Warning: This review contains full spoilers for X-Men ’97 Season 2, Episode 6!
At what point does Disney need to change the name of this series? It may be X-Men ’97, but the show is really starting to lean into the early 2000s era of the comics with Episode 6. That being said, when the result is that X-Men ’97 starts drawing from all-time classics like the Grant Morrison/Frank Quitely New X-Men and Joss Whedon/John Cassaday Astonishing X-Men runs, who are we to complain?
As is the show’s wont, “Danger.exe” covers a lot of ground in the span of 30 minutes. This episode pulls in many elements from the first half of the aforementioned Astonishing X-Men, albeit with Polaris (Carolina Ravassa) filling in for Kitty Pryde. Meanwhile, on the New X-Men front, we get the introduction of those lovely Quitely-designed costumes and some key developments late in the episode. It’s a stew with a lot of ingredients, but they all come together nicely enough in the end. This isn’t a case like Episode 5, where the show failed to truly take advantage of the source material it was adapting.
One of the main draws of “Danger.exe” is that we finally get to see the Xavier Institute treated as what it actually is – a school for young mutants. That’s something X-Men ’97 and its predecessor always tended to gloss over in the past, probably because that element wasn’t a big priority for the comics back in 1992, either. It’s great to see the show making up for lost time, as we get a new influx of youngsters pulled from various eras of the X-lore. Naturally, that includes Quentin Quire (Thomas Dekker) sporting his trademark “Magneto Was Right” shirt. Fingers crossed for a “Riot at Xavier’s” adaptation at some point down the road.
Continuing from the foundation laid in Episode 2, this chapter delivers a strong, focused character arc for Polaris, as she makes her full break from X-Factor and tries to find her place in a world that fears her becoming the spitting image of her late father. She slides neatly into Kitty’s prodigal daughter role, and the episode fleshes out her relationship with Professor Xavier (Ross Marquand) in satisfying fashion. There’s a complaint to be made that the series has enough characters in its ensemble cast already without inducting another X-Man, but when the results are this enjoyable, does it really matter?
Speaking of Xavier, this episode also thrives in exploring the fallout of his tragic ordeal in Egypt and the death of his beloved Magnus. That all dovetails nicely into the introduction of Danger (Rachel Kimsey), as one of Xavier’s most powerful tools becomes sentient and goes rogue. It’s interesting that this episode shies away from the darker aspects of the Xavier/Danger backstory. In the comics, it’s revealed that the good Professor knew she had become sentient and kept her enslaved anyway, part of a concerted effort by early-’00s X-Men writers to paint the X-Men’s founder in a less flattering light. Here, I don’t know that such a reveal was needed, so it’s probably just as well that the X-Men ’97 writer’s room didn’t go down that road. Xavier has enough blood on his hands as it is. Plus, this episode isn’t shy about foreshadowing Onslaught as a future development.
“Danger.exe” culminates in a terrific battle sequence in the ruins of Genosha, one that again showcases just how strong the animation is in this series. And though Danger herself seems to be a one-and-done villain, there is some significant fallout. Xavier finds a way to honor his old friend by reclaiming the ruins of Genosha for mutantkind and spearheading X-Corp (there’s that New X-Men influence again). I’m enjoying how much the series is taking advantage of the fraught political climate post-Operation: Zero Tolerance. If the X-Men can’t exist on American shores any longer, they’ll just plant their flag somewhere else.
So it seems that the new status quo going forward is one where we have one group of X-Men operating as teachers at the Institute and another carrying out missions from Genosha. Sort of a Blue Team/Gold Team divide, in other words. It’s an intriguing new setup, though there is the eternal concern about whether the series is taking on too much at once. At some point, X-Men ’97 really needs to grow beyond these limited 9-10 episode seasons.
Finally, we get a big tease on the Apocalypse (Marquand) front, as we see the mutant tyrant make good on his promise to resurrect Gambit (A. J. LoCascio). It’s a cool scene, partiularly with how it transforms Gambit’s imagery from that of playing cards to tarot cards. I can’t wait to see how the series handles the big Death reveal.
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