When X-Men: The Animated Series first arrived on television screens on October 31st 1992, the show boasted an impressive team line-up. Ten mutants appeared within the team roster, including Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Beast, Gambit, Rogue, Jean Grey, Morph, Jubilee, and Professor Charles Xavier.
With the exception of Morph, who only appeared sporadically after the first couple of episodes, the above line-up remained the same throughout the series’ run. No matter what drama or conflict came their way, and no matter which enemies they faced, the X-Men remained a solid group.
However, during the course of the series, it was explained this wasn’t the only line-up of X-Men. When Professor Xavier founded the team, prior to the events of the series, the X-Men was a smaller group consisting of five members, in addition to Xavier.
The team included Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Jean Grey (under her Marvel Girl alias), as well as a winged mutant. This mutant was never named in the series, but did appear a number of times in flashback sequences.
Now, anyone who is familiar with the X-Men comics will instantly point out the winged mutant is Warren Worthington III, aka Angel, aka Archangel. In the comics, the original team of X-Men included Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Marvel Girl, as well as Angel, so it would make sense this is who appears in the flashback scenes on X-Men: The Animated Series.
However, there is a significant problem with this theory. The problem is, Warren Worthington III appeared during the first season of X-Men: The Animated Series, where he was introduced into the show for the first time in the episodes ‘The Cure‘ and ‘Come the Apocalypse‘.
At no point during these episodes was it specifically stated Warren was previously a member of the X-Men. Instead, he was introduced as a new character, who goes through a traumatic experience (thanks to Apocalypse) and transforms into Archangel.
At one point Warren interacts with Cyclops, and you could argue the show doesn’t state the characters DON’T know each other, but it doesn’t appear that they do. It seems as if this is their first meeting.
Warren reappeared on the show in the season three episode, ‘Obsession’, and also popped up in the season four episodes, ‘Beyond Good and Evil: Parts Three and Four‘, and once again there is no mention of him being a former member. He also made a brief non-speaking (and confusing) appearance in season four’s ‘Xavier Remembers’, but this seems to suggest he will become a member of the X-Men in the future.
So, what gives? Was Warren a member of the original line-up of the X-Men or not? Is this some kind of mistake?
Well, the details are kept vague, and you could maybe argue he was once a member of the team, but no, he was not. However, there is a mistake in play here, so let me explain.
When the original season of X-Men: The Animated Series was written, Warren was introduced as a new character. He had never been part of the team before, and his first appearance in ‘The Cure‘ was his first appearance overall.
But as X-Men: The Animated Series moved into later seasons, and the show began to include flashbacks to the early days of the X-Men, somewhere along the line the writers made a mistake. They included a winged ‘Warren-like’ character in the flashbacks (to follow suit with the comics), overlooking the fact this mutant should not have been Warren.
Once the mistake had been made, the show just ran with it. However, as the mutant was never named, the show simply didn’t address his identity, so as far as anyone was concerned, this could have been any mutant.
Some viewers understandably presumed this was Warren and simply never questioned it any further. Others will tell you to this day that it IS 100% Warren Worthington III in those flashbacks, but let me tell you now, I don’t believe it is.
How do I know? Because the show explicitly tells viewers Warren WILL become one of the X-Men. It never ever states he WAS.
In the episode ‘Beyond Good and Evil: Part Three‘, the time-travelling mutant, Shard, is on a mission with the X-Men to track down the psychic mutant, Psylocke, when she spots Warren/Archangel. Although Shard has never met Warren, she knows who he is, because she is from the future and has a vast knowledge of the team.
It is here that Shard drops a key piece of dialogue. She says: “I know him. Archangel. Destined to join the X-Men.”
Note the words ‘destined to join’.
Warren/Archangel was not previously a member of the X-Men, but as noted by Shard, he is destined to become one of the team. At some point in the X-Men’s future (and Shard’s past), Warren will officially join the team.
So, if the winged mutant isn’t Warren/Archangel, then who is he? Well, once again, I’ll draw your attention to an earlier point: It’s deliberately kept vague, because a continuity mistake was made by the writers.
Until the identity of this mutant is explained in follow-up show, X-Men ’97 (and it may never get explained), simply presume it is some other mutant. Maybe it is another mutant with wings, maybe it is a shapeshifter like Morph, or maybe it is actually Warren, and some re-working of the existing mythology will take place.
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One Response to Is Archangel one of the original X-Men in X-Men: The Animated Series?
It obviously is meant to be Warren/Angel. The Brotherhood don’t seem to know each other or Rogue in the first season yet in season 2 we see a flash back of them all together set before season 1. It’s just dodgy continuity. Shard knew Angel was once an X-Man so seeing as he wasn’t a member when she travelled back to the 90s she may have assumed he would become a member rather than he had already been a member and left. It’s easy to dismiss what she said as an error in her knowledge of history.
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