X-Men: Evolution

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Template:Infobox television X-Men: Evolution is an American animated television series about the Marvel Comics superhero team X-Men as teenagers and young adults. The series ran for a total of four seasons (52 episodes) on Kids WB despite the fact that Warner Bros. was the owner of DC Comics, the major rival of the Marvel Comics. The story is set in an alternate Marvel Universe.The show was mostly ranked #2 show on Kids WB!

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Awards and Nominations

X-Men: Evolution won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Live Action and Animation at the 30th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards, on May 16 2003 <ref>Internet Movie Database's list of Awards for X-Men: Evolution</ref>. It also won the Cover of the Year Award in 2004 for best animated figure (Beast). It was nominated for several Golden Reel awards as well as other Emmys. Steven E. Gordon, the director of this show, was nominated for the best individual achievement for X-Men: Evolution.

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Comparison with canon X-Men history

The X-Men: Evolution series was targeted to a younger audience, and portrays Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Shadowcat from the original comic book, as well as Spyke, a new character created for the series. These characters are shown as teenagers attending regular high school in addition to the Xavier Institute. At the latter, Professor X, Storm, Wolverine and, later, Beast were their teachers. The first season mainly concerned the characters conflict with Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. Later seasons predominantly featured Apocalypse as an adversary and introduced versions of The New Mutants and Magneto's Acolytes. The series ended in 2003 after its fourth season.

X-Men: Evolution is set in the generic city of Bayville, rather than Salem Center (though both exist in New York State). Furthermore, in the early part of the series (until the end of season 2) most people are unaware of the existence of mutants. It is also important to note that "The Brotherhood" team is not known as "The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" within the context of this series. They are not a team of terrorists or mutant supremacists, instead, The Brotherhood is made up of misfit mutants who often oppose the X-Men.

Because of its independent story line, there were complaints about the show not being faithful to the comics (for example, the re-imagining of Rogue as a bitter young Goth without the added powers of Ms. Marvel was initially unpopular), although there was general acceptance of the series and its new story lines within online fan-based communities. The show consistently held high ratings for its intended audience at Kids WB, with the initial episode receiving the highest ratings the network had seen in a whole season.

The series did reveal a detailed knowledge of the original storyline in several small ways, however, so it might be better to call it a reinterpretation. Illustrative of this is the evolution of Cerebro from a console device, Shadowcat's initial uneasiness around Nightcrawler, and Forge's scientific arrogance along with his devices causing unintended consequences. In Day of Recovery Toad is seen to be quite comfortable with technology, and in Operation Rebirth, the "POW camp" Magneto is held in as a child is visually similar (in the opening shot) to Auschwitz, but the narration shies away from identifying it as such.

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Plot outline

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Most of the first season is spent introducing the characters. During this time the X-Men recruit Rogue, who at first is frightened and then angry at the X-Men, slowly learning to trust the others over the course of several episodes. Although it is immediately clear to most fans of X-Men that the mysterious leader of Mystique's team is Magneto, this information is not explicitly revealed until the end of the season, in a two-part episode called "The Cauldron."

In the second season, the Xavier Institute took on a number of additional students, sometimes known as "The New Mutants." For the most part, they are fairly minor characters in the series. Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, eventually becomes a full member of the X-Men.

Most of the episodes focus on characters developing relationships, loyalty and the importance of team-work. The season concludes with the two-part episode "The Day of Reckoning" in which the X-Men and the Brotherhood join up to fight Magneto's new team, and end up revealing the existence of mutants to the world.

The third season moves the story closer to traditional X-Men continuity, in that many of the stories are about overcoming hatred, intolerance and racism. There is a strong streak of revenge related plot lines in this season as well. The season concludes with the two-part episode "Dark Horizon" in which the powerful mutant Apocalypse is finally freed from captivity.

Season four, for the most part, is rather chaotic. Many fans believe that this is because the creators of the series knew they were likely to be canceled at the end of the season. Several interesting plot lines are created, but never given the chance to advance. The only real focus to the season is the slow build of power that Apocalypse is working toward. The final episodes in the season (and the series) are called "Ascension" in which Apocalypse kidnaps Professor Xavier, Magneto, Storm and Mystique to serve as his agents in the destruction of humanity.

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Series Finale

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Image:XMEFullRoster.jpg The series ends with a speech by Charles Xavier, who had caught a glimpse of the future while being mind-controlled by Apocalypse. Boyd Kirkland confirmed on ToonZone.net that the unrealized Season 5 would have expanded on the several of these plot threads, with Dark Phoenix being the season's villain. Following future scenarios are foreseen:

  • Anti-mutant sentiment continues.
  • The Sentinels attack, led by a Super Sentinel which is hinted to be Nimrod, Bastion or Master Mold.
  • A reformed Magneto becomes the teacher of the New Mutants.
  • Jean Grey is transformed into Phoenix.
  • The future X-Men seem to consist of adult versions of Cyclops, X-23, Iceman, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Rogue (able to fly and, curiously, not wearing gloves), plus Storm and Colossus. Wolverine is missing and therefore hinted to have retired or passed away. The uniforms these future X-Men wear look very much like the dark uniforms in the Ultimate X-Men comic. Only X-23 (who had a dark uniform from the start) looks the same.
  • The last scene (see picture to the right) shows the entire cast, thus X-Men and New Mutants, plus the previously unaligned Gambit and Angel. Jubilee and Wolfsbane have also returned.
  • The Brotherhood and Pyro join S.H.I.E.L.D..
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Comic Book Spin-Offs

In January 2002, Marvel Comics began publishing a manga-style comic book series partially based on the show. Written by Devin Grayson, it was abruptly canceled after the ninth issue due to low sales. The comic received mixed reviews from fans due to the fact that Grayson overlooked distinct character quirks (Spyke now called Storm "Aunt Ororo" instead of "Auntie O"), omitted certain supporting characters entirely (Duncan Matthews and Taryn Fujioka were removed in favor of a love triangle between Scott, Jean, and Warren Worthington), and had striking continuity errors (the public knows about the existence of mutants before the series technically begins; in the show proper, mutants are not "outed" until the second season finale, "Day of Reckoning").

