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

So the good thing about time travel is if you go back to the past and mess up, you can just go back again and fix it, right? In what should be a shock to no one, JC and Rod are not physicists so they are going along for the ride as alternate present Wolverine and Storm see Alternate Future Forge before attempting once again to save Xavier from Master Mold and Fitzroy's plan to stop him from ever b...

How important is Charles Xavier? Well judging by the episode's title, we are going to find out. Rod leads another Bishop episode and learns even more about alternate timelines, including one with resemblances to the Age of Apocalypse, at least based on character designs, as some time travel shenanigans from Fitzroy and Master Mold lead to Chuck's death in the late 50s and undoing the founding of t...

The Nightcrawler deep dive continues! Looking back, it is still amazing to see how much got fit into such tight episodes that age SO well even three decades later. Of course, we miss half of it and make jokes about Stepbrothers with our guest Joe (not Russo). Joe Slepski's Joe on Joe Podcast: https://www.joeonjoe.com/ Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast series where we are going back a...

You're not reading that title wrong. We had so much to talk about with our guest Joe from the Joe on Joe Podcast about this episode Nightcrawler that we've actually made it into a two part episode! Talking about everyone's favorite (including Joe's) blue elf Kurt Wagner, we go down some epic tangents here with G.I. Joe vehicles along JC struggling to get this train back on the tracks. Spoiler: The...

Cyclops is going on vacation which means he is going to yell at total strangers in a remote desert town. With a combination of brand new characters and cameos galore, Scott finds himself without his powers and outnumbered. Definitely one of the stranger episodes, Secrets, Not Long Buried showcases Scott as the inspirational (if loud) leader of mutants and people alike. Cyclops is Waiting for Me is...

Morph's back! Master Mold's back! Trask and Gyrich are freaking back!... okay, well maybe we aren't excited for Trask and Gyrich but we are as pumped as Wolverine for Morph to be back and on his first mission. Exploring what we'd now know as PTSD or something similar was heavy for a Saturday morning cartoon but somehow it made sense to our preteen brains even 30 years ago. Cyclops is Waiting for M...

The Astral Plane is freaking weird. But the fact that the X:TAS team was able tp so succinctly articulate this concept in 22 minutes to Saturday morning is so darned impressive. In this episode, Rod and JC talk about this specific version of Xavier's foundation for building the X-Men and pontificate about the only villain Xavier actually locks up.  Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podc...

The epitome of "this is why we can't have nice things", Fabian Cortez puts Magneto's dream at risk in under a day with an attempted assassination, framing the X-Men, torturing a prisoner and readying for war with all human nations. With inspiration of one of the most seminal 90s comic issues behind it, Rod and JC decide to talk... about Action Figures.  Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly...

While CIWFM sadly didn't get the cameo we were hoping for to join us in this episode, X-Men: TAS has about 50 mutant cameos here with some epic debuts along with the return of Magneto. Of course, it all devolves into a conversation about why Gambit can't be trusted for space travel because of who he wants to sleep with but the episode also shows the continued escalation of dangers to mutants and a...

Originally an episode that wasn't even supposed to exist but thankfully does because it gave us the chance to crossover with Shawn DePasquale of the Oh Mr. Sheffield podcast and Bunny Ears fame. Omega Red is brought back under the supervision of the American government to help decomission a sunken Soviet submarine off the coast of Hawaii. He won't do it without the help of his old foe Wolverine an...

The Juggernaut has been doing it wrong for years, and this episode proves it. He is so hell bent on trying to destroy his brother Professor X instead of being a ladies man and picking literal tables with woman at the bar like he is Andre the Giant and this episode shows us what could have been. When someone else activates the ruby of Cyttorak, Cain Marko loses his power and nearly his life during...

This episode is the epitome of why one should never get back with their ex. But, when they say they changed, in this case Rogue's ex Cody means it. This episode covers the emotional impact of an unresolved relationship for our favorite southern belle as well as introduces a Saturday morning family friendly version of the Brood. Plus toss in some body horror to boot! Cyclops is Waiting for Me is ou...

Even though he is our namesake, we can't deny how easy it is to make jokes at Cyclops' expense. His interpersonal skills could be improved. He is a goody-two-shoes. He is ready to fight his own team at the drop of a dime. But we have to put a little bit of blame on his dad, Corsair of the Starjammers. This episode lets us see the parallels between the two and also gives some insight in to their sh...

