What are we all waiting for?
Invitations?
I got invitations right here.
Ask any X-Men fan, and they'll largely
agree that the '90s was the apex of the franchise thanks in part
to X-Men the Animated Series.
The show would become a gateway for countless young fans,
but the standout episodes of the series
would also be one of the finest stories of the original comic,
The Dark Phoenix Saga.
With its clever adaptive changes and perfect understanding
of the characters, these episodes
prove to be the rare comic adaptation that
manages to both elevate and do justice to the source material.
But before we explore what makes this
the best of X-Men the Animated Series,
don't forget to like and subscribe to Nerdstalgic.
Looking back on X-Men the Animated Series,
there are certainly aspects that haven't aged as well.
The animation feels stiffer and lackluster,
especially when compared to shows like Batman
the Animated Series.
However, where X-Men shined was in its use
of longform serialized storytelling.
Each episode truly felt like you were picking up
an issue of a comic book.
As such, when picking a perfect episode of the series,
it's impossible to narrow it down to just one.
Initially running from 1992 to 1997,
X-Men the Animated Series almost didn't happen.
Producer Haim Saban used a season
of Power Rangers as a bargaining chip
to convince Fox to air the series,
refusing to air the next season of Power Rangers
if X-Men wasn't given the green light.
Fox didn't believe in it, but the show and its massive Toy
Biz toy line rocketed to success.
With its multi-part stories and status quo shifting events,
the series captured the thrill of wondering
what was going to happen to your favorite characters that
makes collecting comics such an addicting hobby.
Now this was groundbreaking for its time,
as most kids' cartoons opted for episodic adventure of the week
storytelling where the status quo was
reset by the end of each episode.
It was this commitment to building
upon the stories of these characters episode
after episode that allowed the series to masterfully adapt
the Chris Claremont and John Byrne epic The Dark Phoenix
Saga.
Early in the series' third season,
Jean Grey undertook her transformation
into the Phoenix in episodes three through seven,
simply titled The Phoenix Saga.
I am Phoenix!
Not long after this change, the four part story Dark Phoenix,
episodes 14 through 17, aired.
In this story, Jean's control over the Phoenix
becomes unstable, thanks to the manipulations of the villains
Mastermind and the White Queen, a member of the Inner Circle,
originally called the Hellfire Club in the comics
but sanitized for kids' cartoon standards.
Due to the Inner Circle's interference,
the Phoenix Force eventually becomes too powerful for Jean
to maintain her control and lashes out at the X-Men,
fully emerging as the Dark Phoenix.
The Dark Phoenix flies off into space,
destroying an extinct star system
and catching the attention of the intergalactic Shi'ar
Empire.
The X-Men confront their wayward ally
and manage to help her regain control, only
to be abducted by the Shi'ar.
The Shi'ar explain the Phoenix must
be put to death to avoid a possible extinction event.
The X-Men challenge the Shi'ar Imperial Guard to a trial
by combat for the life of their friend Jean Grey.
Each of these episodes is perfectly paced,
which is impressive considering the behind
the scenes constraints the writers and animators were
under.
This faithfulness to the original story
was caused in part by the tight production
schedules enforced on the show by parent company Saban.
There was little to no time to make major alterations
to the story's plot, so the writers
were forced to cut away some extraneous details as well
as some of Claremont's purple prose
while leaving the majority of the plot intact.
Considering these time challenges,
the episodes end up being an impressive feat
of writing, making almost nine issues of a comic book fit
into four easily digestible 22 minute acts.
Writers Jan Strnad, Stephen Levi, Larry Parr,
and Brooks Wachtel keep the plot moving
without sacrificing any of the standout moments,
such as the introduction of the Hellfire Club,
Wolverine's decimation of the Hellfire goons--
The water's fine.
--or the epic final battle on the blue area of the Moon.
Any fans of the original comic will find just about all
of their favorite scenes from the comic within.
The culmination of this story with each
of the X-Men willing to put their lives
on the line for their friend Jean Grey
perfectly illustrates what makes X-Men the Animated Series so
special.
Through the show's serialized storytelling,
the audience has watched this group of misfits become a found
family.
When each of the characters internally
share why they're choosing to fight for Jean,
it's impossible not to feel the emotional weight
of what these characters are about to experience.
Comparing these four episodes to the two films
that attempted to adapt this story, 2006's
X-Men The Last Stand and 2019's X-Men the Dark Phoenix,
only reinforces why these are the best of the series.