The comic introduced the Evolution version of the Morlocks before they appeared on the show, and their appearances and motivations were radically different in both versions. An ongoing plot line would have introduced the Evolution version of Mr. Sinister, but the comic was canceled before it could be resolved. The cover of the unreleased issue 10 does reveal his intended character design, however.

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Evolution Characters in the Comics

X-23, an original character introduced in the later part of the show, made her first official comic book appearance in the miniseries NYX. Her appearance was slightly altered to give her a closer resemblance to Wolverine, and she was featured in her own self-titled comic series in 2005. Much like Harley Quinn of Batman: The Animated Series or Marvel's own Firestar of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, a character created for the cartoons entered comic continuity.

The comic book X-Statix featured an African-American mutant with the same codename and abilities as Spyke; however, this "other" Spike was not related to Storm, had a very different personality (modeled after popular gangsta rappers), and is generally interpreted to be a completely separate character.

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Teams

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The X-Men team

Image:Wolverinevo.PNG Mentors

  • Professor X (Charles Xavier), voiced by David Kaye. Professor Xavier is the team's mentor and financier. He is very similar to his comic book counterpart, only more casual. Like the comic Professor X, he is still somewhat secretive, if only for the protection of his students.
  • Wolverine (Logan), voiced by Scott McNeil. Though similar in most ways to the classic Wolverine, the Evolution version has been seriously toned down, and is designed to be more of a role model for the students. As a side note, he is the only X-Man to change his uniform (see picture): at the beginning, he wears an incarnation of his classic yellow-black uniform with his characteristic bladed mask, but then swaps it for a dark, mask less uniform very similar to the version found in the Ultimate X-Men comic.
  • Storm (Ororo Monroe), voiced by Kirsten Williamson. Storm is known for her calm personality and regal manner, and she was even worshiped as a goddess in Africa due to her amazing weather-controlling abilities. In the comics, Ororo is an only child and an orphan; in Evo, she has a sister named Vy and a nephew, Spyke. In both Evo and the comics, Storm is claustrophobic, though the show does not reveal the origin of her ailment (she was trapped under wreckage following the accident that killed her parents). Storm is one of the X-Men's most popular and recognizable female members, but she is a relatively minor character in X-Men: Evolution; her one spotlight episode, "African Storm," reduced her to a damsel in distress, and she was often phased out of the show for several episodes at a time (taking trips to visit Vy or Africa off-screen). Her diminished role is likely due to Kids' WB's involvement: due to Evo's target demographic, the teenage X-Men were required to have more screen-time than the adult instructors.
  • Beast (Hank McCoy), voiced by Mike Kopsa, (Joined in the second season). Beast is similar to his comic counterpart in most ways, though the Evolution version speaks more casually. He was originally a gym coach and chemistry teacher at Bayville High before his latent transformation into the Beast could no longer be controlled with the medications he had formulated upon first learning of his mutation. This change of fortune forced him to retire and join the X-Men, where he could continue to teach. It was during the initial discovery of his mutation that he became acquainted with Professor Xavier. In the episode "Growing Pains," he demonstrates foreknowledge of Scott's mutation, something that hints there may have been an ongoing relationship with Xavier.
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Students

