Cue the theme song. Another episode of Marvel’s X-Men ‘97 dropped today on Disney+. Following the epic introduction of Madelyne Pryor in last week’s episode, this fourth episode in the series interestingly took on a different format, splitting into two separate stories. This week, it was Jubilee and Storm who stepped into the spotlight.
As always, we start with the intro which once again added some new clips. This week, in addition to the usual character intros, we saw new clips featuring Jubilee and Longshot taking on Mojo, Forge teaming up with the X-Men and Charles Xavier telepathically spying on the Hellfire Club before being shut out by Emma Frost.
The episode begins with a story titled “Motendo,” as we see the X-Men having a formal meeting. Gambit offers Rogue some coffee but she informs him that Magneto has already beaten him to the punch. Magneto informs the team they are to begin preparing themselves to Mister Sinister’s eventual return. Beast protests that Jubilee should be given the day off to celebrate her 18th birthday, a point the rest of the X-Men agree with. Magneto argues she needs to be prepared to combat a world that hates her.
Jubilee enters, ready to celebrate her birthday. Rogue asks how she wants to celebrate and she tells the team she wants them all to go to the arcade, a setting in which we saw her frequently in the original series. The team looks to Magneto, who shares a disapproving scowl.
Back in her room, Jubilee complains to Roberto that Magneto shut down her plan. She also mentions that Scott and Jean are off at the UN. Roberto points out that the mutant island of Genosha joining the UN is a big deal. Roberto notices a video game console on her dresser. As she looks at it, we can see a plush of Longshot, the same character we saw in the intro. Jubilee met Longshot during an encounter with Mojo back in the original series.
Jubilee takes notice of the console, a Motendo, and decides is must be a surprise from the X-Men. The art on the game cartridge is similar to that of the Super Nintendo game X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse. The two teens begin to play but the console immediately takes over and ensnares them in technological tentacles.
They wake up in Jubilee’s room, but it’s clear something is different. The room glitches before a Sentinel breaks through the wall and grabs Roberto. They see they’re no longer near the mansion and Jubilee frees Roberto. They run from the Sentinel but Roberto refuses to use his powers to join the fight, still fearing his family will find out he’s a mutant. The two run the the Sentinel and members of the FOH before finding a ringing public phone (remember, it’s still the ‘90s). They answer it and are transported away.
A loading screen brings them to Genosha and Jubilee explains that this is “way back when Genosha,” an island on which she was trapped with Storm and Gambit when mutants were used as slaves here. This story was featured in the original series. We see several other mutants, including Blob working on the island while being held at gunpoint.
Soldiers begin shooting at the two teens but they are rescued by a mysterious character in a mask. Jubilee walks to the mysterious woman but is blocked by some kind of barrier. She puts together that they’re in a video game and suddenly Mojo appears in a hologram to confirm her theory. The villain, who appeared in the original series, is obsessed with scoring the highest ratings for his television network, which typically means tormenting mutants for the audience’s enjoyment. He explains that his ratings have been down and that video games are the future. Also, because of his struggling ratings, he is much thinner than we typically see him because he quite literally feeds on ratings.
Mojo also explains that this new game is based on Jubilee’s memories and she seems flattered to be the star of the game. Mojo also namedrops Dazzler, a mutant pop star, whom he said had a game as well. He also tells them if they die in the game they die in real life.
Jubilee and Roberto then get launched into a 16-bit adventure that looks very reminiscent of the classic X-Men arcade game. They also appear to be in a world inspired by the beloved “Days of Future Past” story arc. The crowd watches as Jubilee tears her way through Sentinels and Mojo feeds on their excitement, returning to his usual, um, plump self.
Jubilee and Roberto move on to the next level, which is the Savage Land. In a fight with Sauron, a mutant pterodactyl character, Jubilee has most of her health drained. The mystery woman from earlier suddenly appears on the screen though and replenishes her health, to the dismay of Mojo. We see Spiral working hunt down “the bug” under Mojo’s orders.
The teens advance to the final level, Asteroid M, Magneto’s old base. Roberto tells the story of seeing this on the news and pretending he hated mutants to his family. He also explains they should try to find a way out but Jubilee is having too much fun. Roberto is hit by something and almost killed as Mojo introduces the boss battle against Magneto. Jubilee sees that Roberto is almost dead and begins to take things seriously. Using her video game prowess, she defeats Magneto.
Suddenly, an extra life appears in the game, which Mojo once again laments. Jubilee gives the extra life to Roberto to save him. She apologizes to him but Magneto rises again. Before he can attack though, a hand comes through a portal and takes them away. The mystery woman appears again and explains that she hacked them out of the game before revealing herself to be an alternate version of Jubilee. This version of the character, while altered greatly for the show, appears in the comics under the name Abcissa, which is the name featured in the credits for this episode.
Abcissa explained that she was a virtual beta tester for the game who figured how to hack it and survive. She convinces Jubilee this isn’t real living and she needs to break free. Mojo breaks out of that aforementioned classic X-Men arcade cabinet and emerges for the final boss battle. Jubilee and Abcissa combine their powers and Roberto finally uses his own to defeat Mojo. Jubilee and Roberto wake up back in her room, the Motendo now fried. Jubilee thanks Roberto for using his powers and kisses him as the screen fades to black, ending this half of the episode.
The next title, “Lifedeath – part 1,” introduces Storm and Forge, who eat dinner in his cabin. Storm asks about his prosthetic limbs and he says he was a soldier. She expresses jealousy over his mutant ability allowing him to fix himself. He takes her on a horseback ride, where she feels as though she can soar again.
Storm races ahead and stops just short of the edge of a cliff. There, Storm takes note of an owl and the strange wind in this place. In the “Lifedeath” comic arc, Storm lives with Forge in his mansion which has technology that can create simulations around them. Perhaps that is happening here.
Back in the cabin, Forge shows Storm to his lab where she notices a photo of him with a team of mutants. The photo is of X-Factor, a mutant team that included Havok, Polaris, Quicksilver and others. Forge conducts and experiment and they test her powers outside, but with no results. Storm drops to her knees in frustration. In the comics, the story takes on a much darker theme, with Storm suffering from depression and thoughts of suicide.
Storm finds Forge working on his machine again and asks why this is so important to him. He explains that he was responsible for building the devices used to neutralize mutant powers for the government, including the collars we’ve seen and the weapon that affected Storm. Forge professes his love for Storm, a love she does not reciprocate. She makes that clear when she slaps him and runs off. A similar moment occurs in the comics.
We then see Storm riding a horse again, now in the rain. This time though, she sees glowing red eyes in the sky abd she fails to stop at the edge of the cliff and she falls. She crashes through the roof of Forge’s cabin and he rushes to her aid. The roof suddenly repairs itself and the fire in the fireplace is extinguished, leaving Storm and Forge in darkness. A creature claws its way into the room. Forger refers to it as a demon and it throws him to the side. Storm questions if she is dead but the creature, which appears to have taken the shape of a monstrous owl, informs her she is alive. It tells her she is trapped, haunted and that it feasts on misery. The creature identifies itself as the Adversary as the episode comes to a close.
The Adversary is a villain from the comics who takes the form of Forge’s teacher in order to trick Storm and Forge into fighting each other. The full extent of the power of the Adversary is not known, but this is a heavy hitter as X-Men villains are concerned.
While it was an interesting decision to split this episode into two different stories, they were both once again fantastic. Brining Mojo back for a creative, 16-bit episode was a nice outside-the-box surprise and playing off of a classic comic story arc balanced it out nicely. Fans will certainly be looking forward to “Lifedeath – part 2.”
X-Men ‘97 is now streaming on Disney+.