The first trailer for X-Men ’97 reveals some beloved characters—and a couple of faces that newer fans may not recognize. Who, for instance, is that person standing to the far right during Charles Xavier’s apparent death scene? More importantly, why is the character suddenly pissing off right-wing fans?
Here’s your crash course on Morph, the X-Men character who’s getting an overhaul in the new series!
Who is Morph, exactly?
In the original X-Men animated series, Kevin Sydney, a.k.a. Morph, was a mutant who was close friends with Wolverine. Throughout the course of the series’ run, Morph died, turned out to be alive, got brainwashed into fighting against the X-Men, recovered, decided he wasn’t ready to be a hero, left, and came back. It was a whole thing.
As for Morph’s powers, he was a shapeshifter who could take on anyone’s form (but, crucially, not the powers of someone he was mimicking). While he had a normal human appearance in the animated series, he also takes on a white and hairless form in the comics.
Who is Morph in X-Men ’97?
After the X-Men ’97 trailer dropped, Empire Magazine ran a series of character bios for the new series. According to Morph’s character bio, Morph, voiced by J.P. Karliak, “is nonbinary and has an interesting buddy relationship with Wolverine. The character’s past with Mister Sinister, the show’s villain, could also come into play.” On February 20, showrunner Beau DeMayo told fans on Instagram that