  • Cyclops (Scott Summers), voiced by Kirby Morrow. Cyclops is toned down from his comic book counterpart; he is less stiff and possesses a greater sense of humor. Contrasting with many other incarnations, Cyclops is not the aloof, doubtful loner, but a handsome and confident leader who exudes natural authority. While the other students tend to look up to him, his competitive nature and closely-held temper will get in the way at times. He is the most officious and rule-abiding of the X-Men and the least likely to fool around. After the third season, Cyclops and Jean Grey began teaching the younger students at the Xavier Institute how to better control and utilize their powers.
  • Jean Grey (no codename), voiced by Venus Terzo. She was (as the fans have dubbed her) the "Miss Popular" of the X-Men: smart, athletic, beautiful, well-liked, and the second-in-command after Cyclops. However, she is more insecure than her comic book counterpart and possesses a jealous streak when it comes to Cyclops. Unlike many mutants who began as social outcasts and come to find their horizons expanded through their association with the Institute, Jean starts out from a high position of status. After the third season, Cyclops and Jean Grey began teaching the younger students at the Xavier Institute how to better control and utilize their powers.
  • Rogue (real name unknown), voiced by Meghan Black. A serious departure from the comic Rogue, the Evolution Rogue is a reclusive, paranoid goth. She has a great deal of angst with respect to her powers, which keep her from ever safely touching anyone. Due to the machinations of Mystique, Rogue initially distrusted the X-Men and joined the Brotherhood of Mutants, but she soon switched loyalties. Rogue was infatuated with Cyclops for most of the show, but later developed a flirtatious relationship with Gambit. In fan-fiction, her name is often given as Marie (which was Rogue's name in the 2000 X-Men movie), but the series itself established no name for Rogue and gave no hints to it. In fact, after her introductory episode (where she is unable to remember her name), it's never brought up again. Rogue is popular among fans who feel that they can relate to her, but there are many within the Evolution fandom who find her to be an overrated, overexposed character.
  • Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner), voiced by Brad Swaile. The humorist of the team, the Evolution Nightcrawler is very similar to his comic version and has a friendly big-brother relationship with Cyclops. During his early days at the institute, he was still feeling very insecure about fitting in and compensated for it with excessive goofiness up through the episode "Middleverse." Due to censorship issues, Nightcrawler's Catholicism was not transferred from the comics. Kurt is the biological son of Mystique, but was raised by kind foster parents in Germany. He speaks with a soft accent.
  • Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde), voiced by Maggie Blue O'Hara. Kitty Pryde is the brainiac of the team. She initially had a thick valley girl accent, but it was reduced and eventually phased out after the first season. Unlike her comic version, she is not the youngest member of the team, but is nevertheless still very naive. Kitty led a very sheltered life before joining the X-Men and was initially afraid of Nightcrawler's "demonic" appearance, but she has since grown into a very open-minded and worldly young woman. She is one of the most optimistic and idealistic of the X-Men. The strongest departure from her character in the comics is that she has an on again/off again romance with Avalanche.
  • Spyke (Evan Daniels), voiced by Neil Denis. An entirely new character, Spyke is Storm's nephew. Spyke would much rather play basketball or skateboard than study; he has problems with authority, making him the "rebel" of the main team. Spyke is one of the show's most unpopular and controversial characters; some see him as prepackaged and shallow, and others have dismissed him as the show's obvious "token black" male character. Spyke and Quicksilver had an ongoing rivalry since childhood that culminated when Pietro framed Evan for robbery; however, their feud was rarely mentioned after their introductory episode and never mentioned at all past the first season. In the third season, Spyke left to join the Morlocks. He made a guest appearance in the fourth season, where he was seen as a protector of oppressed mutants. Many of Spyke's critics liked the change in his character, but he is still viewed as the poster child for the negative aspects of the series. Spyke has been compared to the comic character Marrow (both have similar attitudes, powers, and ties to the Morlocks) but the creators have claimed that they were unaware of Marrow when the show's production began.
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New Mutants

Image:NewMutants.jpg As a whole, the New Mutants didn't have a significant role in the series. They were added in the second season of the show for two reasons: the first was to make the Xavier Institute seem more populated by having several students in the background; and the second was to please vocal fans. During the show's four season run, the New Mutants remained in the background, and only in a few instances did any of them contribute to an episode's plot. Most often, they were relegated to sub-plots or background gags. As a result, few of them are well-developed and fans have generally assumed that the lesser-developed characters share the same personalities and traits as their comic-book counterparts. It should be noted, however, that the younger students are only referred to as the "new recruits" in the actual series; they are commonly called the "New Mutants" by fans because they include several members from the original New Mutants comic book. The New Mutants are listed as they appear in the image at right, from left to right. Note that whilst Boom Boom is listed under 'Neutral Mutants' due to her lack of a direct alleigence to any one party, she did originally attend the Xavier Institute as a 'New Mutant'.

  • Iceman (Bobby Drake), voiced by Andrew Francis. The most outgoing and cocky of the new recruits, he later becomes a standby X-Man to take the place of Spyke.
  • Cannonball (Sam Guthrie), voiced by Bill Switzer. Cannonball is Bobby's more practical-minded friend. He also deserves mention for nearly beating Wolverine in a motorbike race, though his urge to "go Cannonball" ruined his chances. Tall, gawky, and clumsy, he has unintentionally knocked down several walls in the Institute.
  • Jubilee (Jubilation Lee), voiced by Chiara Zanni. Unlike the original show, she has only a very minor role. She retained the playfulness of her comic counterpart, and was often involved with Bobby's antics. She was removed in the third season (after the public revelation of mutants, her parents no longer felt the Institute was a good place for her), but appeared in a cameo during the season finale.
  • Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), voiced by Chantal Strand. She only spoke in one episode and was altogether removed from the cast in the third season (presumably under the same pretenses as Jubilee), but returned in a cameo during the series finale. She is Scottish and can transform into a wolf or werewolf. Her name was mispronounced as "Rohn-ee" in "Retreat," but was correctly pronounced as 'rain' in "Mainstream."
  • Multiple (Jamie Madrox), voiced by David Kaye. The youngest of the bunch and constantly picked on by his older peers. He also seems to have a crush on Shadowcat.
  • Berzerker (Ray Crisp), voiced by Tony Sampson. A big departure from the mainstream continuity, where he is an extremely violent Morlock. Here, he is fairly mellow, though still has a temper. He was initially intended to have an on-going rivalry with Sunspot, but aside from one scene this was phased out of the show. His powers are based on electricity, with lightning crackling from his hands.
  • Magma (Amara Aquila), voiced by Alexandra Carter. The only New Mutant who was the lead character of an episode ("Cruise Control"). She has a haughty, "royal" attitude, and is easily discouraged when she does not live up to her own expectations. Magma has a physiological connection with the earth, and becomes physically ill when she is separated from it for a long period of time (such as when on a boat trip). She also has an unlikely friendship with Tabitha. Magma's appearance has been significantly altered from her comic book incarnation, where she is has blond hair and blue eyes; in Evolution, she is fully Brazilian with brown hair and brown eyes.
  • Sunspot (Roberto Da Costa), voiced by Mike Coleman. He was shown to be a perfectionist and an overachiever.
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The Brotherhood

