X-Men: The Animated Series dazzled '90s viewers with action, drama, and real-world storytelling.
So sophisticated is this cartoon, in fact, that a whole lot of it goes over kids' heads.
We're here to explore those details aimed straight at X-Men's older audience.
Disenfranchised people have long seen themselves
in the X-Men, and the creators behind the animated series knew how important it was to respect that.
As writer Julia Lewald told Vulture, "[Fox was] very conscious of making the
show inclusive without being intrusive about it." The show's interest in diversity extended beyond
the main cast, as well. Bishop, a Black mutant from the future, was one one of the show's
most memorable guest characters. Racism is also handled head-on. In the episode One Man’s Worth,
the team is forced to deal with a racist who confronts Storm and Wolverine when he sees
them holding hands. The series also doesn't shy away from powerful women, allowing Rogue,
Storm, Jean Grey, and others to dazzle on screen. This was accomplished in part by deliberately
hiring more female writers. "Forget it lady!
Scott's my date!" X-Men is even relatively
progressive where gender identity is concerned. Consider the actions of shapeshifters such as
Morph and Mystique, who often change gender to flirt with the opposite sex.
It might seem smart to keep politics
out of a Saturday morning cartoon, but there's no way to completely eliminate the political
nature of the X-Men. One of the series' main antagonists in the first few episodes is Senator
Robert Kelly, who declares his intentions to run for president. Kelly is playing to
his highly xenophobic base, which means that his policies are heavily anti-mutant.
Later on, Professor X takes center stage when he meets with politicians,
and even goes to Washington to speak on behalf of mutants everywhere. Russian politics come up
in an episode in which the Russian X-Man Colossus' past is explored, and Russian
serial killer Omega Red attempts to overthrow the government. Not even Canada looks clean,
once Wolverine's past working for the Canadian government is covered in a searing episode.
X-Men also explores intra-mutant politics, like those of the Morlocks,
a band of mutants who dwell underground. Storm ultimately challenges Callisto, their leader,
in an effort to save the team. Her victory makes Storm the technical leader of the sewer-dwellers,
though she doesn't stick around to abuse that power and later relinquishes it back to Callisto.
Superhero comics usually follow
individuals portrayed as being at peak physical condition, who are poured into tight spandex.
The X-Men and many of their foes are no exception, and their cartoon gets positively
risqué at times. Consider Rogue, who is one of the more flirtatious characters in the show.
She deals with the fact that her mutant power means that she can't touch
anyone by delivering flirty lines. When Rogue first sees Colossus, she muses:
"Now that is a shame, locking up a big good looking hunk of mutant like that."
Rogue's voice actress, Lenore Zann, has said that creators were, quote, "asking for a sexy,
husky female voice with a Southern accent." Clearly, they got what they asked for.
Flirty interactions between unexpected characters often make the most impact in X-Men.
Sabretooth asks Wolverine if he wants to "kiss and make up," while in the same episode,
Rogue flirts with Cyclops as she gives him CPR: "Come on, pretty boy, make a girl feel welcome."
She follows this up once their powers return to normal by telling Cyclops that
they’ll have to try it again sometime. Things get even more overt when Cyclops
is kidnapped by the Morlocks for the purpose of giving Callisto an heir. Kids might not pick up on
these sly innuendos, but adults definitely will.
Slavery infests some of the darkest parts of human history, and depicting it, especially in
a Saturday morning cartoon, can leave quite an impression. In a season one arc, several members
of the X-Men are sent to investigate the tropical vacation spot and mutant utopia known as Genosha.
But everything about the island is a lie. The heroes are soon captured and thrown
into cells with other mutants, who are kept alive and used as slave labor.
Each of them is forced to wear a collar that dampens their powers, except when their powers are
necessary to do manual labor. It makes for brutal viewing, especially for a children's cartoon.
