Warning! This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 1.
SUMMARY
Wolverine’s story in X-Men ’97 episode 10 adds complexity to his romantic subplot, making for a tragic storyline.
Morph’s confession of love for Wolverine in the finale of season 1 of X-Men ’97 introduces a tragic and complicated one-sided relationship into the pre-existing Wolverine love triangle.
X-Men ’97’s serialized nature allows for deep exploration of Wolverine’s love life drama, making it better suited for the show than the MCU.
X-Men ’97 makes one aspect of Wolverine’s story more complicated and heartbreaking than the Fox movies could have ever managed. For the most part, Wolverine was sidelined in X-Men ’97 episode 10’s climactic ending. This was due to the injuries he sustained at the hands of Magneto in the episode prior, with the master of magnetism temporarily pulling the Adamantium skeleton from Logan’s body. Nonetheless, “Tolerance is Extinction, Part 3” ranks among X-Men ’97‘s best episodes thanks to its exploration of the other members of the titular team.
Despite Wolverine’s absence in episode 10, the character lived on to appear in X-Men ’97 season 2’s story. With the set-up of Apocalypse’s return, the tragic reversal of Gambit’s death, and a time-traveling, globe-trotting adventure, Wolverine will surely be integral to the future of the show. That said, in X-Men ’97 episode 10, a complicated Wolverine storyline that was focal in the Fox movies has been made even more complex thanks to a tragic scene involving another core character.
X-Men ’97’s finale features a massive amount of references, cameos, and Easter eggs, each one more exciting and surprising than the next.
X-Men ’97’s Season 1 Ending Had Morph Confess His Love To Wolverine (Who Doesn’t Know)
A Theorized, Albeit One-Sided, Romantic Connection Came To Fruition Between Morph & Wolverine
In the finale of X-Men ’97 season 1, Wolverine was primarily cared for by Morph. Throughout the show’s first season, Morph and Wolverine have been shown to have a strong connection. While Morph has often been utilized throughout the season to include Marvel cameos in X-Men ’97, their main characterization has come through their friendship with Wolverine. However, there have been several hints that Morph and Wolverine’s relationship is more than friendly, at least where the former is confirmed. X-Men ’97 episode 10 confirmed this in a tragically beautiful scene that saw Morph confess their love for Logan.
The shower scene from X-Men ’97 episode 3 first hinted at Morph’s romantic feelings for Wolverine.
As the latter was struggling to recover from his injuries, he calls out for Jean Grey. Morph sadly tells him that Jean cannot say what Logan wants to hear, but that they can. Morph then transforms into Jean and says “I love you, Logan. Stay with me.” While some perceived this as Morph helping Logan through his injuries by feeding into the latter’s love for Jean, X-Men ’97 creator Beau DeMayo has since confirmed that these words came from Morph. Morph is in love with Logan, though Wolverine is unaware, forming a complicated and tragic one-sided relationship.
X-Men ‘97 Makes Fox’s Wolverine Love Triangle Way More Complicated
The Relationship Drama Around Wolverine Is More Complex Thanks To X-Men ’97
Through X-Men ’97, Wolverine’s love-life drama has become far more complicated than the Fox X-Men movies could have ever dreamed of. In X-Men: The Animated Series, Wolverine’s love-life drama was linked chiefly to his feelings for Jean, and how that caused clashes with Cyclops. Fox’s X-Men movies continued a similar approach, with Logan’s feelings for Jean being a consistent point of characterization for the hero and his internal conflicts.
The animated iteration of the storyline was continued in X-Men ’97 season 1. This was only complicated further when Jean kissed Wolverine in episode 5. Although this was likely something Wolverine desired, he understood Jean was confused and still had feelings for Scott, somewhat rejecting her advances.
Wolverine’s love triangle that involved Jean and Scott became a love square…
To further complicate Wolverine’s love life, X-Men ’97 introduced a clone of Jean Grey in Madelyne Pryor. Despite the show not delving overtly into how this affected Logan, it undoubtedly caused some confusion within him. With Madelyne’s inclusion, Wolverine’s love triangle that involved Jean and Scott became a love square. X-Men ’97 episode 10 then added another character into the mix by having Morph confess their romantic feelings for Logan, further complicating the latter’s love-centric drama going forward.
Why Wolverine’s Romance Drama Is Better Suited For X-Men ’97 Than The MCU
The Serialized Nature Of X-Men ’97 Makes Wolverine’s Romance Drama Work
One of the more criticized aspects of Fox’s live-action X-Men movies was the repetitive, exaggerated love triangle between Jean, Wolverine, and Cyclops. With the MCU’s X-Men movie on the horizon, many have been hoping that this love triangle will be a thing of the past where live-action Wolverine is concerned. Many could be forgiven for hoping the same was the case with X-Men ’97, though Wolverine’s romance woes are much better suited to the Marvel Animation show than they would be in a live-action MCU project centered around the X-Men.
Anticipation is high for the MCU’s X-Men movie reboot, but details are still scarce about when the movie will be released and what it will be about.
The primary reason for this is X-Men ’97‘s nature as a serialized TV show. The stories told in X-Men ’97 can be stretched out across multiple episodes and even seasons, allowing elements like Wolverine’s love life to be adequately explored in a way that does not feel rushed, forced, or overly melodramatic. Movies inherently do not have this benefit, having to fit most character arcs into one contained story. As such, Wolverine’s romantic connections are a much better fit for X-Men ’97 than any potential MCU movie, with the tragic Morph revelation hopefully benefiting both characters in future seasons.
