a credit for Magneto! Magneto is now the head of the X-Men, following the death of Professor Charles Xavier, and this means Xavier is bumped out of the credits in favour of Magneto.
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A link to the past
The tweaked credits for ‘Mutant Liberation Begins’ also include four nods to X-Men: The Animated Series via newly inserted scenes for Storm, Jean Grey, Bishop, and Magneto.
The first is a scene showing Storm in battle against Callisto. This scene is in reference to the episode ‘Captive Hearts’, which saw Storm and Callisto battle it out to become leader of the sewer-dwelling mutants known as the Morlocks.
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A dark day
Following on from above, the second new scene in the credits is for Jean Grey. Here she can be seen in her Dark Phoenix guise, which is a nod to the X-Men: The Animated Series four-part storyline, ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga‘.
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Out of time
The third new scene in the opening credits is a quick flash of Bishop, surrounded by concentric coloured circles. This is a reference to Bishop’s time-travelling adventures in multiple episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series.
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A space for evil
The fourth new scene in the opening credits is reserved for Magneto and is a quick shot of Asteroid M, Magneto’s former base of operations. Asteroid M featured in the two-part story, ‘Sanctuary’.
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M for Magneto
Onto the episode now, and ‘Mutant Liberation Begins’ kicks off with Magneto performing a couple of rescues. In these opening scenes (as well as in the opening credits), Magneto is sporting a new outfit – very different to how he dressed in his villainous days in X-Men: The Animated Series.
This new costume isn’t entirely new – a version of it existed in the comics. When Magneto switched allegiances and worked with the X-Men during the 1980s, he wore a similar costume.
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A Rogue’s Tale
After Magneto performs some heroic deeds, the X-Men are gathered in the War Room discussing his actions and whether he can be trusted. During this scene, Rogue suggests giving Magneto a chance, and notes that he’s not the only one with a shady past, a number of the X-Men have skeletons in their closet.
Rogue is including herself in this comment, as prior to working with the X-Men she was part of a team of mutants, led by the villainous shape-shifter, Mystique. The details of Rogue’s difficult past were depicted in the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘A Rogues Tale’.
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Costume change
During an early scene in ‘Mutant Liberation Begins’, Jean Grey has a conversation with Storm while holding up her old Marvel Girl costume. It is here Jean notes she has not worn the outfit since the battle on the blue area of the Moon.
This is a reference to the Dark Phoenix Saga storyline, and more specifically to the episode ‘The Fate of the Phoenix’. In this episode from X-Men: The Animated Series, Jean and the X-Men battle the Shi’ar in an attempt to save Jean’s life.
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A hidden romance
And now for a past storyline which is alluded to in ‘Mutant Liberation Begins’, but was NOT part of X-Men: The Animated Series. This storyline is the secret romance/relationship between Magneto and Rogue.
A couple of scenes in this episode hints that Magneto and Rogue had a romantic encounter in the past. For once, this conversation about the past has nothing to do with X-Men: The Animated Series, and is a reference to a plot point which audiences haven’t seen before.
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Language, please
A quick observation now. Sharp-eared audiences will notice in this episode Wolverine uses the word ‘pissed’ in a conversation, which is a word he would not have used in X-Men: The Animated Series.
There were a number of restrictions placed on swearing and violence in the original show, and such language would have not made it onto screen. However, for X-Men ’97 there aren’t so many restrictions, which is why this new series can get away with a little bit more colourful language.
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On trial
A key plot point in ‘Mutant Liberation Begins’ is the trial of Magneto. This storyline features heavily in the episode, and deals with Magneto’s supposed redemption.
This storyline is lifted from the original X-Men comics, when the comic book version of Magneto also stood trial.
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A new villain, an old voice
‘Mutant Liberation Begins’ introduces a new villain in the form of the X-Cutioner. He’s ‘new’ because although he first appeared in the X-Men comics back in 1993, he never appeared in X-Men: The Animated Series, making him an entirely new villain for X-Men ‘97.
But X-Cutioner isn’t entirely new, as his voice does have a connection to the past. X-Cutioner voice actor, Lawrence Bayne, previously voiced Cable, Erik the Red, and Captain America on X-Men: The Animated Series.
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Back-up
A quick observation: In this episode, Beast can be seen wearing a little backpack. This isn’t a new addition – he wore a similar backpack in X-Men: The Animated Series, most notably in the episode, ‘Obsession’.
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Locked up
Another quick observation: During the trial of Magneto, Gambit and Jubilee can be seen in a flashback shot, where they are stood behind bars wearing power dampening collars. This shot is a reference to the X-Men: The Animated Series episode, ‘Slave Island’, which saw Gambit, Jubilee, and Storm imprisoned on the island of Genosha.
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Powerless
One of the most notable (and shocking) parts of the trial of Magneto is a scene in which Storm is shot with a weapon which removes her powers. In the scene, Storm is hit with a powerful blast from the X-Cutioner’s gun, while she is protecting Magneto.
This storyline is lifted from the comics, but tweaked. In the original comic book version of the story, Storm is hit with a blast while protecting Rogue, not Magneto.
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A change of face
Observation: Morph transforms into four different mutants during the course of ‘Mutant Liberation Begins’, including Lady Deathstrike, Colossus, Psylocke, and Sabretooth. All four mutant characters previously appeared on X-Men: The Animated Series.
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Queen of my heart
Another quick observation: When Gambit spies on Rogue and Magneto towards the end of the episode, he is stood in the shadows holding a playing card. This card then falls from his hand.
The card is the Queen of Hearts. This is a reference to Rogue being the queen of gambit’s heart.
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Will the real Jean Grey please stand up
And finally, as the episode draws to a close, ‘Mutant Liberation Begins‘ ends on a cliff-hanger as the X-Men encounter a second Jean Grey. Before the credits roll, there is confusion as to which is the real Jean, but long-time fans may already know the answer!
How could they know? Because the Jean who arrives at the X-Mansion instantly faints as she asks for the X-Men’s help. A long-running joke about X-Men: The Animated Series is the fact Jean fainted quite often, meaning the real Jean is likely to be the one who is at the front door.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this post about the X-Men ’97 on It’s A Stampede! – I hope it has proved useful. For more useful posts, be sure to check out the recommended reads below.
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