Five Lessons the MCU can learn from X-Men '97 

The greatest lesson mcu can learn from 97 is making Cyclops the actual leader of X men rather than Wolverine just because he's more rough and tough.

The lesson that Nightcrawler can be wise and a fun loving badass is key.

X-men 97 was a nice reminder that Wolverine is A member of the X-men, not THE member.

Rogue is the embodiment of being a mutant. More curse than blessing. Without being able to be part of a world that hates her or get closer to those who love her. It may not be Omega level on the power scale, but it is in our hearts :D

Here to make sure the Kitty Pride fans aren't ignored.

YOUR NUMBER ONE POINT WAS MY MAIN POINT! I was so taken by the fact that Cyclops is a hunk again! Rogue isn't just emotional, she's passionate! And Magneto is personal!

The power signature is one of the things that made Wanda work. You INSTANTLY knew when she was involved and it never felt like too much. An X-Men movie needs that kind of eye catching style to recapture the attention of folks that have lost interest in the MCU and THEN have the writing to carry the story.

I'd like to take a moment to vocalize my Rogue fandom.

I'm going to add onto your thoughts on Jean Grey and argue that the only reason why the Phoenix Saga worked originally was because Jean was already a well established, well known quantity in the X-Men. Phoenix does not work if Jean's character traits go from "attractive but bland" to "attractive but evil". It works if she's already a well known character with her own depth for the Phoenix to play with. Otherwise, there is no weight behind her transformation. It would be like giving us the black suit in the first Spiderman movie.

The main issue with the use of Jean as Phoenix in movies, we skip the important part. She never establishes herself as _the_ Phoenix. We go straight to "corrupted by absolute power" Dark Phoenix. In the comics, Jean was Phoenix for years before being the Dark Phoenix for one storyline. The context of which has long been bastardised ever since.

Cyclops is dumb in love, but otherwise incredibly smart. He is in canonically in the same league as Steve Rogers in terms of leadership and combat strategy.

Maybe not have their color signatures, but if you dont use color, you can definitely play with sound. A lot of the time, in X-Men: Evolution, a mutant's power signature isnt just visual, its audio. We KNOW what Jean Grey's telekinesis sounds like. We hear the guitar riff every time Avalanche uses his power. Magneto's powers have a distinct sound to them. So they could do that too.

My problem with the movies jumping to Dark Phoenix is that they always skip over her just being Phoenix. You want to do Dark Phoenix? Fine, but Jean has to get the Phoenix powers at least one full movie before she even starts to hint at becoming the Dark Phoenix. It was a saga...not a single movie.

Extremely memely voice, sobbing under a blanket on camera: “LEAVE WOLFSBANE ALOOOONE!”

You might be literally the ONLY RU-vidr that understands the Xmen, and thats not an exaggeration. In one video you have explained the 2 most mis-understood xmen comic facts. 1) its a lot about the interpersonal drama. 2) let hugh jackman go, and while youre at it relax on the wolverine focus. Its like, the internet understands the facts of xmen lore but no clue what it was really about. people, with powers. not powers with names. Amazing video and thanks for making me feel like Im not crazy for thinking all of these things.

As someone who *never* cared about the Scott-Jean-Logan love triangle (and over time found it exasperating), I think Wolverine's main relationship in the MCU should be with Jubilee. They could have the same dynamic as Joel and Ellie from TLOU. It would differentiate the MCU X-Men from the Fox movies and free Jean from the most played-out love triangle in history.

Wholly agree with your takes, here's an additional five from me. 1. Agent Fred Duncan. Humans shouldn't all be the enemy. If Marvel made an X-Men movie where all the humans were terrible it would entirely miss the point of the civil rights allegory. Agent Fred Duncan of the FBI is the solution to this. Have someone in a position of power be an ally the the mutants. 2. More spotlight for POC characters. Bishop, Storm, Forge, Mirage, Karma and so many more X-Men are typically sidelined for mutants like Cyclops, Jean and even Gambit. The movie would again, entirely miss the point of the X-Men, if they had a mostly white cast. 3. Senator Kelly, Reverend Stryker and Bolivar Trask. These characters could pose a threat to the first team of mutants. Not just by sheer power via the Sentinels, but by spreading hate and fear. 4. Don't be afraid of absurd mutants. Cameos from lesser known X-Men such as Maggot, Anole and Banshee would make this movie feel more like a film about acceptance, rather than a corporate superhero blockbuster. 5. Have the creative team read obscure X-Men books. Operation Zero Tolerance and X-Tinction Agenda would be great.

