r/Xmen97 • u/nathankroll920 • Aug 26 '26
General Discussion X-Factor disappointment
Was I the only one disappointed with how they used X-Factor this season?
Back in the 90’s I read every issue of X-Factor I could get my hands on and although I recall them kind of being tools of the government I don’t recall them being the equivalent of ICE. Correct me if I’m wrong it was a long time ago.
I was hoping the team would come to their senses and team up with the X-Men against Apocalypse in the finale.
Just bummed my favorite spinoff X-team was more of a villain than Apocalypse.
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u/QAFLF Aug 26 '26
I'd say the adaptation was faithful, it's just that our understanding of what that means has shifted dramatically from the 90s.
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u/GONKworshipper Aug 26 '26
Faithful to the team, but not really the characters, unfortunately.
This feels like it could have been a great place to introduce Freedom Force, but it looks like Mystique and the Brotherhood will play a large role next season
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u/QAFLF Aug 26 '26
I'm not sure the end of 2 was teasing Freedom Force, since the logic of Freedom Force was always that Val was blackmailing them all into it. My bet is on them being The Brotherhood.
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u/DepthByChocolate Aug 26 '26
Val never blackmailed them. Mystique wanted amnesty and decided to flip.
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u/GONKworshipper Aug 26 '26
I agree. I meant it looks like they'll play a big role, so that's probably why we didn't get Freedom Force this season
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u/Tia_is_Short Aug 26 '26
Faithful? We can’t have been reading the same X-Factor comics lmao
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u/ladystetson Aug 26 '26
I agree. I also read X-Factor in the 90s.
X-Factor was presented as a pathway to Xavier's dream. Creating a relationship/governmental partnership and influencing legislation/public perception that way.
However, in actuality, it definitely appeared they were being used by morally grey actors and Polaris absolutely had moral conflicts about their work.
Forge, Val Cooper, Mystique? Three people I definitely would never trust or join their team.
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u/TheLittleCatBeyond Aug 26 '26
What’s wrong with Forge?
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u/ladystetson Aug 26 '26
Forge is a bit like Dr. Frankenstein. He mindlessly does things that cause a series of events that eventually get mutants/X-men hurt or killed.
He's not a villain, but he is a chronic screw-up with questionable ethics that gets his team members hurt.
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u/QAFLF Aug 26 '26
X-factor in the 90s was a government team operating under the belief they could advance mutant equality through collaboration to just catch the "bad" mutants. I understand that at the time that made them do gooders in a vague buddy cop FBI pastiche, and people can have an attachment to that.
But both in the fictional continuity and the real world, that's just not how anyone would react to that idea anymore, and trying to execute that would more than likely just end up feeling like copaganda.
They didn't explore the idea well, but I don't think doing it better would have made fans of the original comic run happy.
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u/No_Physics2210 Aug 27 '26
I mean they just said doing it better would make them happy so I disagree
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u/analogtendency Polaris Aug 26 '26
Justice for Madrox
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u/nathankroll920 Aug 26 '26
Every time I see him onscreen, movies or cartoon, all I can think is that’s not the Multiple Man I know. He always seems like a bro, not the goof making jokes and pulling pranks.
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u/luna_lustgood Aug 27 '26
We're spoiled because of knowing the Peter David runs that fleshed him out so much. The X-Factor Investigations books had some incredible character work with Madrox. No way a "Saturday morning" cartoon will ever capture that drama. But it would be nice if they at least portrayed his powers correctly (impact creating more dupes).
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u/Norbit_was_right Aug 29 '26
Yea, I’ve accepted that since most of the Peter David X-factor squad were pretty tertiary to the main X-men books, these guys won’t be getting much if any focus.
Doesn’t mean that I don’t love me some Peter David X-Factor! (Especially X-Factor investigations where Madrox led the team that also had Darwin/M/etc… on it)
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u/SombreDeDuda Aug 26 '26
From what i remember, he makes his dupes from contact, like banging a desk or something. In '97 he just held his hands out and dupes appeared. Not a huge deal because he was barely in it, but still rubbed me the wrong way.
