This story includes spoilers for “X-Men '97” on Disney+, including the season finale.
Professor Charles Xavier knows that coexistence is not easy.
After being repeatedly denigrated by members of a technologically advanced alien race for being “born on the wrong side of the stars,” Xavier sits his potential future spouse and in-laws down for a history lesson to discuss his supremacist beliefs in the sixth episode. from “X-Men '97.”
Forcing others to assimilate into his empire, says the founder of Earth's mutant superhero team, is based on “the lie” that “we must plunder each other. That for me to be more, you must be less. Your existence against mine.”
It's a mentality that Xavier is more than familiar with, having dedicated his life to championing the peaceful coexistence of mutants and humans on his home planet. That same mistaken belief that humanity and mutants compete with each other brought Earth to the brink of catastrophe in the first season of “X-Men '97.” The season finale of the animated series, the conclusion of a three-part episode titled “Tolerance is Extinction,” is now available on Disney+.
Jubilee, left, Morph, Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Rogue, Jean Grey, Gambit, Bishop and Beast in “X-Men '97.”
(Marvel Animation)
The multi-part episode saw the X-Men divided after discovering that Bastion, the mastermind behind the latest effort to eradicate all mutants, is an advanced human-android hybrid. Those among the .
Continuing the events of “X-Men: The Animated Series,” which originally aired from 1992 to 1997, “X-Men '97” follows the eponymous superhero team as they fight to protect the world and each other. In this first season, the team was forced to accept a former adversary as their new leader and discovered that one of their own was a clone while dealing with a genocide and its consequences.
Unlike other heroes whose superpowers are the result of laboratory accidents or secret experiments, the X-Men are mutants: humans born with a special gene that gives them various abilities. Xavier is a powerful telepath. The storm controls the weather. Cyclops shoots powerful energy beams from his eyes. Rogue can absorb the powers, memories, and even life force of others through touch. Beast is a blue furry super genius with enhanced strength.
A comic book superhero team co-created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 1960s, the of the world.
Mutants are feared and persecuted simply for being born a little different: in abilities and sometimes in appearance as well. Their stories have often been allegories of the racism, homophobia, and other types of intolerance experienced in the real world by those belonging to different marginalized identities.
“X-Men '97” has leaned into this since its first episode, showing how anti-mutant sentiment motivates hate groups, fuels violence and even influences policy. And it all comes to a head in the show's devastating fifth episode, titled “Remember It,” when the island nation of Genosha, which has become a safe haven for mutants, is suddenly attacked by a horde of killer robots.
The country is devastated and there are countless victims, including the charming “X-Men” fan favorite Gambit. Former “X-Men '97” head writer Beau DeMayo, who left the series before its premiere (the reason for his departure remains unclear), previously addressed the significance of the episode on social media.
“The idea,” he wrote in a statement shared on X, formerly Twitter, was to “make the He cited events like 9/11, the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, and even the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as some of the collective traumas that generation has had to deal with.
As a budding biracial queer kid, watching “X-Men: The Animated Series” was a salve for me growing up. While mutant experiences can speak directly or metaphorically to many different marginalized identities, the more queer-coded elements (questions about “coming out,” fear of being rejected by family, strangers insisting that mutants just need to be “ healed”) were often what I related to most then. A show that insisted that their differences are a superpower and celebrated found families was particularly meaningful.
Those elements have carried over into “X-Men '97.” At a time when some politicians and activists have pushed for anti-LGBTQ+ laws, including those banning any mention of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms, banning gender-affirming care and banning trans students from competing in sports or using bathrooms that align with their gender, the topics feel more relevant than ever. It's also a little disappointing to realize that, after so many years, our existence seems to be relegated to metaphors once again.
Storm and Forge in “X-Men '97.”
(Marvel Animation)
At the forefront of the final episodes of “X-Men '97” have been the opposing philosophies of Xavier and his former best friend Magneto regarding human-mutant relationships. Xavier advocates for peaceful coexistence based on acceptance and equal rights for all. Magneto, a Holocaust survivor who is often the X-Men's adversary, does not believe humanity is capable of accepting mutants. He will do anything to stop mutants from being persecuted simply for who they are. And the humans in the series continue to prove Magneto right.
“Humanity would rather die than have children like us,” Bastion says as humanity launches missiles to eliminate the mutants fighting on an asteroid, no matter which side they are on.
By orchestrating the massacre of mutants in Genosha, Bastion incited the fears of both humans and mutants. He weaponized people's fear of being replaced by mutants by turning them into killer robots while also giving Magneto a justification to retaliate with all-out war.
It's hard to avoid seeing some parallels to other real-life conflicts in the situation; after all, that's what “X-Men” does best. It is to the series' credit that it effectively channels the dangers of extremism, but condemnation in metaphors is not enough when far-right groups with radical views continue to demonstrate and hate crimes persist.
It is a disservice to make a simple comparison between a war being fought in an animated series and the suffering of Palestinian civilians caught in the middle of Israel's offensive in Gaza after the Hamas attack on October 7. But one wonders why it is so easy. describing the events in a program as genocide, when arguments persist over whether the word applies after thousands of Palestinians have died (the number of victims now stands at more than 35,000, according to the UN). Or why people seem to focus so much more on “the right way” to call a ceasefire than on the actual horrors of war.
Of course, in cartoons there are exaggerated villains who are easier to denounce because they are fictional characters. And as easy as it is to empathize with Magneto and the pain and anger that drives his followers, it's also clear that he's still the villain because it's a TV show (and doesn't take civilian casualties into account), while Xavier and the X-Men are generally understood to be the ones who stand up for justice, even when they suffer loss and experience doubt. We can joke about Magneto being right, but do we really agree with him?
As “X-Men '97” challenges us to consider how we might respond to tragedies and an attack like the one on Genosha, it's hard not to think about how we are (or aren't) responding to real suffering, no matter how far away it is. far.
