The Mutant Ages

Content warning for a lot of discussion of homophobic bullying that Maddy and Ryan experienced as teenagers, because this week's episode of X-Men Evolution took us on a trip back to our saddest memories. That said, "Mainstream" is another incredible episode about what it's like for mutants to re-integrate into society again now that everybody knows who they are. Luckily there's a fun side-plot wit...

This week, Maddy and Ryan sympathize with Juggernaut, who just wants to be left alone. The cops won't let him live, and they won't let the rest of the newly discovered mutants on X-Men Evolution live, either. Bayville has become a police state, with heavily armed soldiers patrolling the streets, and Congress is debating whether mutants should be allowed to exist. Storm and Beast stand up for their...

X-Men Evolution starts off its third season with a bang. The X-Men confront Mystique about where she's hiding Xavier, but within seconds, a bunch of cops and soldiers show up to kill everyone. For the rest of the episode, all of our heroes are on the run from the law. News broadcasts describe the climate of fear and paranoia that has gripped the nation in the wake of all mutants being outed. There...

Maddy and Ryan open up the mailbag to answer listeners' questions about who's the scariest X-Men villain, who they'd recruit to be their own personal Four Horsemen, and how each of their respective career paths and personal passions led them to where they are today. Next week's episode: "Day of Recovery," X-Men Evolution Visit our STORE: teespring.com/stores/the-mutant-ages E-mail us your feedback...

If only X-Men: First Class were a story about Magneto's origin. Or maybe just a catalogue of Magneto's romance with Charles Xavier. That's almost what it is, but then there's a whole bunch of other plotlines and themes in here, and they sure don't fit together. Come along with Maddy, Ryan, and Todd on their quest to figure out where Moira bought those garters, what the hell Emma Frost was doing in...

X-Men Evolution brings its second season to a devastating conclusion in "Day of Reckoning Part 2," in which Scott discovers Mystique's master plan, but far too late to do anything about it. Meanwhile, Magneto's master plan is the real concern, since it involves unmasking mutantkind in front of all humanity, and also unmasking Trask and his Sentinels. Shit gets incredibly real in this episode. Next...

Maddy and Ryan kick off the first half of X-Men Evolution's season two finale, an incredible double-header that lets Mystique show off the complexity of her long-term plan. "Day of Reckoning, Part 1" starts off with Logan cruising for Sabretooth in the sewers and getting kidnapped by Bolivar Trask, who makes his first appearance on this show and already has Sentinels waiting in the wings to murder...

Welcome to the show, Wanda Maximoff. We are so excited to see you. Maddy and Ryan recorded a super-long episode to analyze "The HeX Factor," an incredible introduction to X-Men Evolution's take on Wanda as a character. She's a 2000s era goth teen on a revenge quest against Magneto, and she's not a fan of Xavier either. Mystique shows up to help her out, as well as arrange an introduction between W...

Through a total coincidence, the episode of X-Men Evolution we're reviewing this week is all about stolen super soldier serum, supremacists, and Captain America. We just finished watching The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (check out our Patreon for a bonus ep about it), so we're really feeling the deja vu. The X-Men Evolution take on the story, titled "Operation Rebirth," includes all the same pol...

This one's for the ladies ... and anyone else who needs a lesson in early 2000s-era feminism. "Walk on the Wild Side" is a famous episode of X-Men Evolution because it's all about the X-gals teaming up and fighting crime together, no boys allowed. Its portrayal of feminism is pretty basic, tracking with the time period in which it came out. What's really important here is how gay this episode is....

In this episode of X-Men Evolution, Beast takes the X-kids on a field trip to the California Redwoods, and Maddy and Ryan wish they could go along too. This episode looks a lot like Disney's Tarzan (1999), so get ready for a lot of singing and an unexpected amount of clapping. We also talk about environmentalism, the beauty of the natural world, and Beast learning to love his natural queer self. T...

It's time to open up the mailbag! On this week's listener feedback episode, Ryan and Maddy answer questions about our least favorite X-Men comic book runs, whether mutants are a decent metaphor for disability, which five mutant powers we'd pick for ourselves, and so much more. Then, in the latest installment of The Mutant Ages: The Comic Book, Cloaky makes his big debut. In this episode, we also r...

At Bayville High School, the Sadie Hawkins dance is coming up, and all of a sudden, Scott Summers is in high demand with the ladies. "Shadow Dance" is all about teen drama and romance, especially when it comes to Kurt, who is still in the mutant closet but wants to get a lot closer to a cute girl in his math class named Amanda. This episode is cute as heck. X-Men Spotlight: Amanda Sefton Next week...

