’X-Men ‘97’ review: “Bright Eyes,” fists clenched

X-Men ‘97 episode 7 couldn’t possibly know the state of the world it was going to release in, not entirely. Yet, “Bright Eyes” is more prescient than just about anything else in the television landscape today, especially from the otherwise status quo defending Marvel Studios. In the wake of abject horror, X-Men ‘97 doesn’t turn away or downplay the severity of the topics it now deals with. Rather, the series now practically rages at the machine, furious at the systems that let mutantkind down — the metaphor couldn’t be more clear. 

X-Men ‘97 episode 7 is all about the aftermath

The level of grief and fury “Bright Eyes” contains hits like a truck. Children’s cartoons always have to try to tiptoe around death and strangely enough often come away with far more nuance as a result. Nightcrawler’s (Adrian Hough) eulogy for Gambit (which seems to be locking in some of the events of Genosha despite later reveals in the episode) is up there with some of the greats. Not since Infinity Train has the funeral of a cartoon character really brought tears to my eyes. It’s nice to see that while X-Men ‘97 has radically shifted in tone, it hasn’t forgotten what it is a sequel to. 

That tone shift is necessary to discuss what the episode is really about: politics. Yes, those of you terrified they were going to “woke” up your cartoon about marginalized people, your fears were founded. “Bright Eyes” is very much about the failures of the governments that the X-Men put their faith in and their subsequent refusal to see reason about it. The UN firmly rejects Cyclops’s (Ray Chase) pleas for more rescue aid, citing the “optics” of the situation. Irony about who they’re talking to aside, the liberal preening he gets in response to his reasonable anger is a very familiar one. 

Surprise, it’s about politics

For longer than the lifetime of X-Men The Animated Series’ audience, American politics has been an endless cycle of back and forth between a liberal party afraid to govern out of fear of reprisal and a conservative one desperate to claw back any half measures the opposition did achieve. The end result is now two generations worth of voters who have been told repeatedly that this time, this election is the “most important of our lives.” Voters who have, constantly, seen any attempt at improving their conditions throttled by anything from a lone spoiler in the ranks to decorum. Voters who at this point, pretty fed up with it all. 

Considering the previous statements about the series by former showrunner Beau DeMayo in which he invokes the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, it is not a leap to see Cyclops told to watch his tone lest someone “less sympathetic” get in power and feel the same kind of fury we all do everytime America once again fails to do anything about gun violence. It’s a very fitting mindset to be in, because it makes the episode’s real main character even more understandable. 

Brand synergy that works

Rogue’s (Lenore Zann) fury puts her in contact with, in an act of branding, two of the stars from the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World. Just because it isn’t canon doesn’t make it synergy! That said, they’re entirely apt in being here. Thunderbolt Ross (Michael Patrick McGill), Marvel’s go-to example of the classic might-makes-right attitude of the American military, finds himself powerless in the face of a grieving woman, even as he sneers about her being one of the “good guys.”

She’s then intercepted by Captain America (Josh Keaton) himself, often mistaken as a jingoistic mascot. Despite in reality being a representation of the nation’s conscience, he too is hamstrung by the “optics.” Rogue rightfully shows him the consequences of his own hesitancy in one of the few moments of levity in the episode. 

The anger even extends to the animated series’ softest character, Hank McCoy (George Buza). Being told the actions of those of Rogue’s won’t garner sympathy gets a scathing response in his own questioning if Xavier was wrong to dream of co-existence at all. I’d have never thought the cartoon version of The Beast would get his own Dark Beast arc, but here we are. Again, it’s difficult to see what’s happening on screen and not think about things like the infuriating response from those in power to resistance efforts on behalf of Palestinians happening as I write this. What else is there to do but rage? 

“The good guys”

In the case of X-Men ‘97’s fictional world, they do have an answer in the X-Men themselves. Cyclops positions the team as a source of hope in this trying time. That hope does pay off when Emma Frost’s (Martha Marion) body is recovered, adding her 00’s era diamond skin mutation to continuity. I’m curious what the plan going forward for Emma is. Given how mixed up her character’s history has been with Madelyne Pryor’s in the series, there has to be some kind of plan, right? In any case, her recovery gives enough fuel to the team to take their next courses of action. Much like our own modern day wins, it’s hardly enough. 

Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Roberto (Gui Agustini) go to tell the latter’s parents the truth, which at first is a real uplifting moment as his mother tells him that they’ve known the whole time and accept him. Which makes it all the more of a gut punch when she immediately begins doing damage control on Roberto’s identity. Here, it’s out of her vested interest to keep shareholders of their company satisfied, but it’s in service of the same interests of all the other roadblocks in “Bright Eyes.” A deference to the way things are, not as they could or rightly should be. Radical change, even out of parental love, is apparently impossible. 

Which of course leads back to a real answer for survival, the solidarity of the oppressed. Rouge finally breaks down in the arms of her adopted brother Nightcrawler once again delivering a tear jerking revelation of how much he understands people and surrounded by the other X-Men, her found family.

Even Morph can’t joke through this one

Even so, the team is pushed to its limits shortly after, as none other than the Sentinel creator Trask (Gavin Hammon) lures them to a hidden facility to watch him take his own life in horror, something the still mourning Rogue is more than happy to oblige. True to the X-Men’s propensity for drama, there’s mixed emotions. Morph’s (JP Karliak) shaken “Is this who we are now” is chilling. When Trask’s corpse jumps back up as a human/Sentinel hybrid and thrashes the team, it almost seems like that’s exactly the case. 

Thankfully for the X-Men, the future hasn’t totally abandoned them. Cable (Chris Potter) reappears, confirming himself again to be Nathan Summers, and with the ability to fight the new Prime Sentinels. He’s here due to the real puppet master, a mysterious new character named Bastion (Theo James). Bastion’s comics history definitely hints towards what the real climax of X-Men ‘97 could be, since he’s a big player in some real dumb ‘90’s era comic storylines. One of which seems particularly likely given Xavier’s planned return last week and the last second reveal here that Bastion has Magento (Matthew Waterson) alive and in custody. However, I too will choose hope, ‘97 has already adapted a couple of weaker comic stories quite well and there’s no reason to think they won’t again. 

Bring on the ending

“Bright Eyes” is a catharsis that is necessary going into X-Men ‘97’s three part finale. It isn’t here to inspire or resolve, but to commiserate. It’s a necessary step narratively, but I also contend it’s a strong argument for the series’ existence. Constantly, when ‘97 could choose the easy nostalgia route, it instead chooses to be deeper and more thoughtful. Somehow, Marvel Animation has delivered something that more grown up Marvel series can only dream of accomplishing.

X-Men ‘97 drops new episodes every Wednesday on Disney +.

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Images courtesy of Marvel Studios/Disney