The Mutant Ages

The Mutant Ages delve into a live-action adaptation for the first time, and they also have their very first guest: Mary Ellen from Let's Watch 2 Movies, the other podcast that Maddy co-hosts at Atomic Blue Productions! Welcome, LW2M fans, to a show that discusses queer subtext in the X-Men and also tries to turn that subtext into text at every turn. We hope you all enjoy this visitation of Maddy a...

Maddy and Ryan have just wrapped up watching the first season of X-Men: The Animated Series, and they'd like to remind you that Magneto was right... among other things. Magneto has captured Senator Kelly and the X-Men try to intervene, but before they can do that, the Sentinels rush in to capture Senator Kelly themselves. Now that humans and mutants have a common enemy in these big plastic robots,...

Ryan and Maddy check out the second half of X-Men: The Animated Series' adaptation of Days of Future Past, and it's a lot stronger than Part 1. This episode smooths over the rough edges of Bishop and Wolverine's future together, plus it solidifies the threesome between Bishop, Wolverine and Gambit. And by "solidifies," we mean, "it's not canon, but come on. Just watch that poker scene!" Anyway, th...

This week, Maddy and Ryan watch Part 1 of X-Men: The Animated Series' adaptation of Days of Future Past, and we get amped up about Wolverine's butt. Even more than usual. You know who else is amped about Wolverine's butt? Bishop! According to us. The X-Men: TAS adaptation of Days of Future Past moves fast and takes some shortcuts through comic book canon. In this episode, Bishop acts like a total...

The "Come the Apocalypse" episode of X-Men: The Animated Series can't possibly be canon. For starters, none of the X-Men remember Archangel, which contradicts future episodes. Meanwhile, Rogue and Mystique don't recognize one another, either. In spite of this episode's plot holes and multiple confusing fight scenes, Ryan and Maddy enjoyed it a lot... because they were laughing at it, not with it....

Maddy and Ryan delve into "The Cure," a metaphor-heavy episode of X-Men: The Animated Series that makes it crystal clear how mutant powers serve as a metaphor for being gay. In this episode, we meet Warren Worthington III, a closeted mutant who's super-rich and funding a "cure" for his mutation. The inventors of the alleged "cure" are Mystique and Apocalypse, though, and you just can't trust those...

This week on Maddy and Ryan's X-Men: The Animated Series rewatch, we meet Colossus, from Russia! You know he's from Russia because he just can't stop telling us that. We also meet the Juggernaut, who is the actual focus of this episode, not that we want him to be. Wolverine and Jubilee become besties with a killer sense of teamwork, but aside from that, this episode is a real snooze. Let us recap...

Maddy and Ryan discuss "Slave Island," in which our X-Men: The Animated Series heroine Jubilee puts up with the worst vacation ever, thanks to Gambit. Storm also gets plenty of moments to shine in this episode, and she even gets a cute scene with her girlfriend Rogue. (According to the writers of the show, they're not canonically dating, but they're TOTALLY dating.) This episode also introduces us...

They can't all be winners. "Cold Vengeance" is the first X-Men: The Animated Series episode that Ryan and Maddy would recommend you skip watching. Unless you're hankering to see Wolverine play the white savior role while Sabretooth monologues at a glacier. But, hey, why not save yourself the trouble and let us recap the episode for you instead? Spotlight X-Men: Wolverine E-mail us your feedback at...

Finally, Storm gets to be in charge of the X-Men's new mission in "Captive Hearts." But first, she'll have to endure Professor X being a huge jerk to her about her PTSD, to Maddy and Ryan's chagrin. Is Professor X ever going to stop treating the X-Men like crap? Seriously, it's like he can't even hear us shouting at him through the screen! Anyway, this episode is all about the Morlocks, an "unsigh...

Professor X is a jerk. Ryan and Maddy keep telling you that, but in this episode, it's really astounding how much of a jerk he is! We've reached X-Men: The Animated Series' fourth episode, "Deadly Reunions," in which two pairs of boyfriends get reunited: Xavier and Magneto, plus Wolverine and Sabretooth. Except there's one little problem with shipping Sabretooth and Wolverine: it might be incest,...

At last, Magneto has arrived to introduce some moral complexity to the world of X-Men: The Animated Series! Maddy liked this episode, but Ryan thought it needed another draft. The show writers went wild with the literary references this time, so get ready for some Shakespeare quotes. This week's spotlight is on Magneto, who has a confusing and contradictory comic book history and is nonetheless on...

X-Men: The Animated Series gets real heavy in the second episode, because our heroes lose one of their own. Ahh, Morph, we hardly knew you! Ryan and Maddy do a spotlight on Morph's comic book history, and then, analyze whether or not Wolverine and Morph were dating. Because we ask the important questions on The Mutant Ages. Spotlight X-Men: Morph E-mail us your feedback at themutantages@gmail.com...

Ryan and Maddy's second episode of The Mutant Ages features their first foray into X-Men: The Animated Series, with a big spotlight on Jubilee. Did you know that Jubilee is one of Ryan's favorite X-Men? Anyway, this episode is already way longer than we planned for it to be, so bear with us. We had to analyze the opening credits of the show, okay? Enjoy! Spotlight X-Men: Jubilee E-mail us your fee...

Welcome to the pilot episode of The Mutant Ages! Maddy and Ryan's first step on their journey of watching every animated X-men TV show episode, ever, is Pryde of the X-Men. This TV pilot made in 1989 never ended up getting picked up for a full series. Why not? Let us explain why. Oh, and don't forget: Spider-Man wants you to register to vote! Spotlight X-Men: Shadowcat E-mail us your feedback at t...