Previously On X-Men: Killer Robots And Jungle Courts Headline — More ‘X-Men ’97’ Easter Eggs

Check out Easter Eggs on the previous episodes of the season here and here!

X-Men ’97 2×06: “Danger.exe”

Written by Beau DeMayo and Mariah Wilson and Bailey Moore and directed by Emmett Yonemura.

Polaris (Carolina Ravassa) returns to the X-Men just as their Danger Room gains sentience and takes a form of her own: Danger (Rachel Kimsey)!

• The cover to X-Factor #71, the first appearance of the “All New, All Different” team featured in this series, is recreated in the opening credits again.
• Reverend Stryker appeared briefly at the end of last season; he is based on the villain from the “God Loves, Man Kills” graphic novel, and was also the inspiration for Brian Cox‘s villain in X2: X-Men United.
• The Purifiers are Stryker’s soldiers, essentially; they appear here similar to their comic book appearances in the early 2000s.
• Amongst the new students when Xavier (Ross Marquand) is giving his welcome address are Rockslide, Glob, Angel, Eye Boy, Chamber, Monet, Synch, Kid Omega, Martha Johansson, Shark Girl, Doop, Beak, Dust, Pixie, and Skin (there’s more, but those are the immediately recognizable ones).

• The picture of the original X-Men plus Polaris that Polaris looks at features the team in their “graduation” uniforms, first donned in X-Men #39. Also, once again, Angel is with them despite no one knowing him when he first appeared in the original series.
• Beast (George Buza) quotes Tryon Edwards, a 19th century theologian known for his book of quotations, A Dictionary of Thoughts.
• This episode does a thing the comics do all the time, where they have mementoes and pictures and stuff from “the old days” despite the fact that the mansion keeps getting damaged/destroyed. Like, it’s shown to be under construction from Sentinel damage last season in this episode, yet Polaris’ room remains untouched and unchanged.
• Polaris is presented as Magneto’s unequivocal daughter here, which has been true in the comics since the early 2000’s but was not true for most of her history prior to that. It was said she was Magneto’s daughter when she first appeared back in the 1960’s, then that was retconned shortly thereafter, then re-retconned to the current “is his daughter” status quo this series is using.
• Artie can be seen playing basketball with Morph (JP Karliak) who turns into Mister Fantastic at one point.
• Forge (Gil Birmingham) & Polaris served in X-Factor together previously, as seen in the original series episode “Cold Comfort.”
• For as much as this series is willing to push the envelope further than the original series, it’s worth noting that Wing doesn’t die here as part of Danger’s emergence, whereas he does in the comic book version of the story.
• I’m not sure how Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) charging Bishop (Issac Robinson-Smith) to blast Wing is better than Storm just blasting Wing directly?
• Danger first appeared in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #9, part of the aptly named “Danger” arc.
• Largely without explanation, Scott, Jean and Beast are all wearing the black leather suits designed by Frank Quitely during his run on New X-Men with Grant Morrison.
• X-Corp first appeared in New X-Men Annual #1 (part of the Morrison run); it is not to be confused with X-Corps, the paramilitary group formed by Banshee which preceded it (though after X-Corps fell apart, most of its members were absorbed into the subsequent X-Corp).
• In the final scene, Apocalypse (Marquand) calls out to “increase the power” but there’s no one in the underground catacomb but himself.

This is another episode that is cramming in a ton of business (the fallout of Magneto’s death, the re-establishment of the school, the return of Polaris, the emergence of Danger, new uniforms, the creation of X-Corp), but the focus specifically on Polaris and Danger gives it a narrative spine that helps ground everything.

X-Men ’97 2×07: “Strange Land, Savage Heart”

Written by Brian Ford Sullivan and Beau DeMayo and directed by Emmett Yonemura

Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough) must defend his anti-mutant half-brother against Magneto’s Acolytes in a trial set in the Savage Land and presided over by Colossus (Robert Cait)!

• Polaris has been added to the opening credits, but she is still in her X-Factor uniform.
• New scenes added to the opening credits include Mystique chucking baby Nightcrawler off a cliff and Apocalypse confronting Creed from the original series’ second season two-parter, “Time Fugitives.”
• Colossus’ little sister Illyana makes her animated debut as Magik (she appeared in the original series as a young girl). No explanation is given as to why she’s older (comics readers know why, but it seems impossible for the circumstances of her accelerated aging to have happened in this narrative world) or why she’s wearing an X-Men training uniform.
• The title of this episode is a riff on “Savage Land, Strange Heart,” the title of a two-parter from the original series’ third season.
• Graydon Creed (Ben Pronsky) ran for President in a 1995-1996 plotline in the comics, during which Iceman and Cannonball went undercover in his campaign; it culminated in him being assassinated by Mystique (but not the Mystique of the present, a time-traveling Mystique from a future story. Comics!).
• Creed is wearing pretty much the exact same suit as he wore in the original series.
• Amongst the Acolytes who show up to capture Creed are Unuscione, Frenzy, Random (who is not wearing an Acolyte uniform), Colossus, Exodus, Amelia Voght, Senyaka, and Chrome.
• Amongst the prisoners being held by X-Factor we see Avalanche and Pyro of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and the shadowed form of someone with four arms (so either Forearm or the Savage Land mutate Barbarus).
• Also, it sure seemed in episode 2 like Jubilee released all of X-Factor’s prisoners; I guess the kids were being held separately and she just freed them?
• Exodus (Bo Poraj) has a French accent, which is consistent with his comic origins as a French crusader.
• The puddle flickering just before a dinosaur appears seems like a pretty clear Jurassic Park reference.
• Beast’s new uniform makes him look like he’s wearing a Shakespearean frilled collar.
• The idea of the Acolytes holding a trial in which Colossus participates is taken from Uncanny X-Men #315.
• More Acolytes: Delgado, Milan, Seamus Mellencamp (the big lizard guy), Tempo, Neophyte (which is who Colossus defended in Uncanny X-Men #315), Rusty, Skids, Scanner, Katuu, and Spoor.

• Graydon Creed being ditched in the frozen part of Antarctica outside the Savage Land is similar to when the X-Men ditched Gambit in the same spot following his trial in the Savage Land in Uncanny X-Men #350.

There’s some interesting ideas brought up in this episode — Nightcrawler’s grace for Creed despite his faults, the way Nightcrawler’s defense of Creed also speaks to Colossus’ grief for his sister, Creed’s unflinching hatred of mutants – but simply not enough room to explore them. And with only two episodes left in the season, little promise they’ll ever be revisited.