Why 'X-Men 97' is a masterpiece in writing

Once again I'm letting my inner geek out and writing about Marvel but this time for very good reasons! As the new series X-Men 97, streaming on Disney+, arrives at its season finale after ten consecutive weeks, there's just no way I could let this one slide. The series has singlehandedly reignited the love for Marvel in the hearts of many fans - including mine - and reminded everyone why X-Men are one of the biggest phenomena in pop culture.

Let's start from the beginning. Beware of spoilers beyond this point!

X-Men 97 premiered on March 20 and serves as both a revival and direct continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, which lasted from 1992 to 1997. I was still a baby when the original series aired so obviously I was too young to watch it back then - and I'm gonna be honest, I still haven't. But from what I've read online throughout the years, the original X-Men was an absolute success, reaching a viewership of over 23 million households and turning the superhuman team overwhelmingly popular amongst the general public. Its success was indeed so big that it became the driving force for the live-action adaptation of the X-Men a few years later at the start of the new millennium.

Fast forward to 2024, the new show finds the team one year after the events of the original series. Charles Xavier is presumed dead and Magneto is the full heir of his entire assets, including the X-Mansion and every member of the X-Men team. As the ensemble are still being persecuted for their powers, tensions arise as every member of the team must decide if they wanna follow Magneto's lead for a chance at survival.

Beau DeMayo serves as head writer and executive producer of the series and I might as well go ahead and say that this entire article is a love letter to him. X-Men 97 has been dubbed by critics as "Marvel's best release in years", attracting 4 million views worldwide to the first episode and eventually becoming the third most streamed original series on Disney+ in 2024. With a second season already in production, I have never been more invested in these characters as I am now. Let's discuss some of the reasons why, in my opinion, this show was a masterpiece from start to finish.

The power of many

The X-Men have been widely popularized thanks to the Fox films that started back in 2000. Some elements of the movies were great but they made one fatal mistake by focusing too much on Wolverine - played to perfection by the amazing Hugh Jackman. The character even had an entire trilogy dedicated to him, while others like Storm, Rogue, Jean and Cyclops were completely sidelined and their abilities were downplayed to serve the storyline. The new animated series does an outstanding job at correcting this flaw.

X-Men 97 knows that the X-Men are an ensemble and work best as such. Even with half-hour episodes, I guarantee everyone on the team gets their moment in the spotlight and is granted a full-season arc. Seeing the sisterly love between Storm and Jean or witnessing fight scenes where Wolverine and Nightcralwer battle alongside each other are some of the moments that we were deprived of in the Fox movies. This new series constantly reminds you that the X-Men are a family and it absolutely practices what it preaches.

Another gem about this new series is how it strives away from the whole heroes vs. villains concept and shows you that things are a bit more complicated than that. In a world where the X-Men are hunted and eliminated, everyone's motivations are quite complex and you quickly realize there is no real hero to the story. The final showdown is about realizing if mutants want to stand on the right side of history and ultimately decide between what is right and what is easy. But make no mistake: these characters are as flawed as any other human on the planet and the shows works best when it's not telling about right or wrong decisions but instead lets you study the psyche behind them.

The genius play on words

This is where DeMayo and his team of amazing collaborators shine the brightest. They absolutely crush it when creating analogies between the English language and the superhuman abilities of the team. The dialogue is so cleverly put together that even I, who am not a native English speaker, can appreciate the brilliance behind it. DeMayo knows what these characters are made of to their very core - their personalities, their abilities, their struggles. And he puts all of that to very good use in discourse throughout the show.

In one of the episodes, Jean and Storm come together to face off enemies and the first one utters the words 'Make them mind your weather, sister', where the latter responds 'And them weather your mind'. My world crumbled down a bit when I realized they were playing with the fact that Jean has telepathic abilities and Storm can control the weather. How genius is that?

On the other hand, in the season finale, Roberto, who has solar-like abilities, finally introduces himself as Sunspot and mentions that the name 'has a bit more flare'. Again, a brilliant call to the natural phenomenon that is a solar flare. Also in the season finale, and on a lighter note, when Jubilee - who can generate explosive energy blasts - is facing off against Bastion, he strikes back by saying 'What are you gonna do? Hit me with the 4th of July?' - which is a reference to all the fireworks used in this specific holiday in the United States. Baby, when I tell you I laughed out loud. You can just tell that this show was written by a gay man when even the villains can be shady as hell in their final moments.

The political landscape

X-Men 97 also does a brilliant job at understanding the sociopolitical circumstances in which it exists. Many of the mutants' storylines revolve around how they are persecuted for their superhuman powers in a world that constantly reminds you how humans fear what they do not understand. Naturally, the climax to these stories comes down to deciding between fighting hatred with hatred or ultimately choosing empathy as a weapon.

This concept perfectly mirrors the reality we currently live in 2024. Across the globe, we are being bombarded with news of political conflicts, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine and the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. On top of that, we are also witnessing the rise of far-right political forces in many countries, which jeopardize the basic human rights of many communities - something that is happening even in Portugal as we speak, as I discussed in one of my recent articles.

The series makes perfect use of the concept of science fiction, by showcasing a group of supernatural characters whose struggles are very much the same as the ones we, as viewers, have in our daily lives. In this Marvel-generated reality, the idea behind the X-Men is not how their powers can be so very cool but it is mostly about the depth of humanity within these characters and how it can be a driving force to exceptional decisions. X-Men 97 perfectly crafts a picture of how bigotry and hatred will only lead to inevitable destruction but there is still hope on turning things around and realizing that we always have been and always will be stronger when we exist together.