The Mutant Ages

"Overflow" is the fourth episode of Wolverine and the X-Men, and this show still feels like a continuation of X-Men Evolution (to Maddy and Ryan's delight). Professor X uses time travel and the astral plane to wake Wolverine up in the middle of the night, telling him that Storm is about to destroy all of Africa for no reason. Turns out there is a reason, and it's the Shadow King. This episode lets...

Emma Frost is here, at last! Maddy and Ryan watched "Hindsight, Part 3," which is another all-timer featuring a flirtatious Warren, a closeted Bobby, Logan and Beast bickering like a married couple, and Magneto proving he and Xavier are the *original* bickering married couple. Luckily we have the one and only Ms. Frost here to sort it all out, hmm? X-Men Spotlight: Who else??? Next week's episode:...

Wolverine and the X-Men plunges into political intrigue in its second episode, featuring young Warren Worthington and his father, who hates his mutant son and is a key donor to Senator Kelly's campaign to introduce mutant registration. Meanwhile, the X-Men are back together, but all that really means is Hank and Logan are dating again, and no one else particularly wants to hang around with them. R...

Maddy and Ryan review the pilot episode of Wolverine and the X-Men, which feels like X-Men Evolution, except now it's all grown up... and dealing with some serious political oppression. There are multiple flashbacks in this episode, and it moves fast, but somehow, it all works (maybe because these aren't Weapon X flashbacks again). Also, Beast and Wolverine are two gay dads and they do a prison br...

Imagine this: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, and James Rhodes are all teenagers in high school together, but they're still superheroes... or at least, super-rich, in Tony's case. That's the premise of Iron Man Armored Adventures, starring the teenage version of Iron Man. In this mutant-themed episode, Tony and his pals meet Jean Grey; she's on the run from Magneto, a mutant extremist trying to recruit...

Maddy, Ryan and Todd continue the second half of their review of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), so if you missed the first half, go back to last week's episode. We analyze the metaphorical heroin that Xavier and Hank take in order to diminish their powers and the overall impact this has on the mutant metaphor in the film. We also talk about the hit-or-miss portrayal of Mystique in the film, al...

Ryan, Maddy, and Todd reunite for another live-action movie episode, and it's X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). This is our first time splitting a movie episode into two parts, and thank goodness, because we managed to spend the entire first hour of this episode dissecting the first ten minutes of this movie (!!!) and losing our minds over the decision to give Kitty Pryde psychic time-travel powe...

Ryan and Maddy dive into the listener mailbag to answer questions about other interpretations of the mutant metaphor (such as for autism), which X-Men like to watch bad movies, whether or not Mystique's shape-shifting makes her similar to a lizard, and the ethics of telepathy. We close out with the season two premiere of The Mutant Ages: The Comic Book! Next week's episode: X-Men: Days of Future P...

Well, this is it. Maddy and Ryan have completed X-Men Evolution (including the spin-off comics), and now it's time for them to bid farewell. We run down our favorite characters, the characters the most surprised us, the best and worst episodes, who's gay, and our favorite ships. It's been real, X-Men Evolution, and we'll miss you! Next week's episode: Listener Mail Visit our STORE: teespring.com/s...

With all the X-Men Evolution episodes done, Ryan and Maddy dove into the spin-off comic series written by Devin Grayson and illustrated by Udon Entertainment with Long Vo, Charles Park, and Kidkoum "Saka" Visarutvanit of Studio XD. These comic books are a bit strange because they don't quite line up with the plotline of the TV show, but there are just enough similarities that it feels like getting...

It's the series finale of X-Men Evolution, and instead of being sad, Ryan and Maddy get very giggly on this episode. "Ascension, Part 2" answers some of the questions raised in "Part 1" about how Apocalypse's pyramid spaceships work, but the answers don't make that much sense, and the whole episode feels like a countdown to the ending when Rogue swoops in to save the entire planet. The Brotherhood...

Ryan and Maddy have almost reached the end of X-Men Evolution and it's a rough go. This rushed two-part finale is not what the show deserved, although "Ascension, Part 1" does its best to give conclusive arcs to several major characters. Jean Grey gets her time in the spotlight and plenty of Phoenix foreshadowing that won't pay off, and Xavier gets the chance to be an asshole one last time before...

"Ghost of a Chance" is the last real episode of X-Men Evolution before its rushed two-part finale, and we treasure every moment. Danielle Moonstar gets an amazing introduction to the show in this horror-meets-romance twist on her story. Kitty Pryde takes on the girlfriend role that Rahne usually plays, forming a special psychic connection with Dani and discovering that she should never trust Profe...