First, both cinematic attempts to adapt the Dark Phoenix saga
lacked the depth of characterization
for the entire ensemble cast of the X-Men.
Although the animated series had the advantage
of multiple years' worth of character development,
the movies only gave the most surface level explorations
of characters like Jean Grey and Cyclops,
making the emotional impact of these films fall flat.
These movies also fail to understand
that Jean and Cyclops' relationship
is at the heart of what makes the Dark Phoenix saga work.
Don't worry, my darling.
I'll stay a while longer.
X-Men the Last Stand not only unceremoniously kills off
Cyclops in the first act but turns Jean Grey into a living
prop, robbing us of any understanding
of her internal agency over the course of the story.
Similarly, X-Men Dark Phoenix keeps Cyclops and Jean
separated for much of the film's runtime
and never gives Cyclops or Jean the spotlight long enough
for their relationship to feel important to the audience.
By glossing over the character building of the ensemble
to focus on the big name characters like Wolverine,
the Fox X-Men films are unable to properly adapt
the Dark Phoenix saga.
The animated series succeeds in every area
where the film fails.
These episodes were certainly faithful to the comics.
But more importantly, the show takes the time
to invest the audience in the relationship between Jean Grey
and Cyclops.
Jean!
We've watched their commitment to one another deepen
over the course of the series.
Additionally, the show's handling
of the Dark Phoenix as a concept has
a strong allegorical significance.
Why do you care about this body?
I love her.
The way Professor X and Cyclops discuss
Jean's struggles in the first episode
feels similar to conversations about terminal illness.
The story of the Dark Phoenix is massive and intergalactic,
but the reason it has become a classic
is because of the personal stakes.
Scott and Jean know they're living on borrowed time,
and while the story culminates in a battle of the blue area
of the Moon against alien warriors,
it is ultimately a story about a person
who must confront their mortality
and how the people who love her and support her in what
may be her final days.
The animated series captures this pathos
of this idea beautifully, further cementing
why it's one of the finest arcs of the series.
For those familiar with the comics,
these episodes largely follow Claremont and Byrnes'
original story beat for beat.
In fact, it makes changes that with the benefit of hindsight
probably should have been used in the original comic.
It's a rare adaptation that not only faithfully adapts
the source material but in some ways improves upon it.
In the original comic series, the Dark Phoenix
destroys a solar system filled with sentient beings,
essentially committing a massive cosmic genocide.
This storytelling decision ultimately doomed Jean Grey,
as Marvel editor Jim Shooter found the idea of Jean
being forgiven for this act, possessed or not,
to be impossible to sell to readers.
After some debate on what Jean's fate should be,
Claremont decided the best course would
be to kill off Jean in the end.
The animated series avoids this problem
by having Jean destroy an uninhabited galaxy rather than
one populated by aliens.
This leads to the other major departure
from the original source material.
Jean Grey lives.
When it becomes clear that the tide of the battle
has turned against the X-Men, Jean
allows herself to be disintegrated
by a Shi'ar cannon.
This act frees the Phoenix and returns it
to a benevolent state.
The Phoenix tells the X-Men that it can resurrect Jean,
but only if each of them gives a fraction of their own life
force.
They agree without hesitation.
Although some may see this as a kaput
to Claremont's bold choice to kill off
one of the founding members of the X-Men,
it's actually an affecting summation
of the story's themes.
When facing death, we all yearn for a few more moments
with our loved ones, even at great personal costs
to ourselves.
In the comics, Jean would inevitably
be resurrected time and time again,
and her initial death would cause
a lot of strange messiness in the personal life of Scott
Summers, such as his marriage to Jean's clone Madelyne
Pryor, that made the character deeply unlikable.
The cartoon, by contrast, was able to sidestep these mistakes
and keep Jean alive in a fashion that
felt both logical and functioned as an emotionally
satisfying ending to the story.
Beyond being the best episodes of X-Men the Animated Series,
these episodes are an illustration of the way
to do comic adaptations right.
Show reverence and faithfulness to the source material,
but don't hesitate to look at how the stories succeed
and fail in the eyes of fans and make changes that
suit the themes of the story.
What do you think?
Is this one of the best X-Men the Animated Series episodes,
or is there another you'd rank as number one?
Let us know in the comments, and as always, be sure to like
and subscribe to Nerdstalgic.