10 key episodes of X-Men ’92 to watch before X-Men ’97: A ComicsXF Primer

Everyone loves X-Men: The Animated Series, right? At least, that’s what Disney is banking on with the release of X-Men ’97, the follow-up to the animated series that theoretically introduced a generation of kids to the X-Men. But with 76 episodes spread across five seasons in very confusing watch orders (Do I watch based on when episodes aired or when they were produced? Why is Jean dead in this one episode but alive in the next with no explanation? How’d the mansion get fixed so fast?), newbies and diehards alike could use a crash course in the show ahead of the debut Wednesday of X-Men ’97. 

That’s where we come in, with this list of 10 key episodes (actually, 12, ‘cuz there’s a pair of two-parters) to check out before diving into the new series. 

To be clear, these aren’t necessarily the 10 best episodes of the series, but rather, the 10 episodes that best capture the spirit of the original series and/or seem particularly relevant given what we know about X-Men ’97. Revisit or discover anew these 10 episodes, and you’ll be perfectly primed for what’s coming next.

Also, don’t forget to check out our reactions to the trailer.

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‘Night of the Sentinels’ (Season 1)

Revisiting the series’ premiere is certainly a no-brainer, but it’s important to understand just how much this two-parter gets right in terms of introducing the X-Men to its then-largest audience ever. Using a young POV character (in this case, Jubilee) as the audience surrogate to introduce the already-established X-Men is a technique used previously in “Pryde of the X-Men” with Kitty Pryde and would be used again in the first Fox live-action film with Rogue (and Wolverine to some extent). 

But beyond that, the two-parter is careful to give each character (with the possible exception of Jean, whom the producers weren’t quite sure what to do with at the start) a moment to define themselves, from Gambit shamelessly flirting with a game store employee to Cyclops no-nonsense blasting a Sentinel in the face, while also establishing a sense of gravitas via the (apparent) death of Morph. Most importantly, by eschewing Magneto as the series’ debut villain in favor of the Sentinels — the physical, punchable embodiment of humanity’s fear and hatred of mutants — it establishes right up front the themes of the series and the X-Men, sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them, in a way that is still workable in the context of a Saturday morning cartoon. 

‘Captive Hearts’ (Season 1)

While “Captive Hearts” is a notable episode for the way it introduces a pair of what would later become the series’ more well-known memes (Wolverine being covered in scorpions, and later lying in bed wistfully holding a picture of Cyclops and Jean), it is also important for the way it establishes the Cyclops/Jean/Wolverine triangle as an important recurring element of the series, cementing it as “a thing” for a generation of fans arguably far more directly than any of the previous comics did. 

It’s also an early example of the series’ ability to adapt well-known comic book stories in a way that fits the confines of the series and/or its genre while staying true to the spirit of the original tale. Despite the absence of some key players (notably Kitty Pryde), you could swap out Cyclops for Angel and knives for weird … lightsaber-y glow rod sticks, and this episode is a surprisingly faithful adaptation of the first Morlock story in Uncanny X-Men #169-170.

‘Days of Future Past’ (Season 1)

At the other end of the adaptation spectrum is “Days of Future Past,” which takes the bare-bones structure of the comic book story (a dystopian future, time travel, the attempted assassination of Senator Kelly) and puts its own early ‘90s spin on it, subbing in Bishop for Kate Pryde and playing up Gambit’s mysterious past and shifty nature to add suspense and a “whodunit?” element to the story. Bishop’s involvement, far more than a sop to a then-new popular character, becomes key: He serves as a sort of time-traveling Greek chorus for the series, popping up repeatedly throughout for any story involving time travel or alternate dimensions, a reminder to the present-day X-Men (and the audience) of what is at stake in their fight, and he is poised to continue to play a role in X-Men ’97. Also, the conclusion of “Days of Future Past” features one of the series’ all time best cliffhangers, as Kelly’s assassination is stopped but the senator disappears in the resultant melee. The X-Men wonder who could have taken him, until Professor X ominously realizes his watch has been … magnetized.

