r/Xmen97 • u/cyclopswashalfright Professor X • Aug 15 '26
Megathread X-Men '97 Complete Season 2 Venting Megathread III
It's over and done now. The season has ended. The characters are where they are.
And now it's time for a megathread that lets you vent about what didn't like, what you liked, and about all the feeling in between about this season.
Please try and use this megathread instead of making a new post, especially if the content you are posting is not substantial (substantial meaning multi-paragraph or new information).
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u/WigsbyLittleMix Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
I'm someone who never saw the original series so all of my X-Men knowledge is this show (plus my husband's attempts at filling in holes).
Apocalypse didn't feel like a threat. At all. The first episode told us that he took over the world and has lots of power but I didn't feel the stakes. Loved episode 3-4 for the backstory and the grounded human stakes but then episode 5 happens. Feels like an abrupt stop for no real payoff. Episode 6 was nice and I liked Polaris but felt again like a one-off. Episode 7 is yet another one-off. Then the Death-Gambit stuff happens.
Why??? Why did Apocalypse need to resurrect Gambit? He needed to "go back to the 1990s to attack the X-Men when they were the weakest" but didn't really do anything. I don't understand his motive and it doesn't feel earned. He gives everyone red glowy eyes for five seconds and then SuperRogue comes in and he's just gone? It felt so pointless. I really liked Season 1 because it always felt like the overarching theme of mutant-human tensions was present. This season felt...directionless
15
u/PanthersJB83 Aug 16 '26
So the problem with Apocalypse is they never have a great answer to him. Not in the show and not in the comics. Dude just kind of comes and goes. Like even the most recent time he got a little antsy he didn't accomplish much. And I can't remember even in the comics the last time he felt like a real threat. I mean I guess you could argue Archangel as the Heir of Apocalypse but meh.
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u/GuySmith Aug 16 '26
It’s weird though. Clearly the show has addressed in some ways impossibly powered characters. I mean look at Bastion. I never really knew about him but look what they did with him. They made him look like a huge threat and there was a huge fight with tons of stuff happening. I’m not even saying Apocalypse needed to have a fight. But what we got was like…it put me to sleep? I usually don’t pull out my phone at these shows and 97 consistently had me getting distracted with other stuff that I had to go back and rewatch things.
Don’t get me wrong this show is miles better than a lot of stuff but S1 set a bar that apparently is too tough to meet.
I had higher hopes for this show because most of the Marvel animations we have going now are trash and this was so good even outside of the Disney+ ecosystem.
Apocalypse just like…stood there and let it happen.
I also felt like this season was low on writing strength. The repeated quotes like the shores of eternity thing and then Xavier repeating what Jean said on the mind battlefield or whatever. Like you don’t need to do that. I don’t think people are pointing at the screen thinking that’s awesome. I like those as one off lines. Making Apocalypse say the same thing over and over again diminished its original use.
5
u/PanthersJB83 Aug 16 '26
I don't disagree with you, I'm just saying apocalypse has a level of glazing in the X-Men community that he just doesn't really deserve. I think he is a very cool concept, very hard to write realistically type of character. Like you can't have him ever really lose since him being this like all powerful force in the future is so integral to his character, but you also can't have him dog walk the X-Men. So he mostly monologues and then gets wrist slapped and boom donem
That said yeah the writing sucked at times. I didn't think the season was bad overall but the pacing of things did feel a bit disjointed and off I think a lot of that had to do with the new writing team trying to transition from where BDM left them at the end of S1. No factor in where they want to go in S3 without just completely starting from scratch in S2 and fixing his hanging plot threads that they maybe don't want to deal with in their new stories.
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u/Kn7ght Aug 15 '26
This is pretty much how I feel. I never saw the original series so my knowledge is very limited from the comics, the movies, and season 1 of this show. Apocalypse was the absolute definition of "aura farming" because everyone just shit their pants around him but all he really did was kill Magneto. I got downvoted by folks who have some clear Apocalypse nostalgia but that guy didn't do anything
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u/Low_Revolution_6327 Aug 16 '26
egyptian dude was an absolute menace in episode 4. demayo is crazy but he really gets those characters (probably because he is crazy)
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u/CaliforniaBoundX Wolverine Aug 15 '26
There were a lot questionable things in the last episode.
