Editor’s note: The below contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 Episode 3.
The Big Picture
X-Men ’97
adapts the
Inferno
comics storyline, bringing psychological horror and demonic battles into the animated series.
The X-Men are tormented in different ways, with members like Sunspot, Gambit, and Morph haunted by their deepest fears.
Sinister infects Cyclops and Madelyne’s son Nathan with a techno-organic virus, leading to a heart-wrenching goodbye.
The latest episode of X-Men ’97, “Fire Made Flesh,” more than lives up to its name. The X-Men not only have to deal with the revelation that Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) has been cloned, but also that said clone — now named Madelyne Pryor — is under the control of Mister Sinister (Christopher Britton). Madelyne embraces her newfound powers as the Goblin Queen, transforming the Xavier Institute into a hellish landscape. This leads to some genuinely horrifying imagery that viewers wouldn’t normally see on a Saturday morning cartoon: flesh melting off the bone, bodies sprouting extra limbs, and all manner of demons. It turns out that “Fire Made Flesh” is a compressed adaptation of the Inferno comics arc, which sees the birth of the Goblin Queen as well as the X-Men fighting actual demons.
X-Men ’97
A band of mutants use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them; they’re challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.
Release Date March 20, 2024
Cast Jennifer Hale , Cal Dodd , Chris Potter , Catherine Disher , Adrian Hough , Ray Chase , Lenore Zann
Seasons 2
Number of Episodes 10
Streaming Service(s) Disney+
Franchise(s) X-Men
The ‘Inferno’ Storyline Brings Hell To New York — Literally
Image via Marvel Comics
Inferno was the biggest X-Men crossover of its day, involving every X-Men title being published up to that point in time. When the demons S’ym and N’astirh plan to conquer Earth, they ambush the New Mutants as Illyana Rasputin — sister of the steel-skinned Colossus — has the ability to travel through their home dimension of Limbo. Manhattan undergoes a demonic transformation; inanimate objects, including buses, are possessed, while supervillains also fall under the thrall of infernal forces. N’astirh is also responsible for Madelyne’s transformation into the Goblin Queen, and the revelation that Sinister cloned her. The X-Men and X-Factor manage to finally repel the demons, but Madelyne is driven mad with power and attempts to kill Jean. Jean is saved by a fragment of the Phoenix Force, while Sinister meets his end at the hands of Cyclops.
The X-Men aren’t the only Marvel heroes who wind up battling demonic forces. Spider-Man winds up being drawn into the conflict when the Hobgoblin sells his soul to N’astirh, becoming the Demogoblin. Hobgoblin nearly kills the web-slinger with his newfound powers until Spidey is saved by his wife, Mary Jane Watson. Hobgoblin battles multiple heroes, most notably the Ghost Rider, and joins Doctor Octopus’ second incarnation of the Sinister Six before purging the demon out of his body.
‘X-Men ’97’s Take on ‘Inferno’ Is Closer to Psychological Horror
“Fire Made Flesh” manages to adapt the broad strokes of Inferno, which is impressive given the number of comics it covers. The X-Men fight several demons, Jean and Madelyne have a meeting of the minds (though it doesn’t end in tragedy this time around), and Ilyana shows up in her “Darkchylde” form — though technically Morph (J.P. Karliak) transforms into her. It also leans more into psychological horror, with each of the X-Men being tormented by their deepest fears. Cyclops (Ray Chase) is haunted by a demonic version of Charles Xavier (Ross Marquand) who berates him for failing to live up to his dream. Sunspot (Gui Augustini) encounters a demonic version of his own mother, who disowns him for being a mutant. Gambit (A.J. LoCasio) has to struggle with his feelings for Rogue (Lenore Zann) and her connection with Magneto (Matthew Waterson). Even Morph is going through a great deal of trauma as they have to relive what Sinister put them through during the events of X-Men: The Animated Series.
But the greatest horror is saved for the end of the episode, where Sinister infects Cyclops and Madelyne’s son Nathan with a techno-organic virus. Since a cure for the virus doesn’t exist in the present, Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith) takes Nathan to his time to find a cure. Cyclops is horrified by this; since his parents supposedly died in a plane crash and his father, Christopher, became the space-faring pirate Corsair, he doesn’t want to be another dad abandoning his son. While comic fans know that Nathan becomes the hardened soldier known as Cable, it’s still heartwrenching to see Cyclops and Madelyne bid a tearful farewell to their son.
The X-Men go through hell in more ways than one in this episode, and it looks like they’ll be dealing with the fallout of “Fire Made Flesh” throughout the remainder of X-Men ’97.
X-Men ’97 is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S., with new episodes releasing Wednesdays.
WATCH ON DISNEY+