What the MCU needs to remember about the X-Men is that it is a big freaking Super Powered Soap Opera! 9/10, it is the most cliched daytime, All My Children, Days of Our Lives, the Young and Restless, soap opera to exist, in all of the best ways.

15:46 Hate to "well, actually" you, but technically Jean was dead during the decade that Scott and Emma were together. As soon as Jean was resurrected Scott went right back to her. I think Marvel was clearing the decks in advance of Jean's return by making Emma go bad again, if i recall.

As president of the Rachel Summers fan club she is obviously the most important female X-man, I mean come on this is basic stuff.

We don't talk about the throuple. Also, neither Gambit nor his brother in law Nightcrawler are a B list anything in the pantheon of X-Men....🤬.

As long as my boy Cyclops is made THE MAN i’ll be happy

Yeah, the worst mutant had a whole romance in this show...wait Wolfsbane? I meant professor X

Regarding power signatures: At the very least, please just make Magneto's eyes glow when he uses his powers. Like in Super Hero Tiger's edits. (And like Wanda.)

Quintien (Kid Omega) is Pink. He rocks that pink. I only remember him having blue for one artist.

Respectfully Nando, I believe the best advice marvel (and feige) can take right now, is simply to take their time. I love everything you mentioned and I agree with your final point most of all, there are SO many stories they can adapt other than the phoenix/dark phoenix saga, I really just hope they take their time and allow all the super geeks like yourself and I that work at marvel to make the magic happen. Lastly, what are your thoughts on marvel going back to a (possibly) 2 film per year schedule? I think it’s great because they can really ramp up the quality control personal.

I think it's interesing (and a little weird) that this such a thing. Marvel Studios made X-Men 97. They have shown to us that they know how this works, right? Not that they work in the MCU and all, but they have shown us that they know how these characters should interact & fight, which characters should be used, which characters should lead and stuff. They have shown to us with X-Men 97 that they know. If they can implement it in another project besides X-Men 97 as well is a question for another time, but I think it's safe to say that they understand what they need to hit.

I'm a simple man, I see the Marvel's Midnight Suns game, I upvote.

Now lets talk about what they should do with Howard the Duck

One of my favorite lines in X-Men 97 is when Logan says "you're Jean Grey. He's Scott Summers. Those are the rules." Like yeah, we're kind of always told they're the couple, they always will be the couple, no questions asked.

Cyclops is my favorite superhero (If you couldn’t tell from my name and profile picture). I love his character because he is very flawed. It’s very interesting. Although he’s flawed, he always tries to learn from his mistakes and tries to fix them. Also, I like how through everything Scott ends up with Jean. I like him and Emma, but Scott and Jean are better.

Another thing they captured on the show was the friendship between Jean and Storm and how amazing they are together. Maybe explore that in a way that is not remotely queerbaiting. In fact, a lot of what makes the X-Men so much fun is the friendships and camaraderie which got completely lost in the live action movies,

This Rogue DISRESPECT will NOT be tolerated 😂

1:50 Ok So I'm glad I'm not the only one that picked up on the lack of chemistry between T'challa and Nakia.

Don’t take this the wrong most of the advice here seems vague and shallow, but I agree with the power signature and less wolverine. So let here’s my take. 1. Show MCU characters being intimate with each other and show close they are. 3. Make a cyclope cool and give him more depth. He should be allow mistakes because he’s only human and he still triest to be best version of himself because of the circumstances that he is in. 4. Maybe but it’s the hook that draws us into her character. I do wish they created inner conflict with her that’s not tie into Scott. I think if they had to do again they do something different with it or make it a whole other entity/character altogether.

Man. I was really hoping “Make Storm a multi-dimensional character with impact” was in your top 5.