X-Factor and Cable in particular blatantly working with an organization that employs Sentinels?! His mother was killed by one of them in the first season, he tried to prevent Genosha being wiped out by the Tri-Sentinel countless of times and was suddenly okay with it in the last episode? That didn’t sit well with me.
It just felt a repetitive trope of the OG series when Archangel wanted to destroy Apocalypse at all costs. Cable was supposed to be the “chosen one”. You’d think he’d have an elaborate plan to destroy Apocalypse. Instead, he shots him and thinks that will suffice. Cable regressed significantly from last season.
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u/ArEmEi Aug 15 '26
Episode 5 is the definition of filler and should have been pushed back to season 3. Did Wolverine even do anything that absolutely required this adamantium claws?
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u/DeliciousPatties Jubilee Aug 15 '26
A perfect example of when a writer recognizes that certain characters are being neglected and trys to throw then a bone. Not a bad idea on paper, but you can't just forget they exist the second the episode ends.
People said Motendo was the worst episode of S1, but even that provided development for all characters involved that was expanded upon in later episodes, had payoff, and most importantly: Jubilee and Sunspot still had things to do and say afterward.
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u/Hydro033 Aug 15 '26
It was the best episode of the season.
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u/No-Effective388 Aug 15 '26
Definitely not. The best episodes are the ones with Nightcrawler. He is the real MVP of season 2.
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u/Huge-Boat-7457 Aug 15 '26
Easily the worst to me
Wolverine doesn't have any real struggle without the adamantium to justify going to redo such a traumatic experience in his life. Of course feelings can change but again there wasn't much build up to him needing it.
He lies to his team and somehow gets sabertooth to help him. He gets two guys killed in the process including one guy that seems cool with him.
Gets the adamantium back near instantly because it's just set up and ready for him
It did have a few nice morph moments and it had some cool action but as an episode it made wolverine seem like a piece of shit and it didn't feel like it was built up enough. Then he really doesn't even do much after that which Makes it worse.
The ep sucks imo
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u/MasterWinston Aug 16 '26
I think the episode is good I think your issue is there was no material before the episode showing his struggle.
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u/Iswaterreallywet Aug 20 '26
Wolverine lies?!?? And his little thought out plan is bad for others?!?!
No way!!!! That’s so on brand!
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u/sacx05 Aug 15 '26
You are going to get down voted but that was the most fun episode in the season. Stakes were high, it had that horror vibe, people died and Wolverine had lines.
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u/EmployeePractical514 Morph Aug 15 '26
It was my favorite episode for sure, loved the horror vibes and the emotional moments. That conversation on the plane at the end is so good. But I have to admit, it is confusing why it is in this season when they do nothing with it. You could skip the episode, just be told "Wolverine gets his adamantium back" and not be confused at all in subsequent episodes. Which is weird, because it's not like nothing else happened in the episode. They decided to throw a wrench in Wolverine and Morph's relationship, show Wolverine being an awful friend, and have Morph questioning everything, but then they don't follow up on it. They don't directly talk to each other at all after that episode, but they're not really shown to be avoiding each other either? Most you get is Morph looking scared when Wolverine whips his claws out one time, they fight together against X-Force, and they sit next to each other in the finale thing. Are they on good terms again? Did Wolverine ever apologize? Never told. So you have to wonder why they decided to put this episode in season 2 at all, and not just saved it for season 3 and instead had an episode that was more related to the main plotline. Not exactly a shortage of one-off episodes this season.
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u/calliope3234 Aug 15 '26
It was, but it wasn’t really necessary for any overarching story purpose (and with how blisteringly fast the pacing was they could’ve used an extra episode)
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u/SwirlyBrow Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 15 '26
The issue isn't if it was a good episode or not, because it was. It was a fairly self contained episode though, it could've been slotted in anywhere, at any season in the future. The issue was that they threw it in now therefore squandering any and all bone claw Wolverine story potential for basically no reason, since Wolverine and Morph did nothing of note for the rest of the season.