Image:Image bhood.jpg The Brotherhood had an evolving role throughout the series. While the X-Men represent the ideal of mutant responsibility, the Brotherhood represent the reality, wasting their powers on selfish, small-time interests. They were little more than a plot device during the first season (often an excuse to have the X-Men fight somebody), but from the second season onward, they semi-retired from costumed villainy and were most often seen hanging out in their run-down house, only sometimes committing crimes to pay bills. Despite their on-going contempt for the X-Men, the Brotherhood (particularly Avalanche) was portrayed in a sympathetic light; they were easily manipulated by their elders, such as Magneto, Mystique, and even Principal Kelly, but they were not truly evil. The Brotherhood has been known to team up with their rivals, often voluntarily. It should be noted that when acting as foes for the X-Men, the Brotherhood are depicted as fairly incompetent, but when allied with the X-Men, the Brotherhood appear to be just as good if not better than the X-Men, though this likely has more to do with plot convenience than anything else. The Brotherhood is fully redeemed in "Ascension" when they aid Shadowcat's group of X-Men in defeating Magneto (who is being controlled by Apocalypse) and stand side-by-side with their former rivals at the Xavier Institute.

  • Mystique (Raven Darkholme, leader, when present), voiced by Colleen Wheeler. Mystique is similar to her comic counterpart, with very few differences. In early appearances, she used her real name as the disguised principal of Bayville High, Ms. Darkholme, to spy on the X-Men and keep an eye on the Brotherhood. Despite being their leader, Mystique is not considered part of the core Brotherhood team, mainly because after the first season, she spends most of her time away from the team. She is seen initially in the series to be working for Magneto, forming the Brotherhood team at his behest. This relationship ends, however, after a number of betrayals on Magneto's part. During the second season she launches several covert activities against the X-Men, and when it appears Magneto is moving openly she attempts to take control of Xavier's students, destroying the mansion in the process. When this attempt fails, she disappears for a while, but comes back later in the series as an "ally" of Apocalypse, who, of course, betrays her. As a side note, Mystique is also the only villain to change her uniform: in the beginning, she is wearing a white tunic similar to the incarnations in the mainstream comics and X-Men: The Animated Series, but later changes into a more practical outfit consisting of a tight black top with matching miniskirt and built-in knickers.
  • Avalanche (Lance Alvers), voiced by Christopher Grey. Grungy and rebellious, Lance is the Brotherhood's unofficial field leader and has a rivalry with the straight-laced Cyclops. Avalanche is often irrational and driven by his temper, but as the series progresses, he becomes more mature and pragmatic, taking on a more ambiguous role. He is more reluctant to be a villain, and even lapses into heroic roles almost by accident. Avalanche has a developing romance with Shadowcat, and at one point he even joins the X-Men to be closer to her. Lance is a strong departure from his comic counterpart (originally named Dominic Petros), who never had heroic tendencies or a romance with Shadowcat. Some have noted that Lance Alvers more closely resembles Rictor, another X-Men character with similar powers.
  • Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff), voiced by Richard Ian Cox. Unlike Avalanche, Quicksilver retains most of his original counterpart's personality traits, including his impatience and arrogance. The similarities end there- this Quicksilver is a self-serving villain who will betray his friends and even family to save himself. He is loyal to his father, Magneto, only out of convenience. Though he has a hand in betraying his sister Wanda, he grows to care for his sister as the series progresses. In season 3, Quicksilver becomes the official team leader due to Magneto's influence, and even after Magneto's demise, continues to assume leadership, giving the team some much-needed ambition. Due to his somewhat effeminate and flamboyant mannerisms, many fans have postulated that Pietro is homosexual.
  • Toad (Todd Tolensky), voiced by Noel Fisher. Less sycophantic than the original Toad and possibly the youngest of the Brotherhood team, this one is a weaselly punk kid with a very bad smell and wise guy attitude. On the show he is often used for comic effect. He seems to revel in his own weirdness with a self-deprecating humor and feigned over-confidence. While Toad is ultimately a bit of a coward who strongly depends on others for protection, this has not prevented him from participating in fights with the X-Men so long as the rest of the Brotherhood team is involved. He gets to play a heroic role in episode 37, "The Toad, the Witch, and the Wardrobe". This version of Toad has gathered a large fan following due to his enthusiastic nature and sense of humor. Like Avalanche, Toad is given another name in this version (the original being Mortimer Toynbee). He often tries to flirt with the Scarlet Witch, though she is usually repulsed by him. His strongest friend in the Brotherhood is Blob, a fellow "freak amongst freaks", and he and Nightcrawler are often depicted as rivals.
  • Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff), voiced by Kelly Sheridan. In direct contrast to the original Wanda Maximoff, this Scarlet Witch is near-homicidal. She was locked in an asylum by Magneto because he could no longer control her vast, reality-altering powers, and she grew up bitter and vengeful. She is released by Mystique to help her in her own revenge against Magneto. She is trained by Agatha Harkness and gains mastery over her hex powers, but her control slips whenever she's especially angry or under emotional duress. Eventually, Wanda's memories were altered by Mastermind and she believed her father to be kind and caring, resulting in a calmer, more well-adjusted Wanda who is fiercely devoted to Magneto.
  • Blob (Fred Dukes), voiced by Michael Dobson. Like the comic version, this Blob is a bully with a big mouth and a small brain. Unlike the comic version, this Blob seems to hide a sensitive side (as seen by the rather obsessive way he treated Jean in the first episode he appeared, and his later closeness to the rest of the Brotherhood). He is also one of the few characters to change aspects of his physical appearance throughout the series (most notably his haircut).
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Magneto's Acolytes

