| X-Men: Evolution | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Superhero Action-adventure Drama |
| Created by | Marty Isenberg Robert N. Skir David Wise |
| Based on | |
| Developed by | John Bush John W. Hyde Jon Vein |
| Voices of | |
| Composer | William Kevin Anderson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 52(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Animators | |
| Editors |
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| Running time | 20–22 minutes |
| Production companies | Film Roman Marvel Studios[a] |
| Original release | |
| Network | Kids' WB |
| Release | November 4, 2000 (2000-11-04) – October 25, 2003 (2003-10-25) |
X-Men: Evolution is an Americananimated television series based on thesuperhero seriesX-Men published byMarvel Comics.[1] Taking inspiration from the early issues of the original comics, the series portrays the X-Men as teenagers rather than adults, following their struggle to control theirmutant powers as they face various threats and backlash.[2]X-Men: Evolution ran for a total of four seasons, comprising 52 episodes in total, from November 4, 2000, to October 25, 2003, onKids' WB, making it the third longest-running Marvel Comics animated series at the time, behindFox Kids'X-Men: The Animated Series andSpider-Man. Seasons one through three aired onCartoon Network from August 31, 2001, to May 27, 2003. The series later aired onDisney XD from June 15, 2009, to December 30, 2011 and was later featured on Disney+.
Produced in the United States, the voice recording was done in Canada; and the show was animated in Japan and South Korea. The series was distributed byWarner Bros. Television Distribution during its original run and is currently distributed byDisney Platform Distribution in the United States.
The first season introduces the core characters of the series. The titular team, founded byProfessor Charles Xavier, competes withMystique to recruit young mutants with newly discoveredsuperpowers to their cause. At theXavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the teenage X-Men are taught by Xavier,Wolverine, andStorm to control their abilities and keep them hidden from the rest of society whilst attending high school in the fictionalUpstate New York town of Bayville.[3] Their ranks grow over the course of the season and ultimately includeCyclops,Jean Grey,Nightcrawler,Shadowcat,Spyke, andRogue, who is initially manipulated into joining Mystique'sBrotherhood of Bayville.
While the X-Men teach their recruits to exercise restraint and uphold responsibility, Mystique encourages the Brotherhood to recklessly use their powers for selfish gain. The juvenile delinquents inducted into the Brotherhood consist ofAvalanche,Toad,Blob, andQuicksilver. The mastermind behind Mystique and the Brotherhood is eventually revealed to beMagneto, a shadowy and mysterious figure from Xavier's past who seeks to enable mutants to replace humans as the dominant species on the planet. Nightcrawler also learns that he is Mystique's biological son, who was lost to her long ago due to Magneto's interference.
Other villains in the season are Wolverine's old rivalSabretooth, Xavier's vengeful half-brotherJuggernaut, andWeapon X professorAndre Thorton.
Season two focuses on the continuing conflict between the X-Men, Magneto, and Mystique.Beast joins the X-Men as a teacher after his transformation while a cohort ofnew mutants are added to their ranks, includingIceman,Magma,Jubilee,Cannonball,Berzerker,Multiple,Sunspot,Wolfsbane, andBoom Boom, who soon leaves the team and becomes a neutral character. The season also introducesAngel, who uses his powers to help people independently but chooses not to join the X-Men.
Cyclops and Jean grow closer, creating alove triangle when Rogue develops a crush on Cyclops, while Shadowcat and Avalanche begin dating despite being on opposing sides.
After being enlisted byS.H.I.E.L.D. directorNick Fury in one episode, Wolverine had a memory of him working inWorld War II alongsideCaptain America and liberating aconcentration camp that a younger Magneto was held in. Due to suffering the side effects of Project Rebirth, which was later revealed to only work on mutants, Captain America was frozen in ice until a cure can be found.
The X-Men are faced with several threats: Mystique strikes off with the Brotherhood and recruits theScarlet Witch, Magneto's abandoned daughter and Quicksilver's sister, to seek revenge;Mesmero plots to free the ancient mutantApocalypse; and Magneto forms a new group of mutant followers called theAcolytes, comprising Sabretooth,Gambit,Pyro, andColossus. The existence of mutants is ultimately revealed to the world when Magneto pits the X-Men and the Brotherhood againstBolivar Trask's anti-mutant weapon, theSentinel. The X-Men discover that Mystique has been posing as Xavier, who is now missing.
Season three focuses on the rising tension and hostility between mutants and humans. After Xavier is found and rescued, the X-Men attempt to rebuild their normal lives in Bayville and continue using their powers for good, though they face public scrutiny and discrimination from the other students at school. In addition, Trask is arrested.
