X-Men was one of my favorites when I was young, and it was hard to catch all the episodes on Fox Saturday mornings. Eventually, many years later, I was able to watch the complete series in order on Disney Plus.
Now, X-Men '97 is back, and wow, it's like I'm 20 years old again. They pick up right after the end of the series, with the X-Men prepared for a change after the death of Professor X, and man, does this show still have that '90s vibe to it, and I appreciate that. It's not a reboot but a continuation.
It was great seeing Trask and Master Mold; however, they were taken down a bit too easily, but I understand they wanted to move the plot along. I am so happy they are returning the anti-mutant themes of the first season, which I felt was always the strongest of the series. Wolverine is back to his mopey self, pining over Jean. Cyclops is a ballbuster. All the characters are spot on.
The first episode is mostly setting the stage and the stakes. I felt this episode did a good job of that, and I'm looking forward to where things are going. Obviously, Cyclops and Jean's baby will be the focal point, but this is a Saturday morning kids' cartoon at its heart, so I'm going in expecting writing of the sort. And that's exactly what I want.
This was a good focused episode and comes through with the promise to make this a Mandaloran heavy season. This episode sucked all that is great about Star Wars. It had a DEEP callbacks to the prequels while still staying relevant to the current storyline. But still found a way to please the fans by making the much maligned Jar Jar Binks actor play a Jedi Master who saved Grogu and he was badass. I think thats what some of the best episodes of the show has. Smart callbacks to the past but still an interesting story that stands on its own. I am really loving the Bo-Katan storyline. They introduced her last season and jaded, cynical and angry wanbee ruler who only had eyes on the Dark Saber and ruling her house. When Din took it instead she lost her followers and her way. Now this season she is starting to believe in the Way of the Mandalore and seems to have found a home who people she considered out of touch zealots not too long ago and to their credit they have accepted her. I will be interesting to see how her character grows or if she has some plan to take control? I know there is an Imperial Warlord after her and that dumb mercenary seaweed head from the first episode. I bet we see one of them next episode.