Image:Evo accolytes.jpgImage:Magneto.jpg When the original Brotherhood fell out of Magneto's favor (due to both incompetence and uncertain loyalty), he created a new team. Though never named on-screen, they are referred to as The Acolytes, named after Magneto's second-most famous team from the comics (the first, of course, being the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants). Sabretooth and Quicksilver were retained, but the rest of the team was brand new and first revealed during the second season finale, "Day of Reckoning," where despite being quite smaller in number than the combined forces of the X-Men and the Brotherhood, held their own against both. They were the primary threat against the X-Men in season three, until the threat of Apocalypse sidetracks Magneto.

  • Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr), voiced by Christopher Judge. A powerful, charismatic mutant supremacist, essentially unchanged from his comic book version, but toned down a bit so that he appears more a manipulator than a terrorist. In addition, the ambiguous nature of Magneto's personality has been changed to make him a more effective villain.
  • Gambit (Remy LeBeau), voiced by Alessandro Juliani. Cast as a Long John Silver-type villain, this Gambit is outwardly similar to the original Gambit, but is different in that he is a willing accomplice to Magneto. The Evolution version of Gambit has also shown signs of antisocial personality disorder, and though from time to time he will do something that can be considered good, he has shown that he is not above outright manipulation of innocents to achieve his goal. He appears to have a soft spot for Rogue (originally meant only as a nod to their relationship in the comics), but whether or not he has sincere affection for her is unclear, though it is unlikely as Gambit is a sociopath. In fan fiction, Gambit's personality is often overwritten so that he can more closely resemble his heroic incarnations in the comics and X-Men: The Animated Series; this is usually done to make a romance with Rogue more plausible, though he is still technically "out of character". Though shown with the extended X-Men team at the end of the series, it is unlikely that Gambit ever officially joined the team, though it's possible he may be an occasional ally, like Angel or Boom Boom.
  • Colossus (Piotr Rasputin), voiced by Michael Adamthwaite. Very similar to his comic counterpart. In this version, he is pressured into serving Magneto, who has abducted his family. The whereabouts of his family remain unknown at the end of the series and would probably have been touched on in future seasons.
  • Pyro (St. John Allerdyce), voiced by Michael Dobson. A mad pyromaniac with a cackling laugh and a thick Austrialian accent. The original Pyro was more controlled, whereas this version's affinity for destruction and complete ignorance of consequence border on outright insanity. He became infamous among the fandom for a scene in the fourth season where he is seen watching footage of Magneto's supposed demise at the hands of Apocalypse, rewinding, playing back, and laughing several times.
  • Sabretooth (Victor Creed), voiced by Michael Donovan. A violent brawler who has a deep enmity against Wolverine, but not the psychotic killer of the comics. Little is revealed about Sabretooth except that he had some involvement with Wolverine and Weapon X, and that he is one of Magneto's most loyal followers. Oddly, he was depicted as a loner in the first season, but from the first season's finale (The Cauldron) onward was almost never seen without Magneto. His reasons for joining Magneto have never been given, but it's likely he's well-paid.
  • Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) is a member of both the Acolytes and the Brotherhood. After his betrayal of the Brotherhood in "Day of Reckoning," he appeared with the Acolytes, but was sent back to the Brotherhood in "Stuff of Villains" to train them for future service to Magneto. Just why Magneto wanted the team back, considering he had discarded them for incompetence, is never made clear. It can speculated that perhaps Magneto found his son bothersome and wanted him out of the way.
  • Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), voiced by Campbell Lane, is the group's telepath, though his membership on the team appears to be unofficial, as he seldom appears. While his comic book counterpart could only cast illusions, this version of Mastermind is also capable of telepathy, as well as reading and even re-writing memories, as he did to the Scarlet Witch. Strangely, despite looking like a common criminal, Mastermind sounds educated.
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HYDRA

  • Viper, also known as Madame Hydra. She is the green-haired leader of HYDRA.
  • Omega Red (Arkady Rossovich), voiced by Richard Newman. One of Viper's underlings, Omega Red has a previous history with Wolverine that is hinted at but never fully explained.
  • Gauntlet, voiced by Mark Gibbons. Another member of HYDRA who tries to get back their creation, X-23.
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Neutral Mutants