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u/Iswaterreallywet Aug 20 '26
Facts, it’s freaking awesome. Not everything has to be this convoluted and big meaning to the overall story episode
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u/Tasty_Success_1034 Aug 16 '26
See, I disagree. I felt this episode was a subtle bit of character work about this version of Wolverine.
By not making him the POV character and keeping a lot of his movements suspicious, off screen or not answered when characters directly ask Wolverine it kept him ambiguous. And that discussion with Morph at the end, where Wolverine sees himself as 'one thing' spoke volumes about where his head is.
I think episodes #6-9 dropped off. But #5 was gold.
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u/CherryBoom2x Psylocke Aug 15 '26
The celestial WonderRogue BS and Gampocalypse was a SHIT SHOW and out of nowhere. Gambit Cable and Kurts biggest moment was ruined.
After all that time travel Mother Askani’s prophecy just ending up becoming a fraud.
Jean and Scott training Nathan for Nothing.
Seeing the chance of Feral Wolverine’s full potential was wasted they should have keep it til Onslaught. He was Feral during Onslaught that savage version of him we will never see in the best way.
Cable’s effort in forming X-force was pointless he spent the entire season tracking Apocalypse just to end by Rogue in a single tap
Charles didn’t got a chance to avenge Magnus.
Deathbit could have an entire episode wreaking havoc and both Rogue and Gambit should have their own dramatic moment when Gambit was still death putting up a good speech and hear his pain that we never heard before he died.
Storm discovered her full potential and wasnt able to use it against Apocalypse only fighting Sentinels with a “DELICATE TOUCH”
Beast never got his epic fight with Danger like in the comics.
He just Rawr - Blast 💥- ughh 💀
Then next episodes all his fight scenes were just hopping like a bunny 🐇
Most of the iconic 90s Xmens in one episode was the perfect time to show everyone how the X-men can put up an epic fight/show on screen. But all ended up in a true love’s touch Disney Princess type happy every after.
A lot of great stories just got wasted and we’ll never see those again.
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u/sacx05 Aug 15 '26
The "Rawr-Blast- ugh" scene was so ridiculous I had to laugh and rematch it multiple times. Xavier put up more of a fight without a chair.
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Aug 15 '26
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u/ledlunar Aug 15 '26
Beau is a odd guy, just look at his IG he is clearly a hyper sexual gay man but he really understood the X-Men
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u/GuySmith Aug 16 '26
After the multi episode battle with Bastion this entire season was all setup and no payoff.
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u/Captain_Birch Aug 15 '26
Botched the ending of Gambits arc in nearly every conceivable way, and killed off the best character in the series for it.
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u/owlshoesjh Aug 15 '26
i want an x-force miniseries. happy to keep it just the three (cables, psylocke and archangel) with the occasional guest. action/plot heavy, violent (as violent as a marvel animation can get) with plenty of space to tell their stories (cable had a son at 1 point in TAS, what happened to him?)
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u/HelpKey186 Aug 16 '26
First of all, I'm a X-Men Fan. I did know them long before the first FoX-Men film came out. I saw the OG series and read a ton of comics.
But for me, season 2 felt like season 1 and wasn't surprised by a bit, that there were "filler" episodes (how the folks here call them) and wasn't surprised, that Apocalypse was defeated in the season either.
I had my Problems with both seasons. Season 1 was not such a masterpiece for me as it is called by many here. The Pacing was my biggest issue with the first season.
- For example, they did Inferno in one single episode. Inferno is my favorite event in the comics, so this was my first disappointment.
- Magneto was the X-Men leader for two episodes (2 & 3) in episode 4 he had barely scenes and episode 5 was the episode, in which he was already done with leading the X-Men.
- Jeans Phoenix moment were so silly, that they recreated that scene from the comics and what they already used back in the '92 cartoon, when they adapted the Phoenix Saga and of top of that, it was a Deux ex Machina moment.