Wrapping up 9 episodes of the Phoenix Saga, The Fate of the Phoenix takes us for a ride that, while diverting from the original source material somewhat, still gives us a satisfying conclusion to X-Men story royalty. Rod and JC do a deep dive into the emotional rollercoaster as members of the team (except Jubilee) explore the moral dilemma of Jean's life and freedom compared to the fate of billion...

In one of the darkest moments for the X-Men, they are forced with the possibility they have completely lost Jean for a second time. This time though, instead of fearing her death, they must be prepared to stop her as the power of the Dark Phoenix has fully taken hold and they face the power of an immortal godlike entity. JC and Rod reflect on this story and how it helped define their memories the...

Diving deeper into the plot of the Hellfi-... we mean "Inner Circle", this episode explores the deception and dark desires of the Phoenix alongside the pomp and circumstance of the 18th century secret society secretly helmed by mutants and a bumbling cyborg. Definitely one of the most action filled episodes of the Dark Phoenix saga, we also get some amazing references to the original source materi...

In our first of four epic episodes covering The Dark Phoenix saga, Dazzled brings Jean Grey briefly back to the team before being targeted by the Inner Circle, best known in the comics as the Hellfire Club. Doing an amazing job of taking the massive story from over a dozen issues and transforming it to only 88 minutes, the X-Men: TAS crew kick off one of the most iconic stories here with Dazzled i...

What happens when you destabilize a foreign nation and just leave without helping set up new infrastructure? A green Pteranodon man with hypnotic abilities teams up with a rooster witch who worship an angry rock god. Obviously. No, we aren't joking. That is what happens to the Savage Land in this two part episode where everyone's favorite maybe-sorta-mutant Sauron gives the X-Men a reason to come...

Cold Comfort gives an X-Men: TAS debut for one of the original X-Men and their best frenemy teams from the comics. While Cyclops and Xavier have grown into leaders of the X-Men, we find out about their history with Iceman Bobby Drake and what drove him from the original team from before many of the current roster joined. We also see how few mutants Rod knows by name before seeing their name in the...

Making his dramatic return, Longshot drops into the X-Men's reality with news of a war that he became the face of as he escapes Mojo, Major Domo, Spiral and their minions (including a purple dinosaur). In a crazed reality show arena, Wolverine, Longshot, Beast and Rogue must save Jubilee who is a bit smitten with the off-world, mullet-heaving hero.  Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly pod...

Rejoining Archangel in his pursuit of Apocalypse, this episode gives an amazing look at the darkness of someone who should be a hero. Willing to sacrifice himself or allies purely for revenge, JC and Rod talk about the heartbreak behind Warren Worthington III and the bond that he shares with Rogue. Also, Beast wants to bang a space ship.  Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast series...

Make sure to check the title of the episode before listening because this is one of the first MAJORLY out of script order episodes (Thanks Saban). With a focus on Cyclops, we see the team grieving over the loss of Jean and the sacrifice she made as the Phoenix. Using his favored superpower of Yelling, Scott takes a trip down memory lane to cross paths with an unexpected villain who has recently be...

If this podcast was a comic, our 25th issue would have had a lenticular cover. Things start to get cosmic as fan favorites like the the Juggernaut return and we get the full debuts of Banshee, the Starjammers and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. These 3 episodes showcase what is still the best retelling of the Phoenix Saga in any media outside of their original printed comics run. This love letter wraps...

Kicking off the most infamous X-Men story of all time (so big that they did it twice on the big screen, poorly), Rod and JC talk about the galaxy spanning Phoenix Saga. Introducing the Shi'ar, Banshee and more, this was one of our most anticipated rewatches since kicking off this podcast. Cyclops is Waiting for Me is our weekly podcast series where we are going back and watching EVERY-SINGLE-EPISO...

Kicking off Season 3 with an incredibly anticipated character of Lady Deathstrike, Out of the Past sets the stage for one of the most epic storylines for the X-Men while also examining more of Wolverine's mysterious past. It also infamously has the first ever change in animation quality, which JC and Rod don't hold back their feelings on but yet is one of our favorite episodes too.  Cyclops i...