Cyclops is Waiting for Me - An X-Men: The Animated Series Weekly Recap

Wow, this version of Kitty Pryde is kinda mean. Making sure to not be a copycat of her appearance in Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men: Evolution gets its debut of Kitty Pryde and she definitely fits that late 90s/early 2000s teen girl stereotype. We also get the debut of an X-Men villain who has way more ingenuity than his comic counterpart ever did. Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast series...

Flashback to late 2000 with us. It has been over three years since the finale of X-Men: The Animated Series, what would go one to be known as one of the greatest animated series of all time. But, Rod and JC were deep in High School and didn't have time for "childish things" so the debut of X-Men: Evolution went unnoticed to them. Now, they are yelled at by their fellow geeks and X-Me...

Not as remembered by most as the Night of the Sentinels pilot, Graduation Day will forever have a special place in the hearts of JC and Rod as they are joined by Eric and Julia Lewald. Eric was Story Editor (what we'd now call the Show Runner) for all 76 episodes and writer of the series finale and Julia was the writer on a number of the episodes herself. Without their massive efforts througho...

Spider-Man, Hobgoblin and Max NoSleeves return for a second bonus episode where we check out the 2 part crossover between X-Men 92' and Spider-Man 94'. Coming off of a cliffhanger of one of the pumpkin bombs being hurled at Spider-Man and Wolverine, will they survive? Well yea, because it would be a pretty short episode if not. Max continues to share more of his Spider-Man fandom and JC an...

A two week interlude before we get to our X-Men 92' series finale with an epic incoming episode, our friend Max NoSleeves joins as we swing into Spider-Man 94' as Peter Parker turns to the world's foremost expert on mutation Charles Xavier to stop him from becoming some sort of monster. Per usual with super hero crossovers, things don't start out with hugs and handshakes. Meanwhile...

This penultimate episode of X-Man: The Animated Series 1992 run unexpectedly takes us back even further than the Old Soldiers episode did. One of Xavier's ancestors closely crosses paths with the increasingly frustrated Nathaniel Essex (and THE Charles Darwin) as we get the animated origin of Mister Sinister. With this podcast episode recorded before the announcement of Mister Sinister being t...

That Guthrie boy is at it again. Sort of. Though not the first time we've seen Cannonball on screen, this episode formally introduces this future New Mutant to the show along with some new plot points that there is no way they'll be able to wrap up in just two more episodes. Joining JC and Rod is Michelle Waffle, co-host of the Power of X podcast and one of our favorite X-Men cosplayers! M...

Aside from how traumatic it was, find us a better character history than Wolverine's. Going even further back in time, this episode takes us back to World War II where Logan pairs up with Captain America to take on the Red Skull. Based off an issue of Uncanny X-Men that JC actually owns, this episode is one of the standouts of the final season. Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast s...

What better episode to have Carlos Castillo, a.k.a. the Nostalgic Latino, join us than the episode that still hurts even through nostalgia goggles. JC, Rod and Carlos talk through what is likely the weirdest episode of the entire original X-Men 92' run as fan surrogate Jubilee takes a group of kids through a tale of fantasy and sorcery. We'll be honest, it isn't a good one. But we said...

If nothing else, this episode had two things about it that we love: Helping tie up a lingering story thread from a previous season and confusing Rod. Bonus points for some comic references while we are at it too. Beast and Jubilee are wrapping up a South American expedition only to cross paths with Fabian Cortez and his hounds, including former Morlock Caliban, and a tribe of people worshipping Ap...

Our final episode in the classic animation style, Storm finds herself smitten by an extra-dimensional himbo who is tossing up more than a few flags. Curious on JC and Rod's thoughts on toxic relationships? Get it here! Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast series where we are going back and watching EVERY-SINGLE-EPISODE of the original 1992 X-Men: The Animated Series in their origina...

Massive climate anomalies hit the US east coast but in the 90's it wasn't caused by climate change like it is today. Instead, a lightning bolt tossing demigod who isn't Asgardian is trying to lure storm to help him save a dying world. This two-parter is the final Storm focused story of X-Men 92' as we march towards Graduation Day! Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast ser...

In what feels like the second half of a zombie movie, Beast, Warlock, Forge and Sinister need to act fast to prevent the world from being taken over by the Phalanx infection. In an episode that on paper reads like a massive mismatch of characters, this combination just works and showcases the strength of the series and the team behind it. But, of course, Rod and JC focus on shade being thrown at X...

