The X-Men have always been for civil rights, and now that X-Men ’97 has brought the team back to us, we can connect some of the moments in the series to real world events. And maybe by using older comic storylines to do so! Isn’t that fun?
In the second episode of the series, “Mutant Liberation Begins,” we watch as Magneto stands trial for his past crimes despite the new leaf he has turned over in the name of his friendship with Charles Xavier. While he’s on trial, an angry mob of people who hate the mutants, and Erik in particular, are storming the courtroom to attack Magneto and those holding the trial.
Joe Russo, director of movies like Au Pair Nightmare, posted about the episode on Twitter and pointed out that the trial of Magneto in X-Men ’97 is reminiscent of the January 6th insurrection. He wrote, “Do you think the MAGA crowd as figured out that Episode 2 of X-MEN ’97 is about them and the January 6th insurrectionists yet, or nah?”
It is based on an old issue of Uncanny X-Men where Magneto is on trial. The original trial was in 1985’s Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #200. There are well over thousands of stories from the X-Men comics that the series could have pulled from, but putting Magneto on trial with an angry mob storming the courtroom? It feels very intentional.
Of course, websites like Bounding Into Comics and other people who think that the X-Men don’t need to be “woke” are all criticizing the idea. One response to Russo’s tweet read, “Don’t do that, can I just have one thing that’s isn’t excused of being woke?”
Every bit of pushback against Russo’s observation has been an outcry of “Ugh this storyline came out in 1985” from the crowd that would be directly included in who the episode would be criticizing if it were a commentary on the MAGA supporters. Yes, the issue came out in 1985, and yes, it was far from the only time that Magneto was on trial. However, it is important to look at the timing of this adaptation.
To be honest, I didn’t initially think that was what the episode was going for, but Russo’s observations also make sense. The more I think about his commentary and the episode, the more I agree that it does have references to what happened on January 6, 2021.
So when you want to pretend like the X-Men isn’t “woke” enough to make a commentary like that, it is important to note that it very much could have been pulled from that Uncanny X-Men issue, but putting it in the series now very much can be a direct callout to the Make America Great Again brood.
After all, this is a group of heroes that has pulled storylines that connect to the HIV/AIDs crisis, the Civil Rights Movement, and more. So why wouldn’t this be connected to January 6? And if you have a probably with that commentary, why are you watching anything to do with the X-Men?
(featured image: Disney+)
