‘X-Men ‘97’ Episode Three Recap: “Fire Made Flesh”

*Warning: the following article contains spoilers for episode three of X-Men ‘97.*

After a phenomenal two-episode premiere, X-Men ‘97 continues its momentum with an even better third episode through the reintroduction of one of X-Men’s most popular antagonists and a story that continuously subverts what audiences believe is going to happen by the time episode two’s cliffhanger ending shocked all of us. 

It’s a bit crazy to think it would be this good, but Marvel has its first true animation winner since Kevin Feige et al. have been involved, and I, for one, can’t wait to tune in next week to see what will happen next. Titled Fire Made Flesh, episode three opens right after episode two left off with the shocking reveal that another injured Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) steps foot in the X-Mansion. 

At first, it’s easy to think that she is from the future, as her son, Nathan Summers, grows up to become Cable. But it’s not as simple as one think. The ‘present’ Jean examines the mind of ‘Jean Doe’ (as Morph eloquently named her as) and sees she is a clone of Mister Sinister (Christopher Britton) who aims to kidnap Nathan and infect him with a virus so he becomes invincible. However, once Beast (George Buza) examines both Jean’s DNA, he discovers that their Jean is the clone, while ‘Jean Doe’ is the real one.

The cloned Jean does not believe in Beast’s findings, while Scott (Ray Chase) is conflicted on whether or not Hank tells the truth. As she puts Nathan down to sleep, she begins to experience strange visions of Mister Sinister, who has been waiting for this realization to make his move. He suddenly appears in Nathan’s room and begins to control her, ultimately transforming ‘Jean’ into The Goblin Queen (AKA Madelyne Pryor!), leading the X-Men to experience strange visions of terror straight into Hell.

What comes next is the best X-Men setpiece I’ve seen realized through the medium of animation, and we’re only three episodes in!!!! While Mister Sinister was one of the best antagonists of The Animated Series, none of the episodes involving him had a sequence that was this striking and fully leaned into the horrific (dare I say sinister) nature of its antagonist. Of course, you can only go so far with a TV-PG rating, but enough traumatic imagery harkens back to classic horror movies to thrill a small child. One such image sees Roberto da Costa’s (Gui Augustini) mother coming out of his television, while another has Nathan’s teddy bears suddenly looking like Cuphead characters. It’s enough to be terribly effective and is even more cathartic when Mister Sinister has taken over the entire mansion.

These visions showcase the incredible creativity on display and tease us that Marvel Animation will offer so much more than What Ifs. As far as I’m concerned, some of the best Marvel Studios stories we’ll see in the streaming era may come from the animated department, and this sequence from X-Men ‘97 proves just how creative and artistically inventive one can get with the medium of animation. 

Once Sinister and Pryor leave with Nathan kidnapped, Morph (JP Karliak) takes the X-Men to his lair, where they will attempt to confront Sinister and save Nathan before he infects him with the virus. Meanwhile, in the X-Mansion, Jean awakens and begins to regain control of her twisted mind through the aid of Logan’s (Cal Dodd) love for her. Once she sees Scott in danger, she intervenes through Madelyne’s mind and frees her from Sinister’s shackles. Scott and Madelyne team up to defeat Sinister and free Nathan, but it’s too late: their son is infected and will die.

There is only one viable solution, as the cure for his disease is in the future. Scott and Jean must abandon Nathan and give him to Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith), who will transport their son to the future but won’t return. Nathan will grow up healthy but at the cost of never knowing his parents. Before his abrupt firing, head writer Beau DeMayo confirmed that Cable would eventually appear in the series. How he will be integrated remains to be seen, but it’s clear that Nathan’s storyline will likely play a pivotal role in the forthcoming episodes of X-Men ‘97. I also don’t believe it’s the last we’ve seen of Pryor, who has left the X-Men to forge her own path. 

Speaking of forging paths (I’m sorry), the episode ends with Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith) meeting…Forge (Gil Birmingham), an old friend of Charles Xavier (Ross Marquand), gives her an offer she can’t refuse: he knows how to restore her powers. Of course, Storm wouldn’t be powerless for the rest of the season, but so soon? I guess only time will tell how she will regain her powers and how this arc will play out in the series as we will reunite in front of the television next Wednesday. Hopefully, season two will see episodes released on Saturday mornings, like the good ol’ days. 

The third episode of X-Men ‘97 is now available to stream on Disney+.