The Mutant Ages

Maddy and Ryan were long overdue for a silly and nonsensical episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, so here is "Obsession" to answer the call. In this episode, we see the return of Warren Worthington, a.k.a. Archangel, and his melodramatic monologues about Apocalypse, who also makes his less-than-popular return. We side with Cyclops and Wolverine, who think this whole thing is stupid. Meanwhile, t...

Before diving back into their analysis of the third season of X-Men: The Animated Series, Maddy and Ryan take a moment to discuss Stan Lee's legacy in the wake of his death. Maddy also finally got a copy of the oral history of X-Men: The Animated Series, so she shares some brief tidbits about the show's beginnings. Going along with the positive theme, "Savage Land, Strange Heart Part 2" happens to...

At long last, Ryan and Maddy have returned to pick up where we left off with X-Men: The Animated Series. It's... back to the Savage Land? We thought we were done with this, but apparently not. Mr. Sinister isn't even here, and instead, Sauron is. There's plenty of good stuff that makes up for that, like the fact that Rogue and Storm get to be gayer for each other than ever before, and Wolverine an...

The Phoenix Saga had been going so well, but X-Men: The Animated Series was long overdue for a dud episode. Maddy and Ryan watched "Child of Light," and it was a bad trip. The X-Men, the Starjammers, and Lilandra had to find a way to kill time until the Phoenix regenerated and was able to defeat D'Ken, because heck if they could manage to do it themselves. Meanwhile, we're still wondering how the...

X-Men: The Animated Series' ongoing adaptation on The Phoenix Saga is still good, but Part 4 started to get a bit confusing with the introduction of 600 more characters, most notably the Han Solo-alike Corsair. Ryan and Maddy make more Star Wars comparisons in both the episode recap and the politics section. We also go off on a tangent about whether Corsair and Cyclops' familial bond is a bit cree...

Which came first: Princess Lilandra Neramani or Princess Leia Organa? These two space ladies have a lot in common, and they also got created around the exact same time. Ryan and Maddy learned a lot about '70s sci-fi history after watching this episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, which introduces tons of other new elements, including: - Banshee's super-powered scream (and also the great new ship...

If you think Maddy and Ryan have been harsh on Professor X in the past, just wait 'til you hear this breakdown of "Phoenix Saga, Part 2: Dark Shroud," the X-Men: The Animated Series episode in which Xavier finally shows his true colors. We're not reading into anything this time! The guy straight up admits that he fantasizes about torturing his loved ones. Xavier may be a piece of shit, but this ep...

Ryan and Maddy watched "Phoenix Saga, Part 1" and recorded this episode in the humid summer heat, as is fitting for a story about Jean Grey flying through a solar flare. We had to get all our thoughts out before we got burned alive, and we did it! Still with plenty of time to compare this adaptation of the Phoenix Saga to its original 1970s comic book version, as well as take a detour into reminis...

"Out of the Past, Part 2" isn't nearly as hilarious as "Part 1." It's downright spooky, actually, thanks to some impressive animation and sound design choices on the part of the X-Men: The Animated Series season three creative team. Except, uh... Maddy and Ryan also thought the writing was a bit boring. We wanted Lady Deathstrike to give us more silly monologues about her feelings! At least we sti...

Maddy and Ryan strap in for the third season premiere of X-Men: The Animated Series, featuring... an unfair portrayal of Lady Deathstryke and tons of flashbacks to Wolverine's Weapon X trauma? Wait a second, this is X2 deja vu! "Out of the Past, Part 1" also has Jubilee and Gambit in tow to help Wolverine when he's in a jam, but not before listening to him deliver some monologues alone in the dark...

Maddy and Ryan revisit X2, the live-action sequel to X-Men, and once again they've brought back podcaster and movie critic Mary Ellen (of Let's Watch 2 Movies fame) to provide her unbiased thoughts. Ryan admits he saw this movie eight times in cinemas, and Maddy recounts all of the spoofs that she and Ryan made of this movie's scenes as teenagers. Meanwhile, Mary Ellen has some important questions...

Ryan and Maddy reach the end of season two of X-Men: The Animated Series, and as usual, the show brings its two-part finale to a delightful conclusion. We're back to discussing our problematic fave Mr. Sinister and queer-coded villains, for the billionth time, but we spend most of the episode giggling about the over-the-top sex dungeon that the X-Men have ended up in. The Nasty Boys make their fin...