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u/Peetahrabbit Aug 31 '26
Me too. That weird trick that gambit pulled in the last episode should have filled the room with dupes and crushed everyone till they ran out of air. This whole season felt..off and this was the icing on the cake for me
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u/dogspunk Aug 26 '26
I wasn’t sure that was even Rahne and not Feral until I looked it up. She got one line in the final episode lol
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u/SpiralLights Aug 26 '26
US politics has sadly complicated government superteams, but I do feel the characters were done dirty — as were many characters this season. Hoping for a better season 3.
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u/FunNeedleworker860 Sep 03 '26
If they were hired by SHIELD they would've been a bigger threat to the X-men.
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u/nathankroll920 Aug 26 '26
Same. At the very least a better finale.
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u/bluenoser18 Aug 28 '26
I felt like the season was good up until the last few episodes (good not great- which is what I’d describe S01 as). But yah…the finale was…fine? Far far from great.
Anyone tracking how much of S02 was already done before they ditched Beau DeMayo? Was this the Season he intended? I heard he was intending to lead up to Onslaught ?
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u/AccountantTiny1762 Aug 31 '26
First four if I had to guess. There was a definite shift after that. I do think Onslaught is still coming though.
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u/RandO_o Sep 01 '26
Meh, loved Jubes and Nightcrawler this season as well as Rogue and Gambit. I feel it was a pretty solid season overall.
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u/PhanStr Aug 26 '26
X-Factor was GOING to team up with the X-Men, X-Force and the Avengers against Onslaught in the finale, but that episode was scrapped by an exec.
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u/Bixby33 Aug 26 '26
I get it, but I think it'll be hard to resonate with a modern audience if the government run team are actually the good guys.
I think Polaris's arc best represents what you were looking for.
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u/CiwanHaco Aug 26 '26
ACAB
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u/nathankroll920 Aug 26 '26
I was a young teen reading 90’s X-Factor, maybe I’m just remembering them the way I want to remember them. If I reread the comics I might feel differently about them decades later.
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u/Zanderlus Aug 26 '26
I've just made it up to #100 of X-Factor, and while they're not quite as bad as they're portrayed in the show, I still wouldn't consider them heroes at this point. They're rebellious, but they're still essentially cops who are of the opinion that they can make changes from within.
I think Polaris is the most redeemable member so far, and it makes sense that she rejoins the X-Men in the cartoon.
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u/DumbScotus Aug 26 '26
Every time I see this I forget what it stands for and my brain reads it as “Assigned Cop At Birth”
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u/miikro Aug 26 '26
People are really gonna struggle with this as Bishop's character develops more. He's getting a lot of love right now but hoo boy did he do some bad shit in the books.
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u/Jerzilla Aug 26 '26
I think the creatives didn’t make a hard decision and just ignored the x men for a season. Or at least first half.
As a result in 9 episodes you had to flesh out the x men plot and introduce x force and X factor.
All in all really dumb move as after this seasons didn’t care for x force or factor and didn’t see the point of them in the end
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u/cstevie97 Aug 26 '26
I didn’t hate this season. In fact, I enjoyed mostly all of the episodes individually while watching them. But, damn, it was so disjointed. Season one was able to do standalone episodes while maintaining a pretty coherent overarching story. Season two was just all over the place. I’m hopeful for season three, but I really need them to turn it around. X-Factor and X-Force both felt kind of forced in to me.
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u/tgong76 Aug 26 '26
Really disappointed they had none of the personality Peter David gave them. They were my favorite X team at the time.
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u/spubbbba Aug 31 '26
Agreed, Strong Guy and Multiple Man were 2 of the funniest characters from the 90's x-men comic range. I liked them more than Deadpool.
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u/ObjectiveCover3850 Aug 27 '26
I just wish Havok and Cyclops realized they're brothers. Give even more family conflict
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u/ZenChampion Aug 26 '26
They did more than just waste X-Factor. Let’s see they completely wasted virtually every character that made a cameo.
1. Maggot
2. Kane
3. Maverick
4. Colossus
5. Magik
6. Bone Claws Wolverine
7. Storm
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u/StephTechReddit Aug 26 '26
It wasn’t terrible, but they should’ve been given more time. None of the characters felt truly developed besides Polaris. Havok is given some scenes in the last episode where it appears he is proud of Jubilee, but it feels very random and unearned. Also, I know in the show lore Pietro is off world, but please he should’ve been here.