The X-Men are forced to contend with numerous personal struggles: Cyclops is abducted and left for dead by Mystique; Spyke leaves the team to join the sewer-dwellingMorlocks after he unwittingly drinks anenergy drink that is toxic to mutants and causes his mutation to rapidly advance; Nightcrawler overcomes his insecurities about his appearance; Rogue learns that Mystique is her adoptive mother and loses control of her powers; and Wolverine discovers that he has a teenage clone calledX-23 who was created byHydra to be trained and used as a weapon.
Meanwhile, Magneto enlistsMastermind to alter Scarlet Witch's memories to end her vendetta against him; and Mesmero manipulates Mystique and hypnotizes Rogue into helping him resurrect Apocalypse, who defeats the combined forces of the X-Men, the Brotherhood, and the Acolytes.[4]
Season four focuses on the aftermath of the X-Men's failed attempt to prevent Apocalypse's revival. The Brotherhood try their hand at heroism, only for their selfish tendencies to prevail; Wolverine and X-23 work together to bring down Hydra; Xavier confronts his estranged sonDavid; Spyke and the Morlocks begin fighting back against human prejudice; Shadowcat befriendsDanielle Moonstar; and Rogue pushes Mystique's petrified statue off a cliff, creating a rift between her and Nightcrawler, which causes her to seek redemption by helping Gambit to rescue his father.
Apocalypse captures and transforms Xavier, Storm, Magneto, and Mystique into hisFour Horsemen as he attempts to turn the human population into mutants. Because of the threat of Apocalypse, Nick Fury was given orders to release Trask from prison in order to have the Sentinels fight Apocalypse.
During the final battle, the X-Men and their allies defeat the Horsemen, who are returned to normal, while Rogue absorbs the powers ofDorian Leach to neutralize Apocalypse. In the aftermath, Rogue and Nightcrawler rebuff Mystique's attempt to make amends; Magneto reconciles with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch; Shadowcat and Avalanche rekindle their relationship; Spyke reconnects with his aunt Storm; and Xavier sees his students reunited as the X-Men.
The series ends with a speech by Xavier, having caught a glimpse of the near future in Apocalypse's mind that shows:
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | November 4, 2000 (2000-11-04) | May 12, 2001 (2001-05-12) | |
| 2 | 17 | September 29, 2001 (2001-09-29) | May 11, 2002 (2002-05-11) | |
| 3 | 13 | September 14, 2002 (2002-09-14) | August 23, 2003 (2003-08-23) | |
| 4 | 9 | August 30, 2003 (2003-08-30) | October 25, 2003 (2003-10-25) | |
X-Men: Evolution featured several songs that were produced exclusively for the show:
The theme and score forX-Men: Evolution was composed and produced by William Kevin Anderson. Several characters had distinct musical cues, includingAvalanche (heavy guitar riffs),Storm (orchestra piece), andApocalypse (Egyptian music). Others had special sound effects. These include Jean Grey (light chime noise),Sabretooth (roaring),Rogue (also has a unique, black and white special effect),Magneto,Gambit,Shadowcat, andNightcrawler. The main theme song was recorded by Anderson.
The original working title of the show while in production wasChildren of the Atom, a reference to the X-Men comic book in circulation. However, this was scrapped as the network did not want the title to reference children.[5]One of the main points of the newX-Men: Evolution concept was the design of the new costumes. Early concept art sketches show the X-Men in classic gold-and-black garb. In these drafts, Spyke wearscornrows, Rogue's outfit exposes her midriff, and Jean Grey's costume is the female version of Cyclops' costume. Both Jean Grey and Shadowcat wear face masks, and Kitty is also wearing an orange miniskirt andDoc Martens over spandex. Early Storm drawings show her wearing white rather than black.[citation needed]
A point of controversy was the design of the blue-skinned villain Mystique.Steven E. Gordon, the character designer and director of various episodes, was never impressed with the Mystique designs for the first season. Mystique was originally to be presented as nude, akin to herfilm counterpart, but Warner Bros. did not want this included in a Kids' WB! production.[6] However, a short scene of Mystique drawn to resemble her film counterpart (albeit clothed) appears in the Season 1 finale. Gordon stopped directing after two seasons, but continued to design characters for the show. He is most satisfied with the designs of Rogue and Scarlet Witch.[6]
The show also contained various pop culture references: in episode 9 of the first season, one of Wolverine's defensive programs for theDanger Room is referred to as "Logan's Run X13", a reference to the novel/filmLogan's Run. The Rogue/Kitty dance in "Spykecam" was modeled after a similar dance in theBuffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Bad Girls".[7] The play used in "Spykecam",Dracula: The Musical, is a real play. The song used, however, is an original song made for the episode. The writers of the show have also admitted that they were fans ofBuffy the Vampire Slayer. Using Shadowcat as the catalyst, the two shows appear similar: a teenage girl with superpowers fights powerful villains in order to save her high school.[7]Buffy creatorJoss Whedon has openly credited Kitty Pryde as an inspiration for the character ofBuffy Summers.[8]
Starting with the first episode of Season 4, "Impact", the episode title was no longer aired on-screen at the beginning of the show, andX-Men: Evolution became the third longest-running Marvel cartoon, behindSpider-Man (5 seasons, 65 episodes) andX-Men: The Animated Series (5 seasons, 76 episodes).Boyd Kirkland, the show's producer, says his favoriteX-Men: Evolution season is Season 3.[6] The monthly budget forX-Men: Evolution was $350,000.[citation needed]
This is the firstX-Men animated series to usedigital ink and paint.