Self-friends JC and Rod kick off Season 5. The Phalanx have made it to earth and the X-Men and pretty much everyone else are getting assimilated. Join us as we start the home stretch on the original X-Men: The Animated Series 92' run! Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast series where we are going back and watching EVERY-SINGLE-EPISODE of the original 1992 X-Men: The Animated Series in t...

Season 4, what was potentially the series finale and Joe Russo Month all wrap up nicely alongside an awesome Easter Egg that is still relevant almost 30 years later to the MCU with Beyond Good & Evil - Part 4 - End and Beginning. Alongside heroes putting everything they have to save existence and villains turning on each other, we also find out how Bishop's long walk wraps up. Without a doubt,...

Well if you go all the way back to the beginning and destroy something, there is no way there can be long-term ramifications in history, right? RIGHT? Part 3 of Beyond Good & Evil (a.k.a. Joe Russo vs. JC Month) with The Lazarus Chamber as heroes from three different time periods go back to ancient Egypt to confront Apocalypse and some version of the Horsemen. Are they new or classic? No idea....

In a "very special episode", JC and Rod dive deeper into the second act of Beyond Good & Evil alongside their guest Joe Russo and find out what really sealed his fandom, the appearance of every teen's crush in the 90's, Psylocke. Apocalypse begins to reveal his plan in what may be the grandest of schemes to hit the series and the X-Men timeline up to this point.  Joe's Info: Tweeting abou...

We kick off Joe 'freaking' Russo month at Cyclops Is Waiting for me with Beyond Good & Evil - Part 1 - The End of Time which is one of the longest titles of the entire series and of course our guest... Joe Russo. JC and Rod welcome the man who loves to remind us what his legally accurate name is as they discuss the story that at one point was almost the finale of X-Men: TAS (before Fox ordered...

The happiest of holidays to all of our listeners as we dive into the tail end of Season 4 with the Morlock X-Mas episode! And, like we tend to do, instead of focusing on the heart and character growth, JC and Rod dive into logistics! Like getting in and out of NYC on Christmas Eve or how few people are skating in Rockefeller Center. At least they don't make fun of Leech's tree which in and of itse...

Almost 30 year before the meme came to be, this episode may as well have been called X-Men: Emotional Damage. Between the brainwashing, implanted memories and overall gaslighting, the Weapon X program really messed up Logan, Sabretooth, Silver Fox and Rod's All Time Favorite, Maverick. Definitely one of the darker episodes, lots of questions get answered while more are unearthed. But, JC and Rod e...

After everything Wolverine has gone through (and will go through in the next episode, so feel free to watch these two out of order), he needs to get away and find himself again. Though not the brutal battle from Frank Miller's Wolverine mini, we love any excuse to see Logan in Japan and this being one of the few times the X-Men: TAS team was able to explore that important part of his history. And,...

In the X-Men, family dynamics can be a bit tricky. Lots of people not realizing who is their sibling or parent seems to be a running theme. In Bloodlines, Nightcrawler returns (though Joe didn't join us for this one sadly) as we find out more about his and Rogue's estranged family tree.  Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast series where we are going back and watching EVERY-SINGLE-E...

If this was a comic book, it would be Giant-Sized and have a holographic and/or lenticular cover to commemorate 50 issues! But it's just Rod and JC excited to have somehow made it through 50 episodes together and they didn't even go for a full hour. And you can tell what kind of positive influence the MCU has had on the perception of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver too since the most obvious jok...

Kicking off the New Year talking about family values and politics... This is going to be a weird start for the year as we hit the halfway point of Season 4. One thing we have learned is that most parents in the X-Men: TAS universe aren't very good at it and people really can't communicate. This is coming from two guys who don't have kids. But Moira, Professor X and Joe need to get it together if t...

Rod and JC aren't parents but they can agree a lot of the parents in the X-Men universe kinda... well... suck. Even beloved characters like Moira MacTaggart not exactly are winning Parent of the Year awards as we find out about her son, Mutant X (a.k.a. Kevin, a.k.a. Proteus) who goes on a rampage to find his dirtbag dad. Enjoy the episode that basically killed Rod's computer.  Cyclops is Wai...