Even beyond Jean, Emma, and clones thereof (lookout Cuckoos!), any time Scott Summers has a relationship lapse, he almost always immediately finds another woman eager to cuddle up with him. When the X-Men thought Jean and Beast died in a volcano (long story), suddenly he was spending a lot of time with Colleen Wing. After "Jean" died as the Phoenix, he met a woman named Lee Forrester to pal around and wash up on Magneto's island with. Even Madelyn Pryor falls into this category somewhat, with the added twist she turned out to be Jean's clone. But the key defining factor in all these relationships is that as soon as Scott finds out Jean's alive again, he drops them like yesterday's tacos and goes back to her without so much as a "seeya!" In fact, I'd say Emma falls into this category too, for the same reason, despite him starting up with her a bit before Jean dies for once.

I don’t think Wolverine got so much attention from Fox because they loved him. I think they liked bed how people responded to Jackman in the role. The real challenge will be both not leaning too much on whoever is the new Wolvie, plus resisting the urge to center any other breakout character that might pop like he did.

We need sexiness so bad in the MCU!

I always thought they should have done a solo Wolverine movie before they made the first X-Men. It would have been a lot cheaper and, if successful, would have brought in a lot more money for the first X-Men movie. Imagine the first X-Men with the budget of X2. Not only that, with the Wolverine character already introduced, the film could have spent a lot more time with introducing the other characters.

Rogue fan here to prove you right. I mean... yes she's in third place but also I love her

Talking about power signatures, one piece comic does this really well, every abstract power looks distinct even without any color.

Storm and Cyclops should be the main leaders especially Cyclop

everyone saying the DP&W short Wolverine is 'comic accurate' but in the comics he's ridiculously ripped, for that cameo he just looked like he lifts dumbbells in the garage once a week

Five tips for the X-Men MCU movies; 1. Toad solo film 2. Toad solo film 3. Toad solo film 4. Toad solo film And five will be a really shocker for everyone, so prepare yourselves; 5. Toad solo film

X-Men 97 understands that Jean Grey is interesting when she's powerful. She doesn't have to be fainting or at risk of corruption by the Phoenix. In the comics they've long understood this. Jean manages omega level powers and takes on omega level threats.

Rogue fan here, how dare you!? The X-Women are a trio. :p

not a bad itinerary. i have just one addition: find a way to get chris clairmont on the project in an advisory role. i am hard pressed to think of any one person who understands these characters and stories better than that guy.

Give me Rogue or give me death! 😤😂

Thank you for the Storm ⛈️ shout out!!!!

Scott is not dumb. Scott was never dumb. Scott tends to have his idealism shattered by realistic standards and occurrences, extending from his "boy scout" upbringings. Scott also makes mistakes - especially personal ones rather than battlefield related ones. His development and grittiness deepens due to his journey of being trained as a boy scout in transitioning into a battlefield tactician. Other than that, I continue to enjoy your content. I also enjoyed your Staten Island joke.

I unapologetically love Scott & Emma more than him and Jean😅

one thing i ABSOLUTELY want them to do is a Spider-Man and Kitty Pryde Romcom Team-Up Movie that WOULD GO SO HARD

Comic book Scott Summers is one of the most complete and interesting character journeys in all of super hero comics. They absolutely need to center the live action X-men around that journey. His hero to villain to anti-hero arc is fantastic, believable and most importantly, interesting.

I though Quinten was the one with a pink power signature? Oh, whatever 😅

Like Star Wars, I think I am enjoying the animated stuff more than live action now.

The staten island joke was perfect

I kinda want to watch xmen 97, but I can't find the time to catch up on the first 96.

The looming threat of Dark Phoenix is a fundamental part of Jean's character. I agree that they shouldn't rush into a full Dark Phoenix story, but the hints of it I think are very interesting.

psylocke: purple, kid omega: pink (has been for YEARS pre krakoa), dont know where that random blue panel came from. read krakoan age x-force or pre-krakoa when he hung out with gwenpool

The First MCU x-men movie should be the OG team. Then the second movie should add gaint size x-men 1 team. Bobby needs redemption.

I agree that they need to move Wolverine out of the focus....but if regardless of the comics...if they're going to change anything (you yourself have championed wholesale changes of characters looks)...just keep Wolverine at least a normal height. Doesn't have to be 6'3"....but not 5'3"....I couldn't take him seriously. Split the difference and make him 5'10".

I am once again asking for people in general and you specifically to understand and remember that telepathy and telekinesis are not synonyms, they are distinct, different powers. With respect, this mistake drives me up the wall.