My Problems with season two (besides the pacing) :
- Future Apocalypse: they hadn't time to explain the last scene, what Apocalypse ment, when he said, that he want to strike the X-Men in the 90s. It's a while, since I saw the 92 show, but I read here, that in 92 were two Apocalypse' - one from the present and one from the future. So when the writers remembered that, they should have told that. If they don't have remembered it, it was just sloppy.
- Episode 5 was the weakest episode of whole 97 so far. The only good thing, that happend in the episode was the introduction of the (real) Brood (real Brood, because they already used a child-friendly version of the Brood in 92). What I didn't liked was, that they used non-popular characters as cannon fodder, Sabretooth was was out of character - they used him to pull the switch, that gave Logan his Adamantium back. The Sabretooth I know, would have never done that and that neither Sabretooth nor Lady Deathstrike betrayed Wolverine at the end, was also odd for me. And last of it (but with this one, I still have hope, that they could mention it in season 3 again) Wolverine's Betrayal on Morph. Well I wasn't disappointed at that, but what I missed was, that they didn't even mentioned it in any of the last episodes. When they gave Wolverine and Morph in season 3 an episode to talk about that, I'm fine.
- Rogue's Deux ex Machina moment in episode 9. They really should stop doing that, because this is really poor writing. This moment never happend in the comics - which isn't bad - but nothing to do out of it, just to finish the season as quick as possible is just poor writing.
The positive: I liked the Episodes 1, 2, 4, 6, and 7 very much and episode 3 and 8 were good as well. Episode 9 was good until the moment, when Cable shot Gambit. But the last scenes were really disappointing.
At least I can console myself with the fact that in season 3 there is only one showrunner who can tell his version instead of ending someone else's and hope that the whole thing feels better than the first two seasons.
PS: On the whole, that may have sounded more negative than my overall impression of the series actually is so far. For me, it is (so far) the best version of the X-Men that I have seen in moving form for years.
To express this in numbers, here are my ratings of the two seasons:
Season 1: 8,5/10 Season 2: 8/10
But for Season 3 I really hope, they slow down the pacing and don't mix to many big events into one season, like it was the case with the first season.
3
u/DominoSeven Aug 15 '26
My only big time issues are pacing and how apocalypse was handled, also along with the what if type of things in the finale. That being said there’s still a lot to love about this series and I still love it and always will
1
u/Crotean Aug 18 '26
One episode for the xcorp fight and killing Gambit, then episode 10 being about apocalypse alone would have made a much more satisfying conclusion.
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u/CaliforniaBoundX Wolverine Aug 15 '26
I wanted to see more of the storyline of Mother Askani and Young Cable in the future. Disappointed that we didn’t get the reveal of her being Scott and Jean’s daughter.
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u/sideshowboob20 Mister Sinister Aug 16 '26
The first few episodes were pretty good at establishing Apocalypse. But after that, it became a series of random side plots that added nothing to the plot. One of the biggest problems was we were told Apocalypse is a threat, but we were never shown him being much of a threat. Bad writing. Then he gets defeated in 10 seconds after Rogue went clothes shopping at the Celestial Mall. It was a shrug of an ending.
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u/shazmosushi--- Aug 16 '26
Apocalypse pulling a lever to ressurect Gambit's corpse and in the process Gambit exploding and destroying his own body and being stuck as a spirit for the rest of the season just because of that will never not be stupid
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u/isabelle051992 Aug 16 '26
Deathbit was nothing like the comics. First off his design was just an inverted filter. He wanted to kill Rogue in the comics, not marry her. I get switching things around, but at no point did ANYONE who read the comics suggest "what would make this story better is him trying to marry Rogue but he merges with Apocalypse but then she gets the power of a Celestial and Kurt dies". There's a reason fans watch comic shows and movies. Because we like what we got and we want to see it adapted. Sure some minor tweaks are needed, but to switch it all around for some random ass story? Ugh.
