9 More Thoughts About X-Men '97

I suppose prior to X-Men '97 it had been some time since I experienced an X-Men story that I enjoyed. With the first season done, it's left me with a few thoughts about the X-Men franchise and what the cartoon does very well.

1. Cyclops: In the comics, Cyclops had a tough time of it after the 1990s. He's the definitive X-Men leader but at times he was sidelined - written out of the book, or exploring his dark side, becoming a terrorist. X-Men '97 demonstrates that he really does work best as a great team leader - a man who has troubles in his personal life but knows how to rally his team, earn people's trust, stop the bad guys and save lives. The series even gave him a few moments to act cool (particularly in the 1st episode, where his use of his optic blasts is especially creative). There's a lot of life in this character - you don't have to bend or break him, just keep him tightly-wound.
2. Wolverine: He's been such an attention hog for so long that it's hard to remember how good he is as an ensemble player. Post 1990s, Wolverine suddenly took over roles on the team that were traditionally held by other characters - suddenly he was a natural leader or the team's conscience. It's not his best fit; X-Men '97 shows him as a bit of an agigtator but overall good team player who understands his allies' strengths and backs them up. It's nice to see him retreat back into this role after 24 years of stories where if he wasn't central to the action he simply wasn't present.
3. Nightcrawler: The early animated programs emphasized Kurt's Catholic faith - which is a significant part of his character, but not what made him a beloved X-Man. With him promoted to a lead character in X-Men '97, I was happy to see his swashbuckling love of adventure come to the fore. The Kurt who loves to laugh, fence and sneak up behind his friends to hug them is really the Kurt fans enjoy spending time with.
4. Bastion: The Operation: Zero Tolerance crossover in which Bastion was the lead villain came out in 1997 so it was certainly appropriate for X-Men '97 to adapt, but it was also considered a nadir in the X-Men franchise. Operation: Zero Tolerance has long been considered a failed storyline by fandom and Bastion an interesting but botched attempt at giving the team a major new opponent. X-Men '97 took advantage of hindsight to give Bastion a stronger storyarc, emphasizing him as not simply an anti-mutant figure but, as a cybernetic being, a contender against mutants' claim to representing the future of humanity. It's easily the most compelling take I've ever seen on Bastion and I expect the comics will scramble to give him an animated-inspired makeover.
5. The X-Men of the 90s: The failure of Operation: Zero Tolerance coincided with Scott Lobdell's exit from the X-Men. He'd been writing for them since the tailend of the Jim Lee era and, whatever you might say about his work, he kept the book consistent, largely by following the storytelling engine Chris Claremont had created. '97 was a particularly hard time for Marvel, with the company's bankruptcy, a number of failed new titles and initiatives and most of their television and film projects either stalled or dead on arrival. That X-Men '97 exists demonstrates how well Marvel repaired itself following the 90s. For all the negatives we can say about how Marvel has conducted itself in the 21st century, at least they pulled out of their death-spiral.
6. X-Men history: Outside of Operation: Zero Tolerance, however, X-Men '97 is very interested in celebrating - not the 1990s - but the 1980s X-Men of Chris Claremont's heyday. The characters of the original animated series were all garbed in the Jim Lee outfits they wore for most of the 1990s, but X-Men '97 gradually shifts most of the cast into costumes from the Claremont days; Rogue and Storm revert to their original Dave Cockrum costumes; Wolverine dons his brown and orange John Byrne costume; Magneto briefly wears his 1980s John Romita Jr. 'M' costume; Sunspot wears a 1980s New Mutants costume (pointedly he doesn't wear the blue and gold costume seen elsewhere in the series); Cyclops goes back to his classic Dave Cockrum look while Jean Grey wears her 1960s Don Heck costume. Claremont's Inferno is covered in a single episode! Claremont and Windsor-Smith's Lifedeath is adapted! But the series also looks ahead past the 1990s with Jubilee donning her circa 2010 costume, the Sentinel attack from E Is for Extinction is adapted and later characters such as Pixie pop up in the backgrounds.
7. Soap opera: I'm now convinced that if you don't want to write soap opera, you really ought to keep away from the X-Men. If you don't want to write at least one romantic triangle, why even bother? The X-Men have a long history of angst but also of romantic pairings - the fandom loves it. And X-Men '97 delves in, with a Cyclops/Jean/Madelyne triangle (that's a bit more nuanced than the original triangle), a Rogue/Magneto/Gambit triangle, the Storm/Forge pairing and a wholly original Jubilee/Sunspot romance. That's prime X-Men.
8. Metaphors: It's been pointed out that although the X-Men can be used as an interesting metaphor for race, religion and sexuality it can be unhelpful to try and make parity between them. Frequently, humans are right to be worried about mutants, given they have immense power, poor self-control and almost no accountability. They also have a tendency to close ranks and assert that only they can judge each other (they also appear to forgive each other very readily). That limits the metaphor, so it's probably best not to hit it too square on the head. I think X-Men '97 balanced it well - it's the first animated X-Men I've seen that was willing to dip its toes into gay/trans characters and certainly the character arc for Sunspot as he asserts his identity as a mutant seems to be intentionally mirroring the experience of someone "coming out." The destruction of Genosha draws from 9/11 to give scenes emotional depth yet not unearned. It's a good mix.
9. Shade: Oh, how I did enjoy X-Men '97 casting shade on the 2000 X-Men movie, as Cyclops quips of the X-Men costume he's just handed Cable: "What'd you expect? Black leather?" The 2000 film took a moment to dump on Wolverine's iconic comic book visuals and the last 24 years have seen many other comics characters adapted to live action in less-than-inspired visuals - often just wearing black leather. Kudos to X-Men '97 for being unashamedly a comic book adaptation.