Produced in the United States, the voice recording was done in Canada and the show was animated in Japan and South Korea. Most of the animation was outsourced toMadhouse,Mook Animation in Japan,DR Movie, and WHITE LINE in South Korea.
While no official statement has come down on why the show ended after season 4, the show's co-producer, Robert N. Skir, has stated that it most likely came down to WB wanting show changes as well as business strategy moves with Nickelodeon in 2003.[9]
The show gave birth to a new series,Wolverine and the X-Men, which premiered on January 23, 2009 and lasted for only one season when it was cancelled on November 29, 2009. Although was not a continuation ofX-Men: Evolution, the same creative team was behind the show: Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Steven E. Gordon, Greg Johnson and Boyd Kirkland all returned to work on the series.
In 2012, Jean Grey and Robert Kelly made guest appearances in theIron Man: Armored Adventures episode "The X-Factor", withVenus Terzo andDale Wilson reprising their roles fromX-Men: Evolution.
According toIGN, the show aired "much to X-fans' initial protests and lamentations."[10]RPGnet enjoyedEvolution's second season, hailing it as the show's "transition season." An improvement over the show's first season "in every way,"X-Men: Evolution, according to RPGnet, "introduc[ed] many ... re-imagined characters from X-Men lore that will certainly entertain the X-Men fans," specifically Beast and Principal Kelley. RPGnet wrote, "Some episodes could easily be cut out of the show and they would not be missed," describing the dialogue as "atrocious at times" and some of the characters as "very one dimensional."[11] Positively, Fred Choi ofThe Tech hailedX-Men: Evolution as "the best incarnation of X-Men yet," admitting that "There are a few changes which will sendpurists howling in the streets." Choi acknowledged that "The students generally have abilities more powerful than they ever had in the comics," specifically mentioning intangible Shadowcat and telekinetic Jean Grey. While praising the show's animation and music – "cleaner than the original series" – Choi described the transformation of Rogue "into a reclusive goth chick" as " completely baffling but surprisingly palatable."[12]
Noting the show's treatment of its characters, specifically making them high school teenagers for thematic purposes as "admirable," John G. Nettles ofPopMatters concluded, "What disappoints, however, is the sheer number of missed opportunities here and the decision to subscribe to the same old social norms."[13] ReviewingX-Men: Evolution's third season, Filip Vukcevic ofIGN was mixed in his analysis, deeming it inferior toX-Men: The Animated Seriesand concluding, "Evolution ...will interest long-time X-fans, but the fluffy stories and underutilized character personalities ... will cause discerning viewers to zone out," suffering from its attempt "to cram everyone in." Additionally, the author felt thatEvolutionlacks the "visual flair" ofThe Batman and the "wit" ofTeen Titans. The author also panned the series' "average" voice acting, feeling that Magneto, Wolverine and Beast were "miscast." He also noted that combined with "inventive gags," "the show does its best to make the most of the mutants' powers" because "The fight scenes are fun to watch if only to see how the characters interact."[14]
X-Men: Evolution won the award forOutstanding Sound Mixing – Special Class at the28th Daytime Emmy Awards, on May 18, 2001[15] and won the award forOutstanding Sound Editing – Live Action and Animation at the30th Daytime Emmy Awards, on May 16, 2003.[16]
It also won theCover of the Year Award in 2004 for best animated figure for Beast. It was nominated for severalGolden Reel Awards, as well as other Emmys.Steven E. Gordon, the director of this show, was nominated in theProduction Design in an Animated Television Production category forX-Men: Evolution at the 2001Annie Awards.
