X-Men '97 Season 2, Episode 2 Provides A Unique Twist On The Iconic Intro
Contains spoilers for "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 2 — "A Force to Be Reckoned With"
The intro to "X-Men '97," one of Marvel's best ever animated shows remains instantly recognizable to fans, using the same template and music as the original '90s "X-Men: The Animated Series." While the opening showcases a new animation style and featured characters, Season 2's second episode, titled "A Force to Be Reckoned With," switches things up in the most drastic way yet, replacing the X-Men with the X-Force.
"A Force to Be Reckoned With" is largely an X-Force episode, as Cable (Chris Potter) forms a team with Psylocke, Archangel, Jubilee (Holly Chou), and Sunspot (Gui Agustini). Their purpose is to find and bring back the X-Men who are scattered across the timeline. At the same time, X-Force needs to deal with the emerging X-Factor — led by Cyclops' (Ray Chase) brother and Cable's uncle, Havok — who are working with the government. In this show, X really gon' give it to ya!
As the ultimate tribute to X-Force's influence, the intro swaps out all the original X-Men and replaces them with the characters featured in the episode. Fortunately, nobody tinkered with the music because that would have been as sacrilegious as skipping the intro itself.
X-Force was a highly influential superhero team in the '90s
The precursor to "X-Men '97" is "X-Men: The Animated Series," which landed in 1992 — not too long after Professor Xavier's mutants celebrated 1991's "X-Men" #1 selling over eight million copies upon release. Yet "X-Men" wasn't the only smash-hit that year, as Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza's "X-Force" #1 crossed five million sales to become its own success story.
A continuation of the New Mutants, the X-Force prided itself as the edgier version of the X-Men (with a lot more pockets and weapons). The team wasn't composed of villains or antiheroes, but rather preferred to use excessive force when dealing with adversaries and problems. As a result, X-Force became popular in its own right and developed a fanbase, while its leader, Cable, also popped up in a few episodes of "X-Men: The Animated Series."
Now, in "X-Men '97" Season 2, the influential group finally gets its time to shine, even if it isn't the same team that debuted in the pages of "X-Force" #1. Maybe a spin-off animated show is exactly what the doctor ordered, especially considering how most of the X-Force was eliminated from "Deadpool 2."