Just like Professor X reuniting with the X-Men, Maddy and Ryan have reunited for yet another episode of X-Men: The Animated Series. We're almost as excited to talk to one another as Jean Grey is excited to talk to Xavier, although the two of us aren't also wearing handcuffs placed on us by Mister Sinister. Or maybe we are, figuratively? He has certainly stolen our hearts and minds in this week's e...

Maddy and Ryan return to recapping X-Men: The Animated Series, and the latest episode introduces them to Mojo, who they like even though the show doesn't want them to. He may be an evil alien overlord who eats producers for lunch, but he's funny, okay? Anyway, this episode is a fun one-off that gives X-Men: TAS the opportunity to get into meta commentary about 90s TV trends, violence in cartoons,...

Maddy and Ryan look back on a bunch of commercials from the '90s featuring X-Men action figures and games that we wish we'd had... and also, some toys that we actually DID have. These commercials are hilarious. Not always intentionally so. Strap in as we take '90s-era marketing firms to task for not letting Storm and Rogue do enough! Also, predictably, this episode features tons of Maddy and Ryan...

Ryan and Maddy recorded this episode late at night, and unfortunately for them, X-Men: The Animated Series doled out a serious political episode with a grim Friends of Humanity subplot. Your two favorite insomniacs do their best to analyze the show's deep dive into Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast, and his turbulent emotions with regard to a new but all-too-fleeting romance. This episode is a metaphor for...

At last, Ryan and Maddy got to watch an episode they actually enjoyed again. This time, it's a bit unexpected, given how much they mocked this episode during their jaded teenage years. As adults, Ryan and Maddy liked seeing Rogue's poignant backstory as well as the show's depiction of the inner-workings of her mind. This is also finally an episode where Jean Grey gets to use her powers... which se...

Remember the episode "Time Fugitives Part 1"? Ryan and Maddy sure do. We just watched it... twice. "Time Fugitives Part 2" is technically a new episode, but in name only. This week's episode of X-Men: The Animated Series is a real slog, but we watched it so that you don't have to. And, really, you do NOT have to watch it. Allow us to recap the ongoing adventures of Cable and the Cube, featuring Ca...

Maddy and Ryan continue their journey through the second season of X-Men: The Animated Series, and they've reached another terrifying and prescient episode about the Friends of Humanity, Marvel Comics' anti-mutant terrorist group. "Time Fugitives, Part 1" weaves a confusing web of time travel shenanigans with our favorite time jockeys, Bishop and Cable, but it also manages to stuff in a metaphor f...

THE TITHE! This episode isn't called "The Tithe." But it should be. Ryan and Maddy watched "X-Ternally Yours," an X-Men: The Animated Series episode that tells us Gambit's backstory, but it doesn't make any sense. It's hilarious, though, and who doesn't enjoy hearing voice actors with their best (worst) approximation of Cajun accents telling you about the tithe? You'll never find out what the tith...

This week's episode of X-Men: The Animated Series is all about Wolverine, so we can't help but like it, even though it's not THAT good. But Ryan did own a copy of it on VHS as a young boy, so that's important to note. (Maddy didn't, which is very sad.) Anyway, this episode is called "Repo Man," and it's all about Logan's exes trying to repossess him. In other words, it's about Alpha Flight, which...

This week, Maddy and Ryan wish they had paid more attention in history class, because they're pretty sure that X-Men: The Animated Series' take on the dissolution of the Soviet Union didn't involve a tentacled super-mutant laying waste to Eastern Europe. That's what happens in "Red Dawn," but don't worry--the X-Men are on the scene, ready to intervene in an international incident! Meanwhile, Jubil...

Sometimes, X-Men: The Animated Series is packed with prescient political allegories. And sometimes... it's not. The third episode of the show's second season isn't political and it's not even accurate to the comic books. In spite of that, we enjoyed the heck out of it. This week, Maddy and Ryan cover Storm's manufactured backstory in X-Men: TAS, as well as her canonical backstory from the comic bo...

Welcome to the Mr. Sinister Show! Mwahahhaa!! Maddy and Ryan have a villain-packed episode for you this week. The second episode of season 2 of X-Men: The Animated Series is all about our favorite campy villain and his henchman, who call themselves The Nasty Boys. This episode has some serious moments, but it's mostly goofy and delightful — and the queer subtext is barely subtext at this point. It...

Maddy and Ryan return to X-Men: The Animated Series for the premiere of the second season, a strong episode that walks the line between serious political commentary and goofy fun times. Guess what? Morph's back, and he's ready to play all sorts of mind games on the X-Men. Meanwhile, the Friends Of Humanity are also playing mind games on the X-Men, except that's way less fun to watch. X-MEN SPOTLIG...