TheX-Men: Evolution series was targeted at a younger audience and as such portrays the majority of characters as adolescents rather than adults like inX-Men: The Animated Series.[3] In the series, like many animated series based on comics, completely new characters were introduced includingSpyke.[17][18] As much of the cast were teenagers, they are shown regularly attending high school in addition to the Xavier's Institute. At the latter, Professor X, Storm, Wolverine and later Beast also acted as their teachers at the institute. Beast also served as a chemistry teacher to the cast at high school prior to his transformation.
X-Men: Evolution is set in a fictionalized version of the real life village ofBayville, New York, the state established in the episode "The Beast of Bayville", where Kitty Pryde receives a package from her parents addressed to Bayville, New York. Furthermore, in the early part of the series (until the end of season 2) most people are unaware of the existence of mutants. Also, the "Brotherhood" team is not known as the "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" within the context of this series. They are not a team ofterrorists or mutant supremacists. Instead, the Brotherhood is made up of misfit mutants andjuvenile delinquents who often oppose the X-Men (in physical, social and philosophical realms).
The series was created as a stark contrast toX-Men: The Animated Series. The series'bible was written byRobert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg (albeit uncredited), who meant to take The X-Men back to their roots as high school students learning to control their superpowers, as when the comics termed them "The Strangest Teens of All".[citation needed] Whereas the Fox series reflected the then-current role of X-Men as freedom fighters battling persecution and bigotry against mutantkind,X-Men: Evolution used the theme of mutant powers as a metaphor for the struggles of adolescence.[3]
The look of the series was designed by ProducerBoyd Kirkland and artistFrank Paur, who created new costumes for the X-Men, replacing the comics-faithful designs ofX-Men: The Animated Series withanime-influenced costumes which were much more animation-friendly.
The first season mainly concerned the characters' conflict with Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants as well as served as an introductory to many of the characters to allow people to get used to these new teenage versions. Later seasons predominantly featured Apocalypse as an adversary, introduced versions of theNew Mutants,Morlocks and Magneto's Acolytes as well as posed the U.S. Government as an adversary to all parties.
The series revealed a detailed knowledge of canon history in a number of small ways. Examples include the evolution ofCerebro from a console device, Shadowcat's initial uneasiness around Nightcrawler andForge's scientific arrogance along with his devices causingunintended consequences. Rogue is shown to absorb Cyclops' powers in the correct manner. In the Fox series, she also absorbed his lack of control over his beams (which was a result of a brain injury, not inherent in his powers).X-Men: Evolution shows her with full control over them, just as Scott would if he had not sustained a brain injury. In "Survival of the Fittest", Xavier says that Juggernaut acquired his powers through mysticism (but unlike the comic, says that it unlocked a latent mutant power), and in "The Cauldron" Magneto develops his mutant-enhancing technology from that same Jewel of Cyttorak (but says that he has found it to be scientific rather than mystical). In "Day of Recovery",Toad is seen to be quite comfortable with technology and in "Operation Rebirth", thePOW camp Magneto is held in as a child is visually similar (in the opening shot) toAuschwitz, though it is not identified as such.
In addition,Beast's origin is almost identical to that of the comic, despite the change in profession and setting.Mesmero is shown as part of a circus troupe, much like his appearance in the "Phoenix Saga". Aside from this, supporting characters like Bolivar Trask,Nick Fury,Captain America,Destiny,Agatha Harkness, andAmanda Sefton were all taken from the X-Men comic, usually serving to homage to originals without necessarily staying completely faithful to their form.
Another difference between the comic and the show is the name changes. Toad, originally Mortimer Toynbee, is changed to Todd Tolansky who has aNew York accent, and Avalanche, originally Dominic Petros, is changed to Lance Alvers. Both changed names are a play on their codenames. Also, their nationalities were changed to American from, respectively, British and Greek.
X-23, an original character introduced in later seasons,[19] made her comic book debut in the miniseriesNYX,[20] where her appearance was slightly altered to more closely resemble Wolverine. She received a self-titled comic miniseries in 2005.[20][21] Much likeHarley Quinn ofBatman: The Animated Series,Terry McGinnis ofBatman Beyond,Cinderblock ofTeen Titans, or Marvel's ownFirestar ofSpider-Man and His Amazing Friends, she was a character originally created for an animated series that was incorporated into comic bookcanon.[22] The character of Dr.Deborah Risman which created X-23, the clone of Wolverine,[19] was also created for the show and was replaced with a similar character named Dr. Sarah Kinney in the miniseriesX-23.[20][21] She later made appearances in the television seriesWolverine and the X-Men, and in the filmsLogan andDeadpool & Wolverine, portrayed byDafne Keen.
