Genosha Triangles

[setsuled]

That's more like it. Last night's new X-Men'97 was a rich and fulfilling piece of pulp, chock full of soap opera, sex, and violence. Nor did it skimp on the campy dialogue and cheesy fake accents.

We take a trip to Genosha, the mutant nation which sure reads like a allegorical Israel, especially given Magneto's past, which is alluded to in this episode. Magneto, Rogue, and Gambit are the ones we follow and they're one of two love triangles at play.



The other one is Cyclops, Jean, and Madelyne--with Wolverine as a possible fourth wheel. They're sure using Wolverine sparingly so far. After all these years of Hugh Jackman in the spotlight, it's kind of funny seeing the little man who always talks like a pirate.

Scott freaks out in the middle of an interview, showing he is feeling some unchecked trauma from the recent loss of his child. Which makes sense. The two Jeans are taking it a bit better (if they were sad, I suppose I could call them blue Jeans).



For some reason the music of Genosha is sort of samba-ish with lots of steel drums. All right. It was cool seeing the various mutants cavorting in any case and, of course, it was great to see Nightcrawler whose teleportation power is very nicely rendered by the animators.



But the heart of the episode is Rogue and the two men orbiting her. The drama of their triangle blended perfectly with the cataclysmic climax. Rogue looks a hell of a lot better than she did on the old series. I guess I could say that about most of the characters, though.

X-Men'97 is available on Disney+.

Comments

[shadowkat]

I'd agree, the animation is a lot better here than in the other series. I also like the stories better, and Wolverine isn't as front and center. Previously most of the animated series, and the films made Wolverine the main character - and that's a mistake. The character suffers from over-exposure, and really less is more. When they pull back, we get more of an ensemble - which is what the X-men has always been about an ensemble action-adventure soap opera with progressive themes about human rights and diversity.

Good to know this week's episode is better. Last week's was good with Storm, but the Jubliee bit was a tad boring. The Storm Life/Death story with Forge - is a classic. I do like how they did the Maddie/Scott/Jean and Nathan bit - it fixed some of Claremount's mistakes. Maddie and Jean have more agency here - and it's not all about Scott. Also Scott - isn't the one who gave Nathan to Bishop but Maddie, which is an interesting difference. I'm on the fence about that one. I kind of liked that it was Scott in the comics who had to give up his son, and Maddie resented him for it.