‘X-Men ’97’ Brings Back ‘The Animated Series’ Best Line in a Brutal Way

Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Episode 9.

The Big Picture

• Wolverine echoes Magneto’s iconic line from
  X-Men: The Animated Series
  , emphasizing the deep history and nuanced dynamic between the two characters.
• X-Men ’97
  caters to the original series’ now-matured audience with darker themes and more adult content.
• The show’s darker tone is highlighted through the graphic violence of Wolverine’s attack on Magneto in a renewed conflict.

Along with the more surprising fight against Bastion (Theo James), the final episodes of X-Men ’97‘s first season have brought the series full circle with a renewed focus on the conflict between the X-Men and one of their original enemies from the shows’ predecessor, X-Men: The Animated Series. Following the destruction of the mutant nation Genosha, which was instigated by human prejudice, Erik “Magnus” Lehnsherr/Magneto (Matthew Waterson), has abandoned his attempt to follow his friend Charles Xavier’s (Ross Marquand) pacifist ideologies and resumed his work as a ruthless mutant freedom fighter, initiating his most potentially devastating attack on humanity ever.

The latest episode emphasizes the cyclical nature of the series’ narratives when Logan/Wolverine (Cal Dodd) strikes a devastating blow against Erik, paraphrasing the latter’s most iconic line from the original series as he does so. The moment highlights how X-Men ’97 caters mostly to The Animated Series’ original audience, which has matured significantly in the years between both shows, and the complex dynamic between Logan and Erik, which is more nuanced than a typical superhero vs. supervillain rivalry.

Wolverine Calls Back to Magneto’s Line in ‘X-Men: The Animated Series’ Season 1 Finale

In The Animated Series’ first season finale, “The Final Decision,” Erik (who was then voiced by David Hemblen), advises the X-Men against fighting rogue robot Master Mold (David Fox) and the army of Sentinels it commands, pointing out that the Sentinels only exist because humans created them to hunt mutants. Despite reluctance from a few team members, the X-Men head off into battle anyway, with Erik’s haunting declaration, “You’re all fools! Heroic fools. The brave are always the first to die,” alluding to his experiences in the Holocaust and his fear that mutants will suffer a similar persecution. Despite these fears and his ideological disagreements with them, Erik ultimately proves himself to be one of the brave by assisting the X-Men in the battle, which they eventually win.

In X-Men ‘97’s “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 1,” Magneto unleashes a global electromagnetic pulse. While this neutralized the threat of Bastion’s frightening Prime Sentinels, which were on a campaign to exterminate mutants worldwide, as Logan foresaw, it was also seen as a declaration of war between mutants and humans because the EMP altered Earth’s natural magnetic field, threatening to end life on the planet. In “Part 2,” Erik offers his outer space hideout, Asteroid M, as a haven for mutants while planning to let the world’s humans die. Although Rogue (Lenore Zann) and Roberto Da Costa/Sunspot (Gui Agustini), who have both been hurt especially severely by human prejudice, side with Erik, the rest of the X-Men resolve to once again oppose their former ally.

Hoping to convince Erik to reverse the EMP, Charles deploys with half of the team to confront him while the other half set out to neutralize Bastion and his ally, Mister Sinister (Christopher Britton). In the ensuing battle, Erik flings his own helmet on to Charles’ head, preventing the latter from using his telepathy to stop him. With time running out for the planet, Logan manages to catch Erik by surprise, stabbing him through the chest with his Adamantium claws. Logan notes, “Been in a lot of wars, bub. The brave always die first.”

Wolverine and Magneto Have a Deep History in X-Men Media

Despite the viciousness of their fight, which only becomes more severe when Erik subsequently uses his powers to rip the Adamantium out of Logan’s bones, the encounter also highlights that the emotions Logan and Erik feel for each other are not limited to hatred. By repeating his words, Logan shows that even though they have again found themselves on opposite sides, he still views Erik as one of the brave, emphasizing the mutual respect the pair often show each other, which is rooted in their experiences in World War II and other horrific conflicts. This respect is demonstrated across various pieces of X-Men media.

In the live-action film X-Men: Days of Future Past, Erik (Sir Ian McKellen) and Charles (Sir Patrick Stewart) send Logan (Hugh Jackman) back in time to convince their younger selves to change the past and prevent their dystopian future from coming into being. After an argument between the younger Charles (James McAvoy) and Erik (Michael Fassbender), Logan sardonically remarks to the latter, “So you were always an asshole.” Erik says, “I take it we’re best buddies in the future?” Logan explains, “I spent a lot of years trying to bring you down bub.” Logan acknowledges that, he and Erik are similar — survivors. Although at the end of the film, Erik hurls Logan into a river, hoping to drown him, quipping, “So much for being a survivor,” the earlier exchange showed that Logan at least appreciated Erik’s resilience.

Erik has reciprocated this understanding more often in comics. In Uncanny X-Force #9 from 2011, Erik, having discovered that Logan leads the titular covert mutant black ops unit, breaks into their base of operations. He hands Logan a file on an elderly Nazi who escaped to Rio de Janeiro, implying that he wants Logan to kill him. Logan pushes back, pointing out that X-Force “ain’t a revenge squad,” but he agrees and carries out the hit when Erik pleads with Logan to “do it for me.” Erik’s expressions in the issue suggest that he is frightened of the Nazi, which makes sense given that he was just a child during World War II and the Holocaust, whereas Logan, who ages extremely slowly due to his mutant healing powers, was already an experienced soldier. The brevity of their exchange hints that Logan may already be aware of whatever kind of disturbing history Erik has with the Nazis, showing how the pair have to come to trust and rely on each other, at least in certain situations, despite their own oppositional history.

Wolverine and Magneto’s Fight Highlights ‘X-Men ’97’s Darker Tone

Recalling the line about the brave dying first also calls attention to the tonal differences between The Animated Series and X-Men ’97. Although the line itself was one of many examples of The Animated Series’ admirable willingness to address adult topics, ultimately the show was still mostly intended for child audiences, as were most superhero cartoons of the time. This restricted the series in its portrayal of certain material, particularly regarding Logan’s character. The series most obviously had to refrain from having Logan use his claws on regular flesh and blood opponents, resulting in some unintentionally funny and illogical moments during action sequences.

The intended audience for X-Men ’97 truly seems to be fans of the original series who have grown up. Consequently, it features much more plainly adult content and has addressed the franchise’s core themes of discrimination in more depth. Although Logan stabbed some Prime Sentinels who were at least previously human, in “Tolerance is Extinction – Part 1,” his impaling of Magneto, during which blood is plainly shown oozing out of the wound and on his claws, is more graphically violent than any of his previous scenes and accompanying the gory images with a line similar to one from the original series shows how the world and characters have matured along with the original audience.

X-Men ’97 is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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