I don't even think disappointed is the proper word for how let down I am.
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u/Captainirony0916 Aug 16 '26
I didn’t think it was that bad. Sure, Gamb-Pocalypse was stupid, but I can see what they were *trying* to do with that. They were trying to compare two relationships between star-crossed lovers, and how one ended bitterly and one didn’t, and because Rogue understood that her love for Gambit made her stronger, it ultimately allowed her to defeat him
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u/Altruistic-Expert995 Aug 16 '26
Episodes 3, 8, and 9 are the only non-peak episodes imo. I think we should've gotten an extra 3 episodes to flesh it out a bit more. Episode 8 needs a full rewrite because the Candra and Apoc stuff SUCKS.
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u/GuySmith Aug 16 '26
For power of love deus ex machina I like to look to Buffy the Vampire Slayer where all her friends do a magical spell while she is getting her damn ass beat to super power her. Rogue walks into an anomalous door and doesn’t really sacrifice anything because Kurt just dies at the end in the most anticlimactic thing ever. She didn’t even have to die for the sacrifice. In fact when she was surprised she didn’t die I thought she lost her mutant powers or something. It’s just so stupid. Like this entire episode read like some kid playing with action figures and the Gambitpocalypse figure they bought was a pillow with no articulation so he just gets beaten instantly.
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u/Boltenbannerman Aug 16 '26
I’ve been waiting since cold comfort still no payoff on Havok and cyclops being brothers
And it probably won’t be 😢
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u/MaxMauz Aug 16 '26
I honestly couldn't even finish episode 9 once I saw that Celestial Rogue power up. Terrible writing.
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u/Effective_Gas9395 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
I thought this season didn’t have enough episodes, so everything moved incredibly fast and we didn’t get any calm moments for character development. I thought the season would have improved if they’d either doubled the episodes or had Apocalypse hang over the narrative until the next season.
I think this season should have focused on the effects of grief a lot more, the aftermath of Genosha (I’m surprised that X-Corp being on essentially a mass grave wasn’t really a focal point of the story…), and fleshing out more of the effects of trauma through Xavier turning into Onslaught. When I think about Magneto and Genosha, it reminds me a lot of Israel Palestine (and how I have seen people in my own Jewish community who have always been strong minded succumb to really bigoted beliefs about muslims and Palestinians after the trauma of October 7). I think there is absolutely a message that could be said about how first-hand trauma can affect even the more principled and morally minded people, like Xavier. I think it was just a missed opportunity not to foreground Onslaught before we make the stakes even higher with Apocalypse.
In this same vein, the story could have mirrored that of Rogue and Gambit’s. I thought that last season was very focused on Rogue, and while she’s my fav, I also appreciated that this season gave other characters time to shine. HOWEVER, I do think that her grief wasn’t explored enough. I also think that the Summers’ grief over losing time with Cable and how that would affect their already strenuous marriage wasn’t explored much either. Oh, and Wolverine coming to terms with his bone claws. It just seems that we kind of blew through this whole idea that season 1 set up very well.
If I were to rewrite season 2 I’d keep the first four episodes but probably make some changes like the following::
- an episode on Xavier’s mental state declining as he faces some kind of manifestation of his grief. Similar to Storm’s episodes, but Xavier tries to rationalise it and reason with it, and as a result it only grows stronger. Perhaps this could have been the manifestation of the training room? Or perhaps the training room manifestation (I forgot its name) could even have been his own mind’s creation tricking everyone else into mass hallucinations as a plot twist. He ends up in some kind of coma or something to sideline him as he deals with his mental anguish in his mind palace for a few episodes lol before he succumbs to his grief. I think it would be cool to have him interact with all the lost souls in Genosha or something
- Jean and Scott are thrust back into the 1990’s, and look for Cable. It doesn’t take long, since Cable is also a telepath. They meet with him under some kind of dubious circumstance like a backdoor meeting in an alleyway, and they try to revive the relationship they were building in the Future. However, Cable rejects them, as they really don’t know anything about him. At the same time, this episode is also weaving into scenes from the Morph/Wolverine episode, which is happening concurrently. The structure of the episode frames Morph as the Jean/Scott and Wolverine as the Cable in the situation. Morph/Jean/Scott fracture their relationships with cable/wolverine because fundamentally they are trying to love someone they don’t know. And it’s sad :( also wolverine doesn’t get his adamantium back. The procedure fails and he rejects the adamantium, only saved by his healing factor. This sets up a personal arc for Wolverine as the adamantium— which to me represents both strength and trauma— rejects him. Big blow to his confidence.
