X-Men: The Animated Series' Weird Archangel Plot Hole Is Easier To Explain Than You Think

Welcome to "Fanon Fixing Canon," a weekly column where we investigate infamous plot holes or terrible storyline decisions. Through a combo of detective work and meticulous fan theorizing, we fix these problems so they no longer exist — and canon is immaculate once again.

With Marvel's "X-Men '97" Season 2 reminding us all just how well the mutant team's 1990s iteration fits the animated small-screen medium, it's once again time to remember its predecessor — "X-Men: The Animated Series." Together, the two are arguably the best animated Marvel shows ever made, but even that doesn't make them perfect. Rewatching "X-Men: The Animated Series" makes it seem completely different when stripped of nostalgia. While it still features many artful adaptations of classic comic book storylines and individual stories that highlight the mutant team members' lives and personalities in fascinating ways, it also features plenty of oddities. Arguably the most famous one is the way "The Animated Series" handles Archangel (Stephen Ouimette).

In the comics, Archangel's true identity is Warren (formerly "Angel") Worthington III, one of the first five X-Men. In "The Animated Series," it takes him less than an episode to become Apocalypse's (John Colicos and James Blendick) deadliest Horseman when he debuts, and before that, he doesn't seem to know the X-Men at all. That's fine on the surface — the later "X-Men: The Last Stand" version of the character also had no prior student backstory at Xavier's school — except as the series goes on, multiple flashbacks to the original team do show him there, in feathery Angel form. What gives?  

Fanon Fixing Canon has a solution to the problem: The combination of Warren's personality, privileged upbringing, and the very specific relationship he has with the original X-Men all work together to make it surprisingly understandable that he would act so antagonistically toward his former team.

In the comics, Death (Warren's original Horseman moniker) revealing his identity to his fellow original X-Men in "X-Factor" #24 (1987) is a huge deal. As such, it'd be easy to assume that "X-Men: The Animated Series" would follow the same beats — but it doesn't. The thing is, this Warren isn't a carbon copy of the comics Warren. In "The Animated Series," it's clear from day one that he's looking to get rid of his mutant powers, only for Apocalypse to instead turn him into a metal-winged minion.

When the animated Warren (pre-Archangel mutation) interacts with Cyclops (Norm Spencer) and the other X-Men, he's cold and confrontational. In real life, he was clearly written as a man who has no idea who they are. However, after Season 1 closed out, the show came to incorporate the "original five" as backstory for the team, which would seem to be a problem here ... until we consider that maybe, this universe's Warren just doesn't like them, and that's why he's treating them like strangers. We can't assume that because comics Warren looks at them as family that this one would, as well. And he has decent enough reasons to feel this way.

Consider: The original X-quintet were effectively child soldiers who fought at great personal risk, leading to both Angel and an extremely frustrated Iceman (Denis Akiyama) — who's usually depicted as a very laid-back guy, but has serious anger issues when he appears in "The Animated Series" — walking away. Judging by how Xavier (Cedric Smith) and Cyclops outright dismiss Iceman's plight as he looks for Polaris (Mary Long) in the episode "Cold Comfort," it's not a huge shock that Archangel might just choose to pretend he's never seen these X-jerks in his life. And if this Warren had the same romantic interest in Jean Grey (Catherine Disher) as his comics incarnation, it's likely that ended badly, too.

Now, let's add another wrinkle. The one thing we should remember about Warren Worthington III is that he is a very wealthy man. In the comics, he's a true silver spoon kind of guy — private education and all. This is often reflected in Warren's behavior. Nonetheless, comics Warren is a kind and compassionate man who spends years funding much of the team's expenses.

Not so true about the animated version.

It would not be entirely unfair to state that in addition to all this, the Warren of "X-Men: The Animated Series" universe is also a bit of a jerk, even before Apocalypse gets to him. He lives in a castle and is as haughty as they come. The way he doesn't recognize (or pretends not to recognize) even the X-Men he used to work with is completely par for the course for the kind of guy who's had a privileged upbringing and is suddenly forced to meet and fight some lower-class people he's fallen out with. It's classic entitlement: "I don't like this, so it doesn't exist." 

Combine all this with the fact that Angel actively resents his mutant powers, and it really is no wonder that the guy's not feeling particularly chummy toward the X-Men when they meet him in this situation. 

There's also the simple fact that Archangel actually has no real way of recognizing the vast majority of the X-Men when he first meets them. Yes, as a former X-Man, he's obviously familiar with his old teammates (and evidently not on talking terms with them), but all the others? Nope. 

It's not like Warren has any reason to keep tabs on any upgrades on the X-roster. He hates his powers. He clearly doesn't look back fondly on his time as part of the team. He would never keep up with any mutant superheroes, X-Men or not. Considering that he has been absent since well before the events of the show begin, there's really no way for him to know most folks in the X-Men roster that come up against the Horsemen. They're faceless opponents, plain and simple.

After he breaks free from Apocalypse's control, Warren still doesn't jump with joy at the idea of being connected to the X-team business, but at least he doesn't seem to actively loathe the current roster. He's perfectly willing to be cordial with the newer members when needs must. In the Season 3 episode "Obsession," for instance, he approaches Rogue (Lenore Zann) for help with Apocalypse, and is reasonably amicable, despite his thirst for revenge.

Let's sum all of this up. So, Warren Worthington III starts out as a privileged rich kid who sprouts wings and absolutely hates it. Seeking for a way to deal with the situation, he ends up with the first X-Men, but soon finds that they're effectively a child soldier team led by a stern telepath and a controlling weirdo who can shoot red concussion blasts from his eyes. Deeply disillusioned by the X-Men and their activities, he leaves before the events of the series, and starts figuring out alternate ways to rid himself of his wings. 

And that's all before his big cure attempt leads to Apocalypse turning him into a metal-winged death bird.

When you put it together like that, Archangel's backstory suddenly looks perfectly reasonable. Not only is this a surprisingly elegant and complex backstory for a character who only appears in a handful of episodes, but approaching Warren's arc this way is a perfect example of Fanon Fixing Canon.