‘X-Men ’97’ Knows Xavier Is His Own Worst Enemy

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for X-Men '97.

The big picture

• The survival of Charles Xavier a
  X-Men '97
  complicates the X-Men's challenges.
• In the last episode of the animated series, Bastion reveals his plan to expose Xavier's survival to undermine the X-Men.
• Xavier's avoidance of contacting the X-Men creates unnecessary drama in the show.

Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, is initially presented as one of the most pure and altruistic characters in most versions of the Marvel Universe in which he appears. And his dream of normal humans and superpowered mutants peacefully coexisting is the admirable one, socially. conscious foundation upon which the X-Men franchise is built. But throughout the franchise's 60+ year history, Charles himself has often been shown to make morally questionable decisions that contradict many of the optimistic and pacifist values ​​he preaches. The X-Men live-action film franchise often replicated these hypocritical qualities by highlighting the flaws of both Sir Patrick Stewart i James McAvoyversions of the character, but the animated Charles appeared X-Men: The Animated Series it was always more firmly fair. The sequel series, X-Men '97has changed it, however, with some of the character's negative qualities that appear in more recent episodescreating opportunities for the X-Men's enemies to make life even more difficult for the team.

Charles Xavier's Survival Creates Plot Holes in 'X-Men '97'

In The Animated Series'end, Charles Xavier (Cedric Smith) is shot by an anti-mutant fanatic. His wounds appear to be fatal until his lover, Empress Lilandra Neramani (Camilla Scott) of the alien Shi'ar Imperium, arrives on Earth. Lilandra explains that the Shi'ar technology can heal him, but that she would have to take him back into space with her for the necessary treatment. X-Men '97 begins about a year after his departure, but its first few episodes shocked viewers by making it seem as if Charles (now voiced by Ross Marquand) eventually died. Last week's episode confirmed that wasn't really the case, with a healthy Charles still living among the Shi'ar. But while they'll no doubt be happy to see him when he makes his planned return to Earth, Charles' survival isn't the unequivocal victory the X-Men need right now. Due in part to some of his own strangely sloppy and self-centered decisions, discovering that it is alive could present even more challenges both for the team and the wider mutant community, which have already come into play this season.

The series' most recent episode, “Bright Eyes,” confirmed that the robotic supervillain Bastion (Theo James) was behind the horrific attack on the mutant nation of Genosha, having been aided by the X-Men's long-time enemy Mister Sinister (Christopher Britton). Bastion shows Sinister a recording he retrieved from a damaged Shi'ar communications device depicting Charles alive and well. He implies that he plans to expose this to make it seem like the X-Men “have been selling the world a really big lie.” Presumably, this would lead to greater support from fanatical sections of the public for Bastion's murderous operation: Zero Tolerance, which already seems to have the secret backing of world governments. In the wake of the Genosha attack, it's unclear how the team and their allies can overcome this kind of coordinated disinformation and genocide.

To be fair, Charles expresses his desire to return to Earth and see his students in episode 6, and Lilandra (now voiced by Morlon Gorrondonna) suggests that he send them a holographic message, but the fact that he apparently didn't do it as soon as he was healthy is very off-putting. The X-Men have acted as if Charles had died, following the wishes expressed in his last will and testament, and Charles' surrogate son, Scott Summers, aka Cyclops (Ray Chase), as well as his old friend and former rival Magneto (Matthew Waterson), have been especially struggling to continue working both to achieve their dream and to mourn their loss. While it's unclear how many members of the team know that Charles is actually alive, they will likely be deeply hurt to learn that he considered staying in space indefinitely as the new Shi'ar Emperor. After hearing of Genosha's attack, Charles finally decides to return home, however now his return threatens to split the team with even more interpersonal drama precisely when they need to stick together against the threat of Bastion.

It's understandable why the creators want to make Charles' fate a surprise rather than reveal the truth at the start of the season, as doing so added suspense and again led to a nice development for Scott, Erik and some other characters. But for this aspect of the story to be emotionally believable, it should have been established that the X-Men were unable to make contact with the Shi'ar and learn of Charles' survival. Revealing the fact that Xavier could send a message, but didn't, it makes the usually empathetic character extremely selfish and unconscious to the emotions of their friends and family. Bastion's recovery of the footage only further highlights the problems with this part of the plot, as Shi'ar communication technology is now being used to add new drama to the story, despite being ignored by the creators their ability to solve a long-standing problem.

Xavier's new story makes him look stupid in 'X-Men '97'

It's true that, compared to some of the things other versions of the character have done, Xavier's mistakes in X-Men '97 they are quite tame. His comic book counterpart has had so many skeletons come out of his closet that sometimes it's hard to really see him as a hero, and even the movie versions have done some seriously shady things. Both Stewart's and McAvoy's iterations manipulated the mind of Jean Gray (Sophie Turner i Famke Janssen), contributing to his subsequent riots as the Phoenix. The versions performed by Stewart a X2: X-Men United i Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness kept Logan's details (Hugh Jackman) past him when he was actively seeking them out and participated in the Illuminati's assassination of an (admittedly corrupt) variant of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), respectively.

X-Men '97 Xavier hasn't done anything all that malicious, and the bad decisions he's made aren't even motivated by the same sort of understandable but corrupt motives as some of his doppelgängers. More than anything, Xavier's story in the new animated series it mainly calls into question his self-awareness and emotional intelligence. While it probably won't turn viewers against him to the same extent as other versions, his portrayal remains a rare example of forced and unconvincing writing from the otherwise strong series. And in this case, his mistake may have contributed to the greatest threat the mutant kind has ever faced.

X-Men '97 is available to stream on Disney+ in the US

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