  • Boom-Boom (Tabitha Smith), voiced by Megan Leitch. Tabitha has a troubled past and a criminal father. Originally one of the New Mutants, she felt that she didn't fit in and moved in with the Brotherhood, who were more her style. She often played practical jokes on the boys (such as shaving off Blob's Mohawk while he slept) and abused their hospitality, though they did little to stop her. She left following Mystique's return. Her role in the series was significantly diminished afterward; she lived on her own and appeared mostly in the company of her friend Amara. Her powers are making time bombs that can explode at will. Tabitha was originally unpopular with fans, mostly due to her abrasive personality and the fact that she was briefly Kurt Wagner's crush (at the time, many fans were speculating that Kurt would be paired with Kitty, and thus did not like this unexpected turn of events) though anti-Tabitha sentiments mellowed with time.
  • The Morlocks. The Morlocks made several appearances on the show. The characters included Callisto, the leader of the group, who has enhanced senses; Caliban, a chalk-white character able to detect the presence of other mutants; Cybelle, a Black American female with an acid touch; Torpid, the mute little girl with the huge hands, who possesses a paralyzing touch; Facade, who can blend into his surroundings and Lucid, a frog like mutant who can see through solid objects. One other Morlock, Scaleface (who can shapeshift into a fire-breathing reptillian creature) appeared in one episode.
  • X-23, voiced by Brittney Irvin, noteworthy in that she was created for and made her debut on X-Men: Evolution. She is a female clone of Wolverine that was raised since "birth" to be a killer for HYDRA. She at first blames Wolverine for her wretched existence and tries to kill him, but relents when she realizes that he had nothing to due with her creation or abuse. She has two claws in each hand instead of three, and a single claw in each foot. X-23 was heavily criticized when she first appeared; she was accused of being a Mary Sue since she was (at that time) a character not from the comics who was not only closely tied to the extremely popular character Wolverine (many fan fiction plots have featured a "Wolverine's Daughter" Mary Sue), but was powerful enough to disable the entire X-Men team, including Professor X and Jean Grey. Many fans have also observed that her character design closely resembles Magma's, making the two nearly identical.
  • Angel (Warren Worthington) worked with the X-Men on occasional missions. He donned a costume and a mask to perform heroic deeds in New York City, but stopped after his actions garnered negative attention from Magneto. Like his comic counterpart, he is a multi-millionaire.
  • Forge, voiced by Samuel Vincent, in great contrast to his comic counterpart, is a Bayville High student and mutant inventor from the late 1970's who was trapped in a pocket dimension he called "middleverse" for several years. Only when Nightcrawler found his way there and the X-Men found a way to free him did Forge return, though he was twenty years late for his curfew. While he is an ally of the X-Men, he only appeared once more to test equipment that would enhance Nightcrawler's teleportation range, at the cost of releasing extra-dimensional monsters into the world.
  • Havok (Alex Masters/Summers, Cyclop's brother), voiced by Matt Hill. Long believed to be dead, Alex (who was adopted by the Masters family) is reunited with his brother Scott, though Alex has come under the influence of Magneto, leading Scott away from the X-Men. Eventually, Alex and Scott realize that Magneto has tricked them and help put an end to his plans. Alex turns down an offer to join the X-Men, preferring to stay in Hawaii and become a professional surfer.
  • Danielle Moonstar is a Native-American mutant who befriends Kitty. Her powers of psychic projection exposed the worst fears of her neighbors, which resulted in the entire population of her small town moving away and leaving her and her grandfather the only residents of a ghost town.
  • Destiny is Irene Adler, a blind mutant who has visions of future possibilities and events. In "Rogue Recruit" it is implied that Destiny is employed by Magneto, but her true loyalties lie with her longtime friend Mystique (in the comics, the two were lesbian lovers; this was glossed over in Evo for obvious reasons). She raised Rogue in Caldecott, Mississippi, waiting for the day in which her potentially unlimited power would manifest. Though Irene lies to Rogue on several occasions (such as telling her that she must always cover her skin due to a phony illness, and convincing her that the X-Men are dangerous mutant hunters), she clearly has genuine affection for the girl.
  • Dorian Leach is a young boy whose mutation nullifies the powers of any mutant within range. His green skin marks him as a mutant, and his mother struggles to protect him from anti-mutant bigots. In his final appearance, Rouge absorbs his powers to fight against Apocalypse.
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Other Villains