‘The Final Decision’ (Season 1)

“Days of Future Past” leads directly into this, the series’ first season finale, and arguably its strongest episode. Without knowing whether the series would be coming back for a second season, the creators pull out all the stops, featuring the X-Men’s first team-up with Magneto as the Sentinels return, and the specter of mutant extermination at the hands of humanity, raised by the preceding two-parter, is centered in the narrative once more. The episode succeeds in part because it doesn’t pull away from naked sentiment (Jubilee’s fierce insistence on joining the fight or Cyclops declaring he won’t leave anyone behind this time before kissing Jean and charging back into an exploding Sentinel base are both maudlin and effective) while also putting forward some spectacular action sequences (such as Wolverine taking on three Sentinels in a pitch dark cave, the action illuminated only by the blasts of the Sentinels as they try to take out Wolverine). 

In terms of the overall narrative, “The Final Decision” is important for the way it recontextualizes Magneto as more of a reluctant ally than an antagonist, but really, this is an episode that is worth watching just because it’s entertaining. If you can’t enjoy the sight of Professor X flying a plane loaded with clearly labeled TNT into the chest of a giant robot (who makes other little robots) emerging from the inside of a mountain, maybe this isn’t the show for you. 

‘Repo Man’ (Season 2)

Given a mandate by Fox to do fewer interconnected stories in the show’s second season, the creators worked around this stipulation by setting up an ongoing plot thread involving Xavier and Magneto getting lost in the Savage Land. By devoting a few minutes each episode to the Savage Land subplot while building the A-plots of the episodes around a specific character, they were able to placate the executives while still maintaining a sense of an advancing overarching narrative. 

“Repo Man” is the Wolverine-centric episode of the season, and suitably, it features Alpha Flight’s animated debut. Written by Wolverine co-creator Len Wein, it’s a good example of the way the series could take something as vast and complex as Wolverine’s backstory (which even in the early ‘90s was a tangled mess) and distill it down to its core to present it to an audience in a way that is digestible but still true to the essence of the original stories. 

‘The Phoenix Saga Part 3: Cry of the Banshee’ (Season 3)

The third season of X-Men: TAS is defined by a pair of direct adaptations of Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and John Byrne’s Phoenix storyline, both the initial “Jean Grey transforms into Phoenix and saves the universe” arc and the later “Jean is corrupted, joins an S&M club, eats a sun and destroys a planet of vegetable people, then sacrifices herself” story. Both are remarkably faithful adaptations of the source material given the confines of Saturday morning network TV and the makeup of the animated roster vs. the comic book one (Gambit, Rogue and Jubilee didn’t even exist when the original comic book stories were published). Even Classic X-Men skipped reprinting the largely throwaway chapter of the original “Phoenix Saga” about Professor X’s dark side (an opera cape-clad manifestation of Xavier) attacking the X-Men, but you better believe the animated series included it!

Of the animated Phoenix Saga’s five parts, its third chapter is, if not the best, at least the most entertaining. Loosely adapting X-Men #101-103 and #106 (while sadly eschewing the leprechauns who know Wolverine), it features the X-Men and guest-star Banshee fighting Black Tom and Juggernaut over Professor X’s spacebird girlfriend Lilandra, and concludes with the Phoenix waking up and drop-kicking Gladiator, aka Marvel’s Superman, off the planet in a show of power (a direct callback to her showdown with Firelord in the comic book version of the saga). It’s a faithful adaptation that still shakes up events to fit the animated universe, and features some series-best animation for a series rarely heralded for its animation quality.

‘Dark Phoenix Saga Part 4: Fate of the Phoenix’ (Season 3)

Despite two live-action, big budget feature film attempts, the animated “Dark Phoenix Saga” remains the best adaptation of one of superhero comics’ most acclaimed stories, despite the fact that no one could die and the Hellfire Club had to be called the “Circle Club” (why the corrupted Jean had to have leggings drawn onto her Black Queen Hellfire Circle Club attire while Emma Frost got away with bare legs remains a mystery). The finale of the story is fascinating both for how faithful it is to the concluding chapter of the comic book saga in X-Men #137, and in how wildly different it is. The bulk of the episode, like the comic, consists of a brawl between the X-Men and the Imperial Guard, with specific beats and images lifted directly from the comic: Lilandra discusses the situation with the Kree Supreme Intelligence and Skrull Empress, Jean dons her green Marvel Girl minidress, and the Colossus/Gladiator brawl is recreated almost shot-for-shot, with Rogue in place of Colossus.