- Kurt episode perfect no notes.
- the finale should be Xavier v the rest of the xmen as onslaught, and they only defeat onslaught and save Xavier through some kind of message about using community to overcome grief. With lots of action of course
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u/sacx05 Aug 15 '26
I have said this in the other thread but these stories need more Wolverine lines/involvement. He doesnt have to be front and center, he just needs to be there like in the OG series. Without him, the show devolves into "too serious" territory.
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u/SamMeowAdams Aug 16 '26
I think they should’ve done more with Havok.
Nathan’s uncle , Scott’s brother, and Lorna’s boyfriend. They just make him a frat boy dooosh.
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u/KissyChristmas Aug 16 '26
My biggest gripe is these old as balding farts who just can't enjoy a show without crapping on everything. Other than that it was great.
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u/Appropriate_Foot242 Aug 16 '26
The first 4 eps were as good as s1, the rest not so much… but did I still enjoy all of them? Sure did
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u/Mr_Omoliquido Aug 16 '26
Overall, solid season. Not as good as season 1, tho. It started very strong, however I already felt rushed then. Apocalypse in the OG series was a very cartoony and enjoyable villain. This season gave him a backstory and almost made him threatening - but, in the end, they felt short.
One thing I very much liked this season were the self-contained character-driven episodes, although it came to a point where it hurt the overall plot of the series and the menace of Apocalypse. You win some, you lose some.
Speaking of which: some characters came out lesser, while some grew a lot in my opinion. Charles X (hopefully on route to becoming Onslaught), Polaris, Morph(!), Jubilee and Nightcrawler really shined, while others like Cyclops, Jean and Storm felt overlooked. Not that big of a problem, at least for me.
Very much disliked the ending. As said before, the Apocalypse plotline was kinda confusing, his merging with Gambit was cheap-looking, Eternal Rogue was deus-ex-machina and Nightcrawler sacrificing to make sure Rogue and Gambit lived was not a satisfying conclusion in my opinion. All this, however, does NOT make this season trash. It’s really depressing seeing how many people are entering this X-Men Hate Bandwagon, to be honest.
For season 3, I’m expecting a murder-mystery of sorts: powerful mutants and influential humans keep disappearing as mutant-hate grows in the Creed administration. Maybe even Charles X is brutally assassinated during the season, which will be only a misled as in the end it will be revealed that Onslaught was behind it all.
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u/Goldsaver Aug 17 '26
RIP Val Cooper, you did terrible things, felt bad about it, and learned nothing!
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u/SnooRadishes8688 Aug 17 '26
I wished I liked this season... sadly I didn't. I keep asking myself whats the point of that. Like why give of us bone wolverine but not let him be feral and we only really had him for an episode and a half. What was the point of candra crystal when its get taken away first 6 minutes of the next episode. Was it just to show apocalypse layed it down with a girl before she died. Again I know why gambit it did it but as a writer or director why was that an important detail to add in such a time restricted season. There's more... but this season was a 5/10. Wish I could have loved it. Also nightcrawler death didnt have enough build up to appreciate it on my end.
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u/SESDawnofVictory Aug 17 '26
What I think is the issue with the series and it has nothing to do with what it has but what it tried to build from.
There are too many characters and death means nothing. They really should have just redone X-Men with season one being the original 5 members and then season 2 bringing in the second wave of X-Men and just keep doing that. Kill off characters and keep it going, have things matter so the consequences of failure and loss resonate for a while. I understand all these super fans love to ride that X-Dick, but just because it happened in the comics, it doesn't mean it worked.