If you're afraid of clowns, don't watch the X-Men Evolution episode "Mindbender" (but feel free to enjoy our recap). The show introduces the hypnotic villain Mesmero, who uses his powers to take over Jean's mind and get her to steal a bunch of jewelry for him. Soon, he also takes over the minds of several other X-Men and takes them on epic heists to steal more stuff. Unfortunately, Mesmero does al...

Maddy, Ryan, and Todd do a spoiler-laden rundown of the first season of Wandavision. Was Wanda the hero, or just the protagonist? Which comic book stories inspired the various threads of Wandavision? Which television show or MCU film will snag that copy of the Darkhold next? Why couldn't media critics just be normal about this show? And is "Agatha All Along" going to be stuck in our heads forever?...

Uh... Merry Christmas? It's March, but X-Men Evolution's holiday special episode is next on the list, so here we are reviewing "On Angel's Wings." Queer metaphors abound in this melancholy story about Warren Worthington's self-hatred. Xavier and Magneto fight over who gets to welcome Warren to the mutant lifestyle. Also, Nightcrawler and Iceman kiss under the mistletoe. For real! X-Men Spotlight:...

In "Joyride," Lance joins up with the X-Men because he has a crush on Kitty, but he gets a lot more than he bargained for. Scott takes on the Xavier role in this episode by being a total hard-ass, and meanwhile, the New Mutants prove themselves to be total troublemakers who frame Lance for their shenanigans. Also, Maddy and Ryan share a lot of stories about times when they got in trouble as teenag...

This episode of X-Men Evolution is called "African Storm," which means we didn't have high expectations for it, and that was the right call. Finally we get a Storm spotlight episode, but it's about a mysterious African tribe trying to kidnap her, brainwash her, and use her powers. Somehow, Xavier manages to co-opt the situation to convince Ororo that they should kick Evan out of the X-Mansion. Is...

Cyclops and Havok get stuck in the opening sequence from Kingdom Hearts, and they need Storm to help them escape, but unfortunately, she has no actual powers on X-Men Evolution. Meanwhile, Beast and Kurt have side-plots about getting more comfortable with their bodies. If only Beast and Kurt's side-stories were more central to the episode and better written. Anyway, watch out for those waves, dude...

At long last, Ryan and Maddy discuss the fact that they pronounce "Xavier" differently, thanks to a listener email. Somehow, we never noticed this before. Thanks to some other great messages from our audience, we also discuss Nightcrawler's story as a trans allegory, whether New Mutants is better than Dark Phoenix, and so much more. This week also features the next episode of the Mutant Ages comic...

In X-Men Evolution, Hank McCoy is still the guy we know and love: he quotes poetry to illustrate his state of mind, and he struggles with being a mutant and learning to love himself. Professor Xavier doesn't help at all, so instead it's up to a bunch of teenagers to help Hank, which is good because they're all more comfortable with themselves than Xavier or Hank ever will be. This is a very sad an...

Ryan and Maddy resist the urge to talk about Wandavision and stay on track this episode, covering the next episode in the X-Men Evolution queue: "Fun and Games." This one is all about Arcade manipulating the X-Men in one of his games, except the true manipulator is Mystique, pulling the strings with Arcade as her personal puppet. This episode is not very deep politically and there's not much of a...

X-Men Evolution's take on the Phoenix saga is a much lower-stakes high school story, but it still hits a lot of familiar beats to Jean Grey's portrayal in the comics and various adaptations. Although for whatever reason, this episode is more about Scott and Jean's high school boyfriend Duncan than it is about Jean. Also... Beast is here now??? And he has, like, six jobs. Anyway, this is a good epi...

Boom-Boom's bombing in! Tabitha Smith has finally arrived, which means Ryan gets to update his list of favorite X-Men. The X-Men Evolution version of Tabitha's backstory is not as dark as the comic book version but still features her escaping an abusive family, and deciding she doesn't like Xavier much, either. Who could blame her? X-Men Spotlight: Boom-Boom, obviously! Next week's episode: "Power...

Ryan and Maddy start up the second season of X-Men Evolution, in which Professor Xavier is a pompous know-it-all, but in a whole new and different type of way. "Growing Pains" gives our heroes some complex moral quandaries, and they don't have easy answers. Maddy and Ryan debate the ethics of Avalanche and Professor X in this episode, each drawing different conclusions about their motivations. One...