Yet the conclusion of the story is vastly different from the comic, with Jean resurrected by the Phoenix Force after each of the X-Men sacrifice a bit of their “life essence” to restore her. While lacking the tragedy and thus emotional heft of the comic book story, it’s a smart way to adjust the story to the dictates of the medium while still recognizing what made the original story so impactful: The X-Men still lose, and Jean still sacrifices herself to spare the universe from Dark Phoenix. She merely gets to come back, thanks to a literal deus ex machina — and because the creators had the benefit of Claremont and Byrne’s hindsight and were able to make sure Dark Phoenix didn’t actually kill anyone in the course of this version of the story. 

‘Obsession’ (Season 3)

Perhaps one of the animated series’ greatest contributions to the X-canon is the deep, baroque, over-the-top voice of animated Apocalypse, a villain in the archest sense, whose every line is delivered like it’s the grandest pronouncement ever issued. But “Obsession,” which chronicles a gloriously angsty Archangel’s efforts to hunt down and kill Apocalypse once and for all while the two chew up and spit out the scenery at each other, isn’t just a showcase for voice actor John Colicos’ take on the eternal mutant. It’s also a surprisingly good showcase for the X-Men as a whole: Cyclops gets to be cool (an unfortunate rarity for this series), Rogue gets to try to break through Archangel’s obsession by drawing on their shared experiences, and Beast develops a connection with Apocalypse’s sentient ship (Ship, from X-Factor) that is far more emotionally affecting than anything in the season two episode built around Beast falling in love with a blind woman. While there are nods to comic book stories, “Obsession” is a showcase for the series’ ability to tell original stories that build on its own continuity, rather than always relying on the borrowed continuity of the comics. 

‘Courage’ (Season 4)

While Morph is not technically an original character — he is loosely based on Kevin Sydney, the Silver Age villain Changeling who was later retconned into helping Professor X fake his death in one of Xavier’s earliest big “Professor X is a jerk!” moments — his depiction in the animated series as the goofy best bud to the grimdark Wolverine is more or less unique to the series (and would, in part, inspire the depiction of Changeling in the “Age of Apocalypse” storyline and the later Exiles series). His death in the series’ two-part premiere was an effective — if cheap — way to establish the stakes for the show, and relatively dark for a Saturday morning cartoon in the early ‘90s (Keep in mind, G.I. Joe used laser guns and everyone always had a parachute). 

But in cartoons as well as comics, dead doesn’t always mean dead, and Morph was revived in the series’ second season as a conflicted villain working for Mister Sinister. “Courage” marks his return to the X-fold, and is a delightfully bonkers episode featuring, among other things, a Master Mold head with spider legs who wants to steal Xavier’s brain. Like “Obsession,” this is another showcase for the series drawing on its own internal narrative arcs as much as anything from the comics. It also grapples with post-traumatic stress disorder in a way that is hardly deep but still surprising given the context, and if the ending — in which Morph accepts that he’s still a hero but that doesn’t mean he wants to be one of the X-Men again — is born of the fact that the show was reluctant to shake up its core roster for more than an episode or two, the character beat does a good enough job of covering up that fact. Given that Morph will be back for a presumably larger role in X-Men ’97, it will be interesting to see if the series acknowledges the events of this episode when dealing with his return.

‘Graduation Day’ (Season 5)

The fifth and final season of X-Men: The Animated Series — the result of a last-minute order for some additional episodes, made by a different animation studio than the rest of the series — isn’t its best. But “Graduation Day” serves as a decent capstone to the show, one that returns to the themes of human/mutant relations that it centered in its premiere to (seemingly) close out the series. It also draws heavily on the Xavier/Magneto relationship, with Xavier’s failing health leading Magneto to give up his crusade for mutant dominance once and for all, setting the stage for his role as “the new Xavier” in X-Men ’97 (all of which is a (very) loose adaptation of Uncanny X-Men #200). Given that the sequel series appears to be picking up right where this episode leaves off — or at least, shortly thereafter — it’s worth another (or first) look as a lead-in to X-Men ’97.