Image:Apocevo.png

  • Apocalypse, voiced by David Kaye. Hinted at during the second season, Apocalypse became the primary focus of the third and fourth seasons, overshadowing even a fearful Magneto as the primary villain. Though his back story remains largely the same as his comic counterpart, this Apocalypse was sealed away behind three mystic doors in the Himalayas, using Mesmero to help him escape. Once free, Apocalypse quickly proved that even the combined forces of the X-Men and Magneto's Acolytes were no match for him, and set out to use the Eye of Ages to turn all humans into mutants (or as Beast put it, "reshape the world in his image"). This Apocalypse differed greatly from the original version; most notably, his initial appearances showed him as an iridescent god-like being who never spoke. During the series finale, he was altered to more closely resemble his original appearance, becoming a blue cyborg with a penchant for overly histrionic dialog. It is believed this was due to pressure from fans of the original Apocalypse. Incidentally, his plan to create an energy field that changed all humans into mutants is very similar to Magneto's plan in the X-Men movie.
  • Mesmero, voiced by Ron Halder, was little more than a servant of Apocalypse in X-Men: Evolution. While Apocalypse was sealed away in the Himalayas, Mesmero helped track down the items that would help free him. He traveled with a circus (it is implied that he worked there before his time with Apocalypse, as he is found there once Apocalypse discards him) and used his hypnotic powers to recruit the X-Men (and later, Rogue alone) to help free Apocalypse. In contrast to his comic counterpart, this Mesmero looks like a normal human with strange green tattoos, rather than a green skin tone.
  • Juggernaut (Cain Marko), voiced by Paul Dobson. In Juggarnaut's first appearance on the show, it took the combined forces of the X-Men & Brotherhood to stop him from harming Xavier & Mystique. Albeit, in his second appearance, a substantially more experienced X-Men team managed to defeat Juggernaut. The most noteworthy differences between the comic Juggernaut and the Evolution Juggernaut are that he is now Xavier's half-brother rather than his step-brother, and that he is now a mutant, with the Cyttorak gem emitting a special radiation that activates latent mutant powers.
  • Legion (David Haller/Lucas) was altered slightly from the comics. He more closely resembled his father, Professor X, and had inherited his psionic powers, but here, Legion was also able to shape-shift between his various personalities. The dominant personality, Lucas, is a Scottish goth-type who has no basis in the comics. While originally, Legion's personalities developed due to mental disorders, in Evolution, they are manifestations of repressed feelings. Whereas David Haller is disappointed in his father's absence, Lucas demonstrates this disappointment through anger and violence.
  • Bolivar Trask, voiced by John Novak. A former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Trask is a militant follower of the anti-mutant cause, and he secretly developed the Sentinel prototype underneath Bayville.
  • The Sentinel only appeared twice in the series: the first time as a single prototype that was unleashed in New York, and the second time as several units in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first line of defense against Apocalypse.
  • Edward Kelly, voiced by Dale Wilson. In X-Men: Evolution, he was the second principal of Bayville High (the first, Ms. Darkholme aka Mystique, had vanished) and carried suspicions about the mutant teens which became full-blown prejudice when they were publicly revealed. Later, he ran for mayor of Bayville, competing with the falsely heroic Brotherhood for media attention.
  • Duncan Matthews, voiced by Vincent Gale. A stereotypical jock/football player. In his earliest appearances, he was little more than the local high school jerk before becoming a rival to Cyclops for the attention of Jean Grey. By the end of the series, he and his buddies began terrorizing innocent mutants, drawing the wrath of Spyke and the Morlocks.
  • Houngan, a witch doctor from Storm's tribe. He is jealous of Storm because her powers over the weather made her a more venerable idol in their African village; he comes to America to seek revenge and drains Storm's powers. It is unclear if he is a mutant, relies on magic, or a combination of the two.
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Miscellaneous Characters

  • Amanda Sefton is Kurt Wagner's human girlfriend. Sweet but shy, she discovered Kurt's mutation on her own but was not frightened of him. She is one of the few humans at Bayville High who doesn't openly shun mutants. Caucasian in the comics, Amanda's ethnicity was changed to African-American/Eastern European.
  • Margali is Amanda Sefton's mother, who forbids her from seeing Kurt after he and Toad get into a fight that wrecks much of her house. Though she still has her comic counterpart's European heritage, she has no previous connection to Kurt and is not a sorceress.
  • Arcade, aka Webber Torque, a freshman computer whiz. Mystique, posing as a girl called Risty Wilde, gets him to hack into Cerebro (which he thinks is merely a high-tech, interactive video game) so that she can steal data about Scarlet Witch. In the comics, Arcade is an obnoxious, flamboyant paid assassin, but in Evo he is a normal, harmless (though over-enthusiastic) student.
  • Gabrielle Haller is Professor Xavier's ex-wife and the mother of Legion. The two married young, and divorced because Xavier dedicated too much time to his study of mutants. Unbeknown to him, however, Gabrielle was pregnant at the time of their separation and decided to raise their son by herself. In the comics, Gabrielle was, like Magneto, a Holocaust survivor. She and Xavier were lovers and had their son out of wedlock, though this version of Gabrielle also chose to hide David's existence from his father.
  • Paul is a blond schoolmate of Scott Summers and was one of his good acquaintances. He made several appearances in the series, the last a look of utter bewilderment when the X-Men were outed on TV. An early joke among the fandom was that Paul appeared to be everywhere due to his constant background appearances.
  • Taryn Fujioka is a black-haired, attractive girl who houses a crush on Scott. At first, she is Jean's best friend, but when Jean starts to develop feelings for Scott herself, becomes her most bitter rival. However, when Scott was outed as a mutant, she shunned him.
  • Captain America was a government-sponsored superhero who fought for the Allies in World War II. With Wolverine's help, he liberated a POW camp in Poland and rescued a young Magneto. The super-soldier serum that gave Captain America his powers was slowly killing him, however, and he was cryogenically frozen.
  • Nick Fury is the gruff leader of the secret government agency called S.H.I.E.L.D.. He has helped the X-Men on occasion, mostly when it benefits his own agenda.
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Music & Songs

Image:HRFR.jpg

X-Men: Evolution featured several songs that were produced for the show and not part of the original score. Some of the most recognizable songs are:

  • "I'm Only a Girl" (The Sirens' Theme): Heard in "Walk on the Wild Side" as the song behind a girl power-themed music video that served as a montage sequence during the episode. The name of the singer/band who performed the song is currently unknown.
  • "T-O-A-D" (Toad's Theme): Another original song produced just for the series, this was the longest-running song on Kids WB! Radio. It played during "The Toad, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Another version of this song, without lyrics, was also used.
  • "Who Am I Now?" (Rogue's Theme): This song is played during the introduction of Rogue in "Rogue Recruit". The song is about Rogue specifically and told from her point of view.

