Let’s Talk about X-Men ’97 Episode 1-3

Okay, we’re only three episodes into the X-Men ’97 reboot, and we’re already entering soap opera territory.

Yes, let’s talk about X-Men ’97 episode 1-3, the one with the clone war.

Rise of the Goblin Queen

When we last left the X-Men, we had one more member than usual. Of course, that happens all the time with this group.

The X-Men shuffle characters in and out so much you’d think they’re working under a salary cap.

This particular instance was different, though. We learned we had a spare Jean Grey. And that’s where things take a turn today.

The episode begins with some initial confusion followed by Beast performing some Big Science™ to learn what has happened.

Here’s where the bombshell drops. The Jean Grey we’ve watched thus far, the one who JUST HAD A BABY, isn’t the real Jean Grey.

No, Mister Sinister has cloned the original for his nefarious purposes.

This seems like a good time to recount a bit of X-Men: The Animated Series history.

As the last series ended, we learned the backstory of Mister Sinister, a contemporary of Charles Darwin.

The former Nathaniel Essex has used Big Evil Science™ to provide himself a bit of immortality.

Also, the jerk poisoned Professor X in a way that wasn’t curable with modern technology.

So, that’s why the Professor has recently left Earth for the Shi’ar Empire. Mister Sinister effectively killed him.

This week’s episode of X-Men ’97 brings back Mister Sinister, whom the producers had indicated would be the Big Bad this season.

Apparently, Mister Sinister wanted an X-baby, and this was his plan.

So, the villain cloned Jean Grey at an undetermined time in the past. Not knowing the difference, Cyclops knocked her up.

Now, there is a Jean Grey/Cyclops baby, and it turns out that it isn’t from the real Jean Grey. Hello, Jerry Springer episode!

Shocked by everything, Scott denounces the clone, who then turns into…the Goblin Queen!

Meet Madelyne Pryor

X-Men comic book fans just shot up in their seat, as this twist is a big deal.

In the comics, the oft-dead, always-intimidating Madelyne Pryor has been friend and foe.

That’s how this episode plays out as well. But we get a horror movie out of it first!

Once Clone Jean aka Jean Doe realizes that Scott doesn’t trust her, she goes mad and turns heel in epic fashion.

Since the Goblin Queen possesses Jean Grey’s powers, more or less, she can play tricks within the minds of the X-Men.

Specifically, she plays on Gambit’s jealousy of Magneto and Sunspot’s insecurity about his being a mutant.

The one who (arguably) gets it the worst is Morph, whom Mister Sinister had previously brainwashed.

Pryor manipulates them into temporarily turning on their friends before a new player enters the battle.

The deeply confused Jean Grey, whose memories are mostly blank, suddenly experiences an epiphany about her identity.

The implication is that when Minister Sinister cloned Jean Grey, he transferred her memories to Pryor.

However, Jean remembers enough to know that she’s home and that the X-Men are her family.

Wolverine asks her to penetrate his mind to remember who she is and how much she means to him. That’s…a bold choice for Mr. Friend Zone.

So, Jean Grey fights back against the Goblin Queen, her clone.

Also, Magneto gets involved, although Pryor wipes the floor with him. Most of this battle does take place in his mind, after all.

At one point, Cyclops eye-beams the mother of his newborn child, which is…a choice.

In the kinkiest moment in the history of both series, Pryor wipes the blood from her mouth and then kisses Scott.

The Two Jeans

Something I very much like about the construct of the big showdown is that both women are right to be angry.

Minister Sinister has victimized both of them, stealing one’s memories and very existence while creating the other as an empty construct.

Since the two of them have Jean Grey at their cores, they cycle through significant memories together.

Their détente begins when they both remember Professor X showing up at their house and offering to help.

Soon afterward, Pryor experiences a vision about her new son, Nathan, who is about to become important for multiple reasons.

At this point, she has the epiphany that she’s doing the bidding of the monster who created her.

Since she has Jean Grey’s memories, that thought feels like a violation to her as well.

Well, I’m speculating based on little dialogue and lots of visuals, but that’s how it looks.

Anyway, Pryor remembers recently birthing her son and describes it as the “greatest moment of my life.”

Pryor stops fighting everyone and offers her hand to the love of her life, Scott Summers. She says they’ll go save their baby.

The Birth of Cable

The two of them proceed to wreck Mister Sinister right in front of the baby, whom the villain had kidnapped for unknown purposes.

Sore loser to the core, Mister Sinister then inflicts an infant (!!!) with a techno-virus incurable in the present. Now THAT is villainy.

You won’t ever see Darth Vader poisoning a baby! I mean, even Scar let Simba live in The Lion King, although that didn’t work out great for him in the end.

Anyway, Pryor and Scott recognize the reality of their situation. They can do nothing for Nathan Summers in the present.

Instead, they ask Bishop to take the boy into the future, where he will inevitably become Cable.

So, given what we know from the original series, Apocalypse should hold a serious grudge against Minister Sinister.

Cable’s a thorn in the eternal villain’s side for millennia, and it wouldn’t have happened if not for this techno-virus.

Also, we can take Bishop off the active member roster of the X-Men, and the Goblin Queen correctly realizes she should go, too.

That leaves us with two fewer members, a still befuddled Jean Grey, and a potential member, Sunspot.

Speaking of the fewer members, the episode ends with a depowered Storm sitting in a bar.

A dude makes some small talk with her, and old-school fans of the animated series get goosebumps. It’s Forge!

There’s every sign here that we’re gonna get the famous comic book arc where Storm and Forge fall in love.

In the comic, she later learns that he created the device that depowered her. So, it’s about to get Shakespearean!

Final Thoughts

This was a visually stimulating episode that required several leaps of faith with its logic.

Thematically, I think the most similar Marvel story we’ve seen was 2020’s The New Mutants. Some aspects felt a lot like that story.

The Forge/Storm love story in the comics gets mega-dark quick, so I’m curious where they go with it.

Also, let’s not lose sight of the fact that Mister Sinister STOLE A BABY in this episode and later forced it into the future.

We’ll need a lot of explaining about that one, even though a lot of comic book fans already know why.

Finally, I made no mention of individual fight sequences, but X-Men ’97 has demonstrated an understanding of what looks cool.

First, we had the modified Fastball Special in the first episode. In this one, Bishop and Cyclops teamed up to destroy some monsters.

Bishop asked for Cyclops to hit him, and the latter individual obliged, effectively charging Bishop’s super for a mega-blast.

Moments like that are what the fans will remember for longer than the stories. So, keep doing that, Marvel!

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