The comic bookX-Statix featured an African-American mutant with the same codename and abilities as Spyke; however, this version of Spyke was not related to Storm, had a very different personality (modeled after populargangsta rappers), and is a completely separate character. Another similar character appeared inX-Men: The Last Stand, but as a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants. He is listed as Spike in the credits, but is not mentioned by name in the film, and has no dialogue. When Wolverine invades the forest base of the Brotherhood, Spike is one of the characters that attacks him, demonstrating abilities identical to those shown by the Spyke character before he lost control of his mutation. Another similar character, who bears a greater resemblance to Spyke appears inX-Men: Days of Future Past, but again, he is not named. In the canon, Storm has a teenaged cousin, not a nephew, named David Evans, but he is apparently too young to display any mutant abilities.
X-Men: Evolution weaves many references and cameos into its show. One of the masks worn by the vandals in the Season 3 episode "Mainstream", bears a suitable resemblance to the classic Marvel Comics monster,Fin Fang Foom. In the Season 3 episode "Under Lock and Key", circumstances gather a mix of X-Men, junior members, and nonmembers into a mission team that matches the original X-Men team (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, and Angel)—Iceman mentions that this is "definitely the cool team."[citation needed] In the Season 3 episode "Dark Horizon", Kitty is seen sleeping with a stuffed purple dragon, a reference toLockheed, her purple dragon companion. Also in "Dark Horizon", Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Shadowcat are grouped together when the X-Men and the Acolytes are separated, a reference to the Europe-based superhero teamExcalibur which included all three mutants in its roster.[citation needed]
Captain America is the only non-mutant Marvel superhero to appear onEvolution. There is also, however, a smallIron Man reference in the episode "On Angel's Wings", when a sign reading "Stark Enterprises" is seen during an exterior shot of New York City and a smallSpider-Man reference when Angel is shown reading theDaily Bugle, the newspaper thatPeter Parker/Spider-Man normally takes pictures for. In addition,Omega Red mentionsMaverick andKestrel in the episode "Target X", referring to the latter as "Wraith". In "Dark Horizon", the hieroglyphics translated by Beast refer toRama-Tut, one identity ofKang the Conqueror.
All four seasons are available for download in SD format oniTunes (Only available for America), being released in 2009 by Marvel. All 4 seasons immediately broke into the Top 10 Animation charts on iTunes, with season 4 peaking at #3.
| Name | Release dates | Ep # | Additional information | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | |||
| UnXpected Changes | September 23, 2003 | TBA | TBA | 3 | Season one, volume one |
| Xplosive Days | September 23, 2003 | TBA | TBA | 3 | Season one, volume two |
| X Marks the Spot | September 23, 2003 | TBA | TBA | 3 | Season one, volume three |
| Xposing the Truth | September 23, 2003 | TBA | TBA | 4 | Season one, volume four |
| Mutants Rising | February 10, 2004 | TBA | TBA | 4 | Season two, volume one |
| Powers Revealed | February 10, 2004 | TBA | TBA | 4 | Season two, volume two |
| Enemies Unveiled | June 29, 2004 | TBA | TBA | 4 | Season two, volume three |
| Mystique's Revenge | November 23, 2004 | TBA | TBA | 5 | Season two, volume four |
| The Complete Third Season | May 23, 2006 | TBA | TBA | 13 | |
| The Complete Fourth Season | TBA | TBA | TBA | 9 | |
| The Complete Animated Series | TBA | TBA | TBA | 52 | |
In January 2002,Marvel Comics began publishing anX-Men: Evolution comic book, partially based on the show. Written byDevin K. Grayson with art byStudio XD, it was abruptly canceled after the ninth issue due to low sales. The series has been reprinted in twotrade paperbacks.[27]
The comic introduced theEvolution version of the Morlocks before they appeared on the show, and their appearances and motivations were radically different in both versions. It also featured an appearance fromMimic, who never appeared on the series.
An ongoing plot line would have introduced theEvolution version ofMister Sinister, but the comic was canceled before it could be resolved. However, the cover of the unreleased issue 10 does reveal his intended character design.
Toy Biz created a line ofaction figures.Taco Bell ran the firstX-Men: Evolution themed promotion with its Kid's Meals.[28]Burger King also ran a Kid's Meal promotion which includedX-Men: Evolution toys. Each toy included a mini-disc with games, screen-savers, and a mini-comic related to the character. The lineup included Rogue, Mystique, Cyclops, Wolverine, Magneto, Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, and Toad.[29]