Other forms of extreme bigotry are examined within the series. When exploring Magneto's past, the
Holocaust is alluded to. Mutants are rounded up and imprisoned, especially in episodes exploring
the future. Senator Kelly even talks about putting them in internment camps before he is saved by the
X-Men and turned into an ally. Mutants always seem one step away from being banished, segregated,
or losing all of their rights.
The X-Men deal with hatred and persecution constantly. It's a theme that is explored
throughout the majority of their comics, and the cartoon captures it excellently.
Mutants are hated, hunted, and attacked. Their most active human enemies are soon given a name:
The Friends of Humanity. It isn't hard to see that this collective is meant to mirror
modern-day neo-Nazi groups, down to their symbolism, rallies, and mob-like mentality.
The best example of this comes in the episode Beauty and the Beast.
Beast and a colleague have developed a treatment to restore a young woman's sight,
but her father hates Beast and wants him away from his daughter. It's an emotional story,
as Beast is in love with the young woman, who is later kidnapped by the hate group.
It is also an episode in which the audience hears the word "bigot," as the show draws a
direct parallel between the plight of mutants and persecuted groups in the real world.
The AIDS epidemic was a major part of the
'80s and '90s, one which led to the stigmatization of the gay community. In addition to being
associated with other marginalized groups, the X-Men are often seen as a reflection of the gay
community as well. So it isn't a surprise that an arc about a deadly virus sweeping through
the mutant community has drawn some comparisons to AIDS. Granted, the Legacy Virus storyline involves
some outlandish superhero storytelling, what with its time travel and the whole plague being a plot
by the villain Apocalypse. But there are still some poignant moments, and the comparison holds.
Much in the same way that victims of the AIDS epidemic were treated with fear and hostility
by the mainstream, rather than the care and compassion they deserved, the manufactured Legacy
Virus is used to frame mutants in a bad light and generate more hatred toward them. Anti-mutant
bigots claim mutants infect humans with the virus. Graydon Creed, leader of the F.O.H.,
accidentally infects himself with it, before blaming his infection on the mutant Bishop.
In the future that Bishop is trying to prevent, many mutants are shown
to be locked up in quarantine out of societal fear, and even more have died from the Legacy
Virus. Though the X-Men do eventually save the day, the image of stigmatized,
suffering mutants lingers.
Though the character spends the majority of the first season in jail, Beast is,
in fact, lucky to be there, since he was almost not included in the show at all.
George Buza's performance and the writers' passion for the character made sure Beast became a bigger
part of season two. Audiences see Beast's big brain at work all the time, and are regaled
with his many musings, philosophical answers, and overly verbose intellectual statements.
Younger viewers are most likely confused by this blue-haired genius, as when, in one episode,
he discusses a teammate's "nom de guerre." Adults, however, might get a good chuckle
out of Beast's advanced vocabulary. Beast is often seen reading, especially while in prison.
It pays off: He readily cites the works of Shakespeare, Lord Tennyson, and John Donne.
"Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry. John Wesslian.
In mere moments the files will be no more." Beast isn't the only one who gets to deploy
references that most kids won't grasp, however. Morph gets some stolen Robert Frost lines in.
Wolverine quotes Dirty Harry and The Shining to terrifying effect. Rogue makes an obscure
golf reference. Then there are the large number of scientific terms used throughout the series, like
when the team learns about temporal displacement and Darwinism. You certainly can’t accuse X-Men of
lacking in educational content!
Being a member of the X-Men isn't easy. The fighting is constant, and often leads to death.
Viewers are exposed to this early on in the first story arc when Morph is thought to have been
killed. Later on, the Dark Phoenix storyline deals a devastating blow to the X-Men with Jean Grey's
apparent death. There is also the series finale, which sees the team deal with the loss of Charles
Xavier, who narrowly avoids death but becomes lost to his mutant family, perhaps forever.
While the deaths in the show often end up being more temporary than they first seem, the grief
the characters feel at the time is genuine. The show also explores several alternate
worlds that force viewers to confront the deaths of beloved characters. The Days of
Future Past episodes follow Wolverine in the future, condemned to walk past the graves of
all his fallen friends. Another world features a married Wolverine and Storm, who are recruited to
help set time right again. Tragically, doing this means that their lives, and their love,
are erased. The tears they shed when they realize that they have succeeded are deeply sad.