I thought you were smarter than the meme culture on the internet... 🙄 Cyclops DIDN'T leave Cable. He didn't want part of the SITUATION. He knew that there was no other choice but to send Cable to the future to have a surviving chance. He just didn't want to say goodbye and be involved in the send-off. Emotions run high at times like that and he probably would've made it worse than it already was. People aren't perfect but that doesn't equate to "dumb" either.

1. Will Smith As Professor X 2. Denzel Washington As Magneto (Introduce Him In His Own Special Presentation. He Need's To Be The Most Revered Mutant Revolutionary, Basically The Mutant Malcolm X. I Also, Think He Should Have The White Hair & Full White Beard, Since Magneto Always Has A Distinct Look Like That.) 3. Taron Egerton As Wolverine (Introduce Him In His Own Special Presentation) 4. Rutina Wesley As Storm (Introduce Her In Own Special Presentation) 5. Channing Tatum As Scott Summers/Cyclops 6. Jessica Chastain As Jean Grey 7. Sophie Okonedo As Mystique (She Should Be Going Around The World Freeing & Helping Mutants. She Should Basically Be The Mutant Che Guevara.She Also Should Have The Same Look She Has On X-Men: The Animated Series.) 8. Nigel Thatch As Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast 9. Anthony Carrigan As Morph 10. Jamie Chung As Jubilee 11. Keke Palmer As Kitty Pryde/Shadow Cat 12. Trevor Jackson As Iceman (Don't Make Him A LBGTQIA+ Character) 13. Keith Powers As Pyro 14. Caleb Landry Jones As Gambit 15. Chloe Grace Moretz As Rogue 16. Quincy Brown As Nightcrawler 17. Stefan Kapicic As Colossus 18. Blair Underwood As Mister Sinister 19. Ryan Hurst As Sabretooth 20. Carmen Ejogo As Moira McTaggart 21. Christopher Judge As The Juggernaut 22. LaKeith Stanfield As David Haller/Legion (Introduce Him In His Own Special Presentation. Then Eventually Do Adaptations Of Age Of X & Legion Quest.) The MCU's X-Men lineup need's to be Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Iceman, Colossus, & Kitty Pryde. What They Can Do Is Say That The Mutants Made Themselves Known To The World, But They Were Always Hated. Then Krakoa, A Living Mutant Island Was Found & Alot Mutants Went There & Made A Life For Themselves. Other Mutants Decided To Live As Ordinary Humans & Don't Use Their Powers. In Classified Meetings & Hearings Charles Xavier Has Always Been Working To Peaceful Co-Existence, Meeting With World Leaders, Agency Leader, & Policy Makers, He Even Met Nick Fury Back In The 90's After The Events Of The First Captain Marvel Film, Where Fury Was Specificly Looking For Heroes & Earned Fury's Respect & Trust Just Carol Did. Fury Believes In Charles Mission & The X-Men, But Since They're Hated, They Wasn't The Right Team To Present To The World & That's Why He Went With The Avengers Instead. Magneto Was On Krakoa At First, But Eventually Believed The Best Place For Mutants Is Away From Humans, So He Got Asteroid M & Picks Mutants Up From Krakoa To Takes Then To The Asteroid. The Villain Of The First X-Men Film Should Be The Brood. I Wouldn't Mind Seeing A Magneto & Storm Relationship In The MCU, It Doesn't Have To Last, But That Would Be Very Interesting.

3:20 I am SO glad they recently made this not canon, makes ZERO sense for any of the three to do that

I really hope we leave the love triangle in the past

Tinfoil hat time; X-Men 97 was made extremely loyal and nostalgic so that whatever the MCU does with the X-Men can be drastically different. I do not think we are getting 90’s X-Men like this. I don’t think we’re getting Morrison era leather like the Fox films, or 60’s-80’s retro like with the more recent films; I think we are getting something way more modern and/or off the beaten path. Don’t be surprised if the face of X-Men is Armor or something.

