REVIEW | The boring but necessary tales of love in ‘X-Men 97’ season 2

X-Men ‘97 (season 2)

Rating: 2.5/5

We have finally come to the end of another non-canonical tale from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s a series best experienced by those who may have loved What If or the Black Panther anthology. More so, it feeds the nostalgic hunger many may have felt for the series’ titular 90s toon that follows the troupe of mutants with special powers fighting evil-doers, human or otherwise.

We pick up from the season 1 cliffhanger that saw anti-hero Magneto thrown back in time with his rival Charles Xavier and some of the latter’s X-Men team members who face a young Apocalypse. The character has been a central villain in the comic books and cinematic adaptations (played by Oscar Isaac in the 2016 blockbuster) but this time around, his origins paint a brilliant image of this season’s main theme.

We see Apocalypse and the X-Men grapple with power and corruption but not as an inevitable that changes a person for the worse, but rather the love we should all have to make a difference in the world. It greatly impacts Magneto, who nearly committed genocide on humankind because of their abhorrence for mutant-kind. An opposing politic from Charles, who views their predicament with a younger Apocalypse as a chance to turn him around. Using kindness and compassion while Magneto believes wholly in using the very anger he feels alongside Apocalypse for non-mutants as a slave would lead him to becoming a necessary weapon.

Luckily, the theme is held up by X-Men member Rogue, who is mourning the loss of her lover Gambit after a mutant massacre on Genosha, an island where mutants lived together in peace. In conversations with Apocalypse, they both battle with their willpower. Apocalypse sees weakness in love while Rogue, even in the face of tragedy, sees it as a strength. Ultimately, it is the two of them who face off in the final battle at the close of the season, with Rogue standing as the victor due to the sacrifices she made in the name of love while Apocalypse is blinded by his rage and vengeful desires. Albeit the writing room’s clunky race to the end.

It lands its message with the precision of Wolverine’s blades on skin. It’s striking, visually stunning and a great light watch if you have nothing else going on. However, it does come with dulled points rather than a sharp perspective.

Apocalypse joins a bevy of bad boys like Magneto who all come from struggle and must contend with the privileged experiences of the story’s heroes in a Martin Luther King vs Malcolm X dance. Be it T’Challa and Killmonger in Black Panther or even Dar-Benn vs Carol Danvers in The Marvels.

It will be especially interesting in how it deals with the story of Quentin Quire. A character who has been sprinkled throughout the background of this season, and judging from his punk outfit in the finale, we are going to see his villain origin story come to life in upcoming seasons where he struggles, which kicks off after his favourite radicalist dies.

But with so little room to show these characters make the right decision, we are left with limited views on what it means to make a change. From the beginning of season 1 and 2 the X-Men are not without a proper support system. A fundamental element missing in the lives of its eventual villains, who are not given the space to prosper. Magneto even meets his fate early on this season for not meeting those standards, and Cable (in a future timeline story arc) is left burdened with the fate of Apocalypse when he is defeated. A huge burden that Cable has carried begrudgingly his whole life. He too, like Magneto and Apocalypse, is a child living through a time of war and conflict, unlike many of the X-Men who have been safer from such traumatic experiences.

While its themes of love and seeking retribution are wonderful to watch, it still seems X-Men 97 and Marvel at large have not quite figured out what to do with their characters who survive subjugation. Is the fate of the oppressed to either embody their oppressors or to die before they can ever heal those wounds? Maybe next season, we will finally have an answer.