The most unique instance of loss on the show comes when the mansion is destroyed.
Wolverine reminisces out loud about how it is one of the few homes he's ever known. Seeing someone
so stoic lament a building is a moving moment.
The X-Men have a lot of baggage, and relationship drama is constant. Classic love triangles abound,
most prominently between Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine, as well as unrequited love and even
divorce. Several mutants are disowned by their parents. The Proteus episodes reveal that one
of the world's most powerful mutants in the world just wants acceptance from his father.
Throw in several interrupted marriages, surprise announcements of parenthood,
and a couple of shapeshifters, and things get crazy. Morph pretending to be Scott and Jean's
priest to ensure their marriage's illegitimacy is perhaps the peak of this pettiness and drama.
Frankly, X-Men feels like a daytime soap opera in many ways. But these ultra-emotional moments also
make the characters feel very, dare we say…human. The series' writers wanted to showcase the
characters battling their own inner demons as well as their physical enemies. Viewers
are the winners here, because this exploration ultimately gives great depth to the storytelling.
Plus, as there isn't a lot of media for kids that discuss things like death, divorce, and how
to deal with strong emotions. X-Men is downright helpful to little ones seeking guidance. The show
knows kids aren't stupid, even if they don't grasp every single detail the way their parents do.
Incorporating so many dramatic elements might make the show soapy, but it also makes it important.
"Ain't that enough?"
Religion is very much a part of X-Men. Fictional religions exist, like those who worship Garokk
in the Savage Lands. Moreover, Storm herself is sometimes referred to as a goddess. Christianity
is also present on the show, explored in episodes like Descent, which discusses the evolution of
mutants, and episodes featuring Nightcrawler, whose Catholicism is a big part of his character.
Nightcrawler has an unsettling appearance. His blue skin, yellow eyes, and prehensile tail give
him the appearance of a demon. He even smells of sulfur when using his teleportation powers.
It's no surprise then, that a mob comes to destroy Nightcrawler,
insisting that God is with them on their mission. An episode, appropriately enough titled Night
Crawler, explores having faith, losing it, and renewing one's relationship with the divine.
It also discusses the question of why God would create mutants in the first
place. In an unexpected moment toward the end, Nightcrawler gives Wolverine a Bible, with several
marked passages. The episode ends on a scene of Wolverine reading passages out loud in a church.
This is particularly striking, given Wolverine's cynicism. But somehow, against all odds,
Nightcrawler's kindness has reached him. Nightcrawler speaks often about forgiveness
and compassion, even for those in his family who did horrible things to him. He always tries
to live by God's words, and X-Men is interested in exploring what that means, with a depth that
adults are likely to appreciate.
X-Men The Animated Series is full of violence. But as is the case with many cartoons, few of those
kicks and punches can actually do any lasting damage, or else things might get bloody. How do
you inject a sense of danger into action scenes, then? The inclusion of Sentinels and other robots
as primary antagonists helps tremendously with this dilemma. These giant menaces are a godsend
for simulated violence. As Julia Lewald remarked: "If action's going to be big, it's going to
involve Sentinels getting bits torn off and thrown about. You couldn't do that with living things."
Ripping cybernetic parts off of a human, as happens with Donald Pierce during the fight
with the Hellfire Club, is also allowed, but skirts the line. These workarounds allow fans
to see Wolverine and others decapitate, dismember, and eviscerate their enemies,
using their powers to their fullest extent. It's not just the physical cost of violence that
skirts a mature line, either. Many characters also go out of their way to hurt innocents,
or are obsessed with being cruel. Magneto swears revenge on quite a few people.
Archangel dedicates his wealth to tracking down and destroying Apocalypse in an episode blatantly
titled Obsession. Violence is ingrained in the lives of these characters, and in the show itself.
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