In addition, individual characters had distinct musical cues, such as Mystique, Storm, and Magneto.

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Episode list

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
See: X-Men: Evolution Episode List.
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Trivia

  • The writers of the show have admitted that they were big Buffy fans. Using Shadowcat as the catalyst, the two shows, Buffy and Evolution, are uncannily similar. A teenage girl with super powers, fights villains with super powers while at, and in order to save, her high school. Buffy/Shadowcat have opposition against her, first with the School Principal, and then the Mayor. Ironically, Buffy creator Joss Whedon has admitted that his inspiration for Buffy was Kitty Pryde.
  • The dance Boom Boom does in the episode "Walk On the Wild Side", seen as Rogue approaches the balcony railing, was mimicked from Jessica Alba's dance in "Never Been Kissed".
  • In pre-production, Spyke was originally called "Armadillo".
  • Early concept art sketches show the X-Men in classic gold-and-black garbs. In these drafts, Spyke wears cornrows, Rogue's outfit exposes her midriff and Jean Grey's costume is the female version of Cyclops' costume. Both Jean Grey as well as Shadowcat wear face masks, and in addition, Kitty is also wearing an orange miniskirt and Doc Martens over her spandex in these sketches. Early Storm drawings hows her wearing white rather than black. (Reference: Image Gallery at [1])
  • Boyd Kirkland, the show's producer, say his favorite X-Men: Evolution season is Season 3.
  • Was the third largest Marvel cartoon.
  • Steven E Gordon, the character designer and director of various episodes, was never impressed with the Mystique designs for Season 1.
  • Gordon stopped directing after two seasons, but continued to design characters for the show. He is most satisfied by designs of Rogue and Wanda.
  • Captain America and Nick Fury are the only non-mutant Marvel superheroes to appear on Evolution. There is also, however, a small Iron Man in-joke in the episode "On Angels Wings," when a sign reading Stark Enterprises is seen during an exterior shot of New York City.
  • Omega Red mentions Deadpool and Maverick in the episode Target X
  • The Burger King promotional sets were the first use of mini-disc toys.
  • Mystique was originally to be presented as nude (as in the X-Men movies), but Warner Brothers wasn't ready for this.
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Merchandise

X-Men: Evolution was to have its own line of merchandise, but lack of sales forced Marvel to cut back on them. Some believe that, had the merchandise still been in production past Season 2 (largely considered to be the point where the show gathered a large fan base), it would have turned a profit.

Toy Biz created a line of action figures, which included Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Storm, Sabertooth, Toad, Spyke, Magneto, Juggernaut and Blob.

Hard Hero also released maquettes of Storm, Professor X, Juggernaut, Magneto, Wolverine, Colossus, Cyclops and the X-Men: Evolution design of Captain America.

Burger King ran a Kid's Meal promotion which included X-Men: Evolution toys. Each toy included a mini-disc with games, screen-savers, and a mini-comic related to the character. The lineup included Rogue, Mystique, Cyclops, Wolverine, Magneto, Quicksilver, Nightcrawler, and Toad. Taco Bell also featured an X-Men: Evolution themed promotion for its Kids Meals.

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DVDs

  • Season 1
    • X-Men Evolution Collection collects the following four DVD's:
      • UnXpected Changes (Strategy X, The X Impulse, Rogue Recruit)
      • Xplosive Days (Mutant Crush, Speed and Spyke, Middleverse)
      • X marks The Spot (Turn of the Rogue, SpykeCam, Survival of the Fittest)
      • Xposing The Truth (Shadowed Past, Grim Reminder, The Cauldron Parts 1 & 2)
  • Season 2
    • Mutant Rising (Growing Pains, Badda Bing Badda Boom, Power Surge, Fun and Games)
    • Powers Revealed (The Beast of Bayville, Adrift, On Angel's Wings, African Storm)
    • Enemies Unveiled (Joy Ride, Walk on the Wild Side, Operation Rebirth, Mindbender)
    • Mystque's Revenge (Shadow Dance, Retreat, The Hex Factor, Day of Reckoning Parts 1 & 2)
  • Season 3 (The Day of Recovery, The Stuff of Heroes, Mainstream, The Stuff of Villains, Blind Alley, X-Treme Measures, The Toad, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Self Possessed, Under Lock and Key, Cruise Control, X-23, Dark Horizon Parts 1 & 2)

Note that this item has not yet been released.

[2] Link to X-Men Evolution DVD Sets at Amazon.com.

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News

  • Official website for the latest DVD is to launch soon at www.classiccartoonsdvd.com
  • The complete Season 3 DVD will be released on May 23, two days before the release of X-Men 3. It is available for preorder at Amazon.com.
  • A possible successor series is in the works. This new animated series based on Marvel Comics' X-Men franchise is currently in pre-production for a Summer 2007 release. The new show, primarily focused on Wolverine, will utilize 2D and 3D animation. The show is set to be a continuation of X-Men: Evolution, and will be a mixture of the predecessor to X-Men: Evolution, X-Men: The Animated Show, as well as the movies. Storm is a confirmed character in the series, and twenty-six episodes have been confirmed thus far, similar to the upcoming Fantastic Four and Iron Man shows [3].
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Notes

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See also

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External links

pl:X-Men: Ewolucja sv:X-Men: Evolution

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