Again with this making an X-Men movie without Wolverine is just a mistake in general don't listen to people who say that he should not be in the first movie yes we got a lot of Wolverine in the Fox X-Men movies that does not mean we need less of the most popular characters from the X-Men basically what you're saying is make a Justice League with no Batman and no Superman it honestly makes no sense this is what's going to happen if you don't put Wolverine in X-Men movie people will be like oh there's a new X-Men movie and it's in MCU I'm going to go see it someone will tell them Wolverine's not in it then the person will say I'm not going to go see that movie Wolverine is one of the most popular superhero characters in all the fiction his main team is X-Men if you're making an X-Men movie you put the most popular X-Men character in the movie

You really nailed it! Specially 3 and 4! I'm just tired of all these wolverine taking the lead. 😬🤷‍♂️

Jean Grey shouldn't be in the X-men films at all- the triangle and DPS are too associated with her. It's like having Harry Osborn and not have him become Green Goblin or Gwen Stacy and not have her die

Great video! I think one thing both attempts at Jean/Phoenix on screen missed is that they went straight to Dark Phoenix. What made the comics so compelling is that Jean got to be a full-on superhero and enjoy it for a long time before the descent into Dark Phoenix. They need at least one movie where she's just Phoenix and we get invested in her as Phoenix, so the turn to darkness is more tragic.

Pretty sure beak is the worst mutant

Calling Cyclops dumb because he feels guilty for “abandoning” his son and then accepts it’s what necessary is a wild take. Add to that you think he wants to sleep with Wolverine and it’s just ironic.

Here for the Rogue fans!! Love my southern skunk girl

Wait. The same writer who failed the first time on the Dark Phoenix story was hired again to write the same story... and suprise... it was a disaster. Wow.

Everyone blame the Fox Xmen movies for making Cyclops lame but that all started in the 90s cartoon

Lol what’s ur problem with Wolfsbane😂😂me I have a problem with angel salvadore (she’s a b***** Jean grey is just not interesting, beast whines to much and is a hypocrite due to his own making most of the time . iceman is childishly annoying to me way more annoying that Deadpool and Spider-Man or even ms marvel and that’s saying something 😂😂😂😂but maybe that’s just cause he ticked me off and was my least favorite part of the all new xmen run .

As a lifelong Cyclops fan, it’s great seeing people like him again.

My wish is that the MCU X-Men doesn’t have Xavier, Magneto or Wolverine.

I think power signatures are a bad idea, they would look silly in live action

MCU learn from a animated series,? that's why it is what it is...

Quick correction: Jean DIDN’T get to do her own thing when Scott and Emma were together. She was specifically killed off because Marvel didn’t want to do a divorce storyline (this is the same reason Pete and MJ were given a deal with the devil storyline instead of an actual breakup), and her adult self wasn’t brought back until Scemma had run it’s course and Scott was brief dead. And once he was back, they were back together. So Jean has never really had a “do her own thing” period.

To be fair I think the only time Jean was interesting in the movies was when she was Phoenix and even in the comics..if she isn’t Phoenix, cloned or trying to prevent her future from happening and entering everyone’s mind while she learns about her self then I don’t wanna see her. My favorite form of Jean tho was in the wolverine and the xmen show when she lost her memory and that arc

Frosty Summers is the couple name I came up with for Scott and Emma. that or Scott Emmers.

I totally agree with getting rid of realism

Betsy Braddock mentioned i am overjoyed

X-Men '97 was fantastic

Man, I love when Kevin watches your videos!

Had to pause at 3:07 because Nando with his track record of liking the coolest mutants hating Rahne was NOT on my 2024 bingo card

Another thing I’d make essential to MCU X-men movies is the importance and power of storm. Fox fumbled THE HALLE BERRY 3 times. I’d like to see Logan and Tchalla beef over her.

The first X-Men movie should have Cyclops Jean Grey Wolverine Storm Rogue Gambit Jubilee and Iceman in the second movie you can introduce other X-Men characters like Colossus Nightcrawler Shadow cat and Beast maybe even Morphe

My hope was Marvel would create a Weapon X Disney+ series where each episode focused on a different hero or villain that went through the program.

Gambit's scene .... 😢

Completely disagree with the wolverine take. Xmen 97 couldve written him out completely. It was ridiculous.

I will not stand for this Wolfsbane slander!

How I feel about your different points. 1. Eh be careful what you wish for. That can detail a plot immediately. 2. You sold me. 3. Yes. Agreed. 4. Yes. Goes with #3. They are tied together. 5. Yeah. Phoenix is done. It's over. It's like Flash and Flashpoint. Write something new.

Moon Throuple! Moon Throuple!

Just spied the next video on Nebula, get excited people.

the first time I want to see the new wolverine I want to see him teaching history post days of future past and post kang dynasty, the scene writes itself and I won't settle for less