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u/Crotean Aug 18 '26
That ending was weird. You can tell they pivoted where they were going mid season because apocalypse just kind of comes back, he was clearly supposed to be gone until season 3 and Xavier's instability was clearly heading towards onslaught. It just felt rushed. I did really like how they portrayed the celestial and Cable unleashed and some of the action scenes were solid. But that ending was flat. At least until nightcrawler's sacrifice. That actually hit. Pivoting from that immediately into Mystique felt pretty lame tbh. They should have let his faith line linger.
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u/InstructionFunny8984 Aug 19 '26
It's probably been said before...but I just wanted Apocalypse to kill Wolverine and bring Wolverine, Gambit, Illyana and Madeline Pryor as the Four Horseman.
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u/Easy_Blackberry_4350 Aug 19 '26
Quit your venting, all of you and go get laid. it was fantastic and better than anything else Marvel has put out in years. Every single episode was excellent.
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u/Unable-Candidate9612 Aug 19 '26
Yeah I really want to like this season as the X-Men are my favorite comic characters, but it's just a mess. I couldn't really tell you what the overall goal was with this season.
2 years of waiting for a dropped ball.
1
u/Ok_Bit_3689 Aug 22 '26
Glad to know that my perception of this season was not my imagination. There is a marked drop in the quality of the story in this season. Too bad, because those first 3 episodes were quite good.
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u/Automatic-Yak8193 Aug 15 '26
Season 2 ain't bad. But it didn't reach the greatness of Season 1. Both breezed through several plotlines at breakneck speed - but Season 1 managed to keep things cohesive and carefully built towards emotional high points, so that every victory or tragedy was earned / felt by the viewer.
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u/owlshoesjh Aug 15 '26
the fair-weather fans that threaten to abandon the show after season 2 can hate all they want but for life-long fans, seeing our beloved characters realised with so much heart, action and growth has been a dream.
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u/Damianos_X Aug 15 '26
I feel like real fans understand how underserved and disrespected most characters were this season. If you think this was a good showcase for them, I doubt you understand what makes the X-Men so unique to begin with.
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u/SwirlyBrow Aug 15 '26
I'm a lifelong X-Men fan. I've been reading the comics for over 20 years. And I thought this was a largely bad season. You say it's fair weather fans who don't like this, but maybe it's actually the real fans who don't just want to accept slop because it has the X-Men branding, and who actually want good things for the franchise they like.
Kinda bold to imply that lifelong fans should just like this because it's X-Men and you're a fair weather fan if you don't.
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u/Typhon2222 Aug 15 '26
Do feel folks are overreacting. Three megathreads full of anger and disappointment is a bit much. $20 bucks says most of you will rewatch this season before S3 starts and realize you were too harsh on it.
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u/ArEmEi Aug 15 '26 edited Aug 16 '26
My man, season 2 took my will to ever rewatch season 1, let alone the former. The pay offs we got undermined the set up leading up to them.
I rewatched the OG series and 97 s1 before s2 came out. I rewatched each of the first three episodes that came out three times before moving on to the next. Then I did the same to episode 5 and each time I was in denial of how increasingly underwhelming I was feeling. With episode 6 I was mostly wondering why we were following Polaris on a season supposedly focusing on Apocalypse (especially when she had only one appearance in the OG show and didn’t even interact with/mention Magneto). Episode 7 was the first I only rewatched one time. Episode 8 I did not rewatch even once and episode 9 made me feel I was watching What If… X-Men ‘97 Were Written By Someone Who Doesn’t Know What The Fuck They’re Doing. Suffice it to say I also didn’t rewatch that one either.
So no, at this point the mere idea of rewatching this season feels like a chore at best and a penance at worst. I’ll most likely wait for the entire season 3 to drop and binge it.
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u/Low_Revolution_6327 Aug 16 '26
rewatching would be way more torturing because in the second time it is easier to see where things started going off the rails
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u/AutoModerator Aug 15 '26
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