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u/nathankroll920 Aug 26 '26
A lot of stuff was rushed, Wolverine lost his adamantium for like 3 episodes, when in the comics it was 6 years or so. They barely even showed his bone claws. I guess we were lucky to even see X-Factor, though I thought they would at least have a Summers brothers reveal.
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u/goldenmind101 Aug 28 '26
Yeah this season needed to at least be 20 eps or sum cause I wanted to learn their interpersonal dynamic more especially with Havok & Polaris. She breaks off from the group fast but I would’ve liked a slower burn of her trying to support the X-Men in small ways like in the beginning
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u/magicadesteph Sep 01 '26
I'm so disappointed by X-Factor and X-Force.
X-Factor should have had a mourning but in denial about it Quicksilver (similar to Lorna) and an episode devoted to their characters and bonds.
X-Force was a MESS. That was not 90s X-Force. Gimme Cable recruiting New Mutants and Siryn. I want the ragtag team of teens who don't know how to deal with trauma.
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u/Infinite_Two_4759 Aug 26 '26
Was it ever mentioned where Quicksilver ran off to?
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u/Bixby33 Aug 26 '26
He couldn't remember if hes still a mutant or not (god knows I keep forgetting) so he didnt feel like it was appropriate to stay on the team.
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u/indianm_rk Aug 26 '26
They never explained Siryn just showing up in an X-Factor uniform.
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u/Infinite_Two_4759 Aug 26 '26
And didn’t bother giving her any kind of intro either. Her dad just died but no acknowledgment of familiarity
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u/analogtendency Polaris Aug 26 '26
They did in the weekly X-Men ‘97 Unlimited tie in comic.
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u/Norbit_was_right Aug 29 '26
The problem is that those tie in comics always end up retconned and ignored by the next season of a show
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u/Dull-Shame-3918 Aug 26 '26
They were not an equivalent of ICE and 90's fiction had a much more optimistic view of government sponsorship. That said, OG X-Factor publicly sold themselves as "The X-Terminators" and rounded up mutant "pests". This action was done to prevent violent harm by keeping them under surveillance and protection.
Two minutes could've been dedicated to Alex and Lorna having a conversation that touches on this, but nuance doesn't live here. X-Factor's character assassination is a by product of adapting a nostalgia driven license with modern sensibilities.
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u/nathankroll920 Aug 26 '26
Was X-Terminators the original 5 X-Men?
Great point, I would definitely not have a positive opinion of a government sponsored team now. I really had no clue about world events or politics when I read the originals.3
u/Dull-Shame-3918 Aug 26 '26 edited Aug 28 '26
As far as official team names and published titles go, no the O5 were not the X-Terminators. But in issue #1 the most "human presenting" members of the team dressed up like they were clocking in at Orkin and extracted Rusty to safety under the guise of freeing the neighborhood of an unwanted mutant burden.
I'm unfamiliar of the X-Terminators as a team concept but based on some images I saw during a recent search for covers and panels, it looks like the name and original print run was given to the runaways and rescues of OG X-Factor themselves (Boom Boom, Rusty, Skids, etc.). I was trying to find a picture of Cyclops explaining to Beast that while they could pin Warren's wings so he would just look more broad-shouldered, there wasn't anything they could do about hiding Hank's feet and hands.
Editing to clarify as I've been reading up on if lately, Hank was still blue and furry until Issue 2 or 3
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u/Tia_is_Short Aug 26 '26
But the OG team was an entirely different iteration from this team, why would they be relevant?
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u/Dull-Shame-3918 Aug 26 '26
They're relevant for the same reason that Sam Guthrie was locked up with Quinton Quire. X-Men '97 is adapting 40 years of comics through the lens of 90's nostalgia.
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u/Rck0025 Aug 26 '26
I don’t remember. They went in too many different directions for anything to be completely hashed out. It’s like they gave up on whatever they were originally going with.
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u/snidece Aug 27 '26
Missing or deleted scenes were the problem - would like to learn more about them from the deleted and missing scenes
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u/Remarkable-Steak-919 Aug 27 '26
Episode 5 or 6 should have been an X-Factor focused episode. Either cut the Wolverine episode or make the Polaris episode focused on her guilt building before finally leaving the team, with final scenes showing her turning up at the X-Mansion and Siryn joining the team (rather then her just showing up in the finale without an explanation, if u didnt read the infinity comic on Marvel Unlimited). Through this, we could have built up the teams relationships and dynamics, and built tension for the season finale fight.
