Previously on our Summer TV Binge, we covered the sensational second season premiere of X-Men: The Animated Series. This week brings us two stand-alone stories featuring some OG comics fan-favorite villains. So, welcome true believers! Here are five thoughts on “Whatever It Takes” and “Red Dawn.” And, I should hope I don’t need to give a warning for a twenty-plus-year-old-show but, as always, beware of spoilers.
-Your forever bro Charlie X
1. Morph Gets a Little Kinky
While the A-plot of “Whatever It Takes” sees the introduction of major villain The Shadow King–recently made more popular by FX’s Legion–it is the B-plot that brings us an…odd moment. As Wolverine tracks down Morph in an attempt to bring him back to help rehabilitate him, Morph uses some very interesting tactics, of which we’ve seen other instances of similar behavior.
Morph transforms into Jean to mentally torture Logan, taunting him as she–err, he ridicules him, telling him no one could ever love such a monster. But not before he gets uncomfortably close to the Canucklehead. Given he used similar tactics to trick Gambit in “Till Death Do Us Part” one has to wonder if Morph is harboring some deep fetish involving his teammates with a dash of gender-bending.
2. More Uncanny Cameos
As always these episodes bring us both flashes of characters, some of whom never make proper appearances in the series, as well as guest appearances of characters not regularly used. “Whatever It Takes” is centered around Mjnari, the Godson of Storm who would show up again later in the show. In this episode Morph also takes the forms of Deadpool, Maverick, and Omega Red. Deadpool would continue to show up in the background of later episodes but never had speaking parts. Maverick had already made an appearance in “Deadly Reunions” and would later feature in “Weapon X, Lies, and Videotape.” Now that I think about it that title is a somewhat risque reference for a kids show…
Omega Red, of course, is the villain of the following episode, “Red Dawn.” That week’s show also featured the return of Piotr Rasputin, aka Colossus, as well as his younger sister Illyana who became the character Magik in the comics. And, for one final little egg, Omega Red’s flashback sequence shows Captain America on a screen, indicating to the audience his creation was an attempt at recreating the super-soldier program.
3. Soviets, the Go-To Villains of the 90s
In the lead-up to tearing down The Berlin Wall and the wake of The Cold War ending American pop-culture was obsessed with using Russians, specifically Soviets as antagonists. Rocky fought Ivan Drago. Ivan Korshunov hijacked Air Force One. Heck, even as late as 2010 Ivan Vanko just wanted his bird. Oh and he built a bunch of robots to try and kill Tony Stark. Why are they always named Ivan?
As such it is Soviet loyalists attempting to take back the sovereign nations freed after the union’s dissolution who free Omega Red in “Red Dawn.” Oh yeah, there’s also the movie Red Dawn. Remember that one?
4. F Outta Here
Colossus returns in “Red Dawn” first saving Jubilee from the Friends of Humanity who had herself been attempting to save a store clerk from the group. These guys really get around, don’t they? After going all metal man the Russian man of steel scares the group off and they retreat out the back of the store, but it won’t be the last we see of this ineffectual hate group. You’d think the Kwik-E-Mart would be low on a human-supremacist group’s list of priorities, but maybe they’re afraid of their slurpees being infected by mutie-cooties.
5. The Savage Land
“Whatever It Takes” also catches up with Xavier and Magneto bringing us to The Savage Land, a tropical jungle hidden in the heart of Antarctica and also populated by dinosaurs. The odd couple plot thread of these frenemies carries on throughout the season leading up to its finale, “Reunion.” It will also see the return of a key villain and we’ll all learn that the real savages were the friends we made along the way.
We’ll keep following them and this series next week in our Summer TV binge. Join us, and as always, excelsior!
