“Fire Made Flesh”
What They Say:
When a visitor arrives at the mansion with a dangerous secret that threatens Cyclops and Jean’s relationship, the team is propelled into a tragic confrontation with an immortal mad scientist.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
The two opening episodes of X-Men 97 covered a lot of ground and retconned a few things along the way but they largely delivered what people were looking for when it came to the sizable core fanbase of the original 90s series. It’s been amusing seeing some of the complaints that are basically the show adhering to 90s fashion and style choices and adapting actual comic story elements. As is the case for many – but not all – of the complaints, they’re not people who actually know the source material so it’s easy to ignore. While the show is still not something that I’m hugely drawn to because I had no affection for the original series, it’s been fun to watch and seeing the “original” Jean Grey show up in the mansion at the end of the previous episode and discovering the one Scott and the rest have known isn’t the real one is quite the rug pull.
And for Jean in particular.
What becomes amusing is that as it progresses and we see a rift forming between Scott and Jean, Hank does the real work of figuring out the genetic code and discovering that Mr Sinister is behind this. And Sinister himself is reaching out to Jean now as part of the master plan as all of this was to get a baby out of this union of the cloned Jean and Scott. Nathan was always going to have a target on him because of his parentage and the way Jean deals with this isn’t a surprise as there are so many conflicts going on within her from it, and lashing out with all the energy of it since her past is largely a lie by nature of being a clone. And it’s visually great as we see her transforming here into this new dark personality with the right costume to highlight it. It definitely takes me back to my younger days reading the books and remembering the original story. Having this play out while other manipulations are playing otu as well, such as Gambit seeing a twisted version of Rogue and Magneto together or Logan “struggling” with two Jean Grey’s out there now. And poor Morph.
Having everything in the mansion go pretty crazy is fun to watch and the original Jean stepping up to save everyone is a great moment. But it also forges this rift even more as the clone Jean takes on the Goblin Queen name and goes full even with the snap of a finger – and to swipe Nathan as well while everyone else gets handed their asses. It showcases her power well and knowing that Sinster is backing this just makes it an even tougher foe that they’ll be facing. What becomes neat to me is that while Scott makes it all about him for a minute, it’s Magneto that makes it clear that Sinister is someone that has plagued them and mutantkind for far too long and must be dealt with. It’s a proactive approach to a real threat that, as Morph notes, has been around for a long time as he plays with his plan of genetic manipulation. Magneto’s definitely proving to be an interesting adjustment for the team and even shows some real care in subtle ways along the way.
In Summary:
X-Men 97 is certainly speedrunning through story points from the comics but I’m enjoying having some of my favorite elements from the comics come alive here. Much like the first two episodes, there’s simply too much going on here but it delivers a lot of really enjoyable moments across the board. Marvel tends to play too much with clones in general but this one works well and is a big part of setting up so many other things in the comics. The action plays out really well throughout this, the use of Sinister is spot on and done well, and the clash of Jean versus her clone is a great moment that reminds what kind of true power she has. There’s a lot to like and we get so many fun character moments throughout that I’m excited to see what’s next – even if it doesn’t take enough time to breathe and let it truly resonate.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Disney+