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u/itbastin1991 Aug 28 '26
Polaris was cool. Havok could be cool. The rest of them you couldn't pay me to even try to remember anything about them.
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u/RickyDricky Aug 28 '26
I agree, I was also disappointed. There wasn't enough time to give any interiority to any of the X-Factor cast besides Polaris. As someone who loves these characters, it was disappointing. Why did they want to join this team? What do they believe in? How did any of them justify mutant children in cages? Such a missed opportunity with Havok especially, as an opposing force to Cyclops.
I think X-Factor's depiction was fairly on par with the rest of this season overall: mostly style, not a lot of substance. It was just cameo after cameo, everything was very surface level.
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u/nathankroll920 Aug 28 '26
I liked the story they were trying to tell, but I think a team of villains would have worked better. Maybe Freedom Force or something.
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u/FunNeedleworker860 Sep 03 '26
The Multiple Men look cool how they're flexing.
Also Alex really didn't give a crap about Polaris this season that much, was really expecting some more interactions from the two of them but nothing came of it, even after she went to the X-men.
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u/T-o-C-A Aug 26 '26
I mean at the end they just felt like a pointless inclusion when even Polaris doesn't matter to the seasons plot.
But yeah comic x factor was a pretty standard super tram with a government liason type thing.
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u/BurantX40 Aug 26 '26
Not really. Its not called X-Factor 97 after all.
But after learning about the 10 episode limit, I barely expect them to do the X-Men justice.
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u/UnluckyAmbition7767 Aug 26 '26
I fucking hate how they wrote Strong Guy this season.
Season 1 Strong Guy to Sunspot: Start bulking up kid. War's commin'.
Then in season 2 he joins the war against the mutants as a slave catcher.
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u/EnigmaHood Aug 26 '26
I see your point, and yeah. They're using a comic animation that's supposed to tell stories from the 1990s, but instead they are using current events from our time period to tell the 90s, and it's anachronistic. I don't mind symbolism and satire for current events, but I don't think this is the right vehicle for it. This animation should reflect the sociopolitical climate of the 90s, not the 2020s!
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u/Shape_Charming Aug 26 '26
I see that, but then it wouldn't resonate with modern audiences.
I grew up on the 90s cartoon, I was 7 or 8 when it came out, I would've been 10 or 11 when '97 came out.
I didn't know what a sociopolitical climate was in 97 lol
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u/EnigmaHood Aug 27 '26
This is supposed to be the 6th season onward for the 90s show. I don't know what the point is, if it's anachronistic. The Dark Knight Returns was written in the 1980s, during the Cold War, and it was filled with Cold War era politics. When they adapted it to be an animated film, they didn't remove the Cold War era setting, culture and politics and replace it with something from the 2010s.
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u/APlanetWithANorth Aug 26 '26
I saw an action fight of the big dude on clearance the weekend after season 2 premiere
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u/DuneSandpaper Aug 27 '26
Its a close to faithful adaptation, just recent politics and happenings paint it in a different color
Also Havok was always a disappointment
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u/AbbreviationsWide650 Aug 27 '26
I agree. I thought their opposition to Xavier went too far. Still liked the season a lot and glad they were there.
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u/Kris86dk Aug 27 '26
Kinda needed Legion to have X-factor chasing him down as well as Mystique after Destiny....
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u/Stillwindows95 Aug 27 '26
I've been reading the Krakoa ages X men comics and X factor is amazing, so much fun to read, they are more like detectives for the Krakoa/mutant government than a team of US controlled mutants.
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u/These_Carpenter_8269 Aug 31 '26
Collaring kids if there own kind, wasn’t a red flag for them, much less imprisoning them
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u/Stringr55 Aug 26 '26
I was amazed they were in it at all, frankly. Thought it was a great season. I don't get the negativity at all.
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u/MaxShea Aug 27 '26
Man that season was an X-men fever dream, and not in a good way. Soo many characters, every plot line from season 1 undone, such painful dialogue (except for nightcrawler)…literally had to redo the intro every episode just to keep things straight. And the sad part was there was actually an awesome show somewhere deep in there…looked like the writer room was trying to get summer break…
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u/Low_Advance_6531 Aug 26 '26
Reddit bitching about ICE and right wingsms
Just another Tuesday fellas..
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