X-Men Evolution gives us the perfect episode for Rogue and Gambit in "Cajun Spice," in which Gambit plays the Catwoman to Rogue's Batman. Still brooding over her decision to murder her mother, Rogue skips school and gets caught up in Gambit's shenanigans. After some knockout gas, some ropes, and a long train ride, these two disaster bisexuals end up on a date set in the midst of Mardi Gras. It's p...

"Uprising" is perhaps X-Men Evolution's strongest episode when it comes to writing, pacing, and the metaphor of anti-mutant hatred. Evan Daniels, a.k.a. Spyke, has been living with the Morlocks for a while, and in that time, he's grown armor all over his body that he can no longer hide. He now sees himself as the guardian of the Morlocks, who are living off of garbage and facing anti-mutant hate c...

We all knew Professor X had at least one notable ex-lover (Magneto), but the big shocker of "Sins of the Son" is that he's got a woman in his past, too, named Gabrielle Haller. Xavier is just as shocked as we are when he learns he has a teenage son with Gabrielle named David. Except how did he miss that memo, especially given how often he uses Cerebro to track powerful mutants? David turns out to...

We knew we'd get to see X-23 again in "Target X," but we sure didn't expect X-Men Evolution to bring back one of Logan's weirdest ex-boyfriends Omega Red. The Soviet metal-man has decided to team up with Hydra and Viper, going against his political programming, all to get another chance to "torture" Wolverine. Meanwhile, X-23 destroys all of Hydra by herself, and Nick Fury shows up at the end to g...

We interrupt up this week's scheduled program for a very special Mutant Ages: The Comic, brought to you by MOJOVISION! Maddy, Ryan, Todd, Katie and various X-Men have been whisked away into their very own sitcom "Golden Mutants" with none of their memories. Only one person has retained his memories: Logan. Is he going to be enough to save them from this sitcom hell? If you are a little confused, t...

X-Men Evolution brings us an entire episode focused on the Brotherhood, and we can't help but sympathize with the "bad guys" once again. These poor kids just need somebody to take care of them, and with Mystique and Magneto having died in the previous episode, they're resorting to a life of scamming people to get money. Xavier is a dick about it, and so is Scott, predictably. Pietro also goes too...

Wait a second... Maddy and Ryan think Apocalypse is kinda badass? X-Men Evolution achieves the unthinkable in its season 4 premiere episode, which also includes some very dark scenes about Rogue, Kurt, and their relationship to Mystique. Two characters in this episode die, but they both come back later. That doesn't make their deaths any less affecting, though. This episode brings the pain, and it...

Finally, a decent live-action X-Men movie! Maddy, Ryan, and Todd all watched The Wolverine (2013), which is a solo Logan action movie that isn't as horrible as X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) and is a lot more free-wheeling and fun than Logan (2017). We get to see Hugh Jackman's naked butt, but the real draw of this movie is actually Rila Fukushima as Yukio. We love her, she's the star of the movi...

Maddy and Ryan dive into the Mutant Ages listener mailbag this week to answer questions about which X-Men villains and heroes they'd allow to crash their birthday every year, which contemporary songs and TV shows the X-Men Evolution characters would be into, and whether Scott Summers smokes weed or not. Next episode: The Wolverine (2013) Visit our STORE: teespring.com/stores/the-mutant-ages E-mail...

Apocalypse is back, to Ryan and Maddy's dismay. Our suffering is your entertainment in "Dark Horizon, Part 2" which is an episode of X-Men Evolution that no one should watch. We devote plenty of time to the X-Men 97 news, as well. You knew we were gonna be pumped about that one! Next episode: Listener mail! Visit our STORE: teespring.com/stores/the-mutant-ages E-mail us your feedback at themutanta...

Maddy and Ryan review the first half of X-Men Evolution's two-part finale for season three, and unfortunately, it was not good. We still manage to have a very good time talking about it, though. Enjoy us losing our minds as we discuss the awakening of Apocalypse, Toad getting milk in his eyes, and the Sphinx. Next episode: "Dark Horizon - Part 2," X-Men Evolution Visit our STORE: teespring.com/sto...

Amara and Tabitha finally consummate their relationship in "Cruise Control," a summer vacation episode of X-Men Evolution that aired out of order. We threw it in before the season finale, although technically we should have watched it before "X-23". We'd love to go on a tropical cruise just like the X-kids in this episode, although of course Boom-Boom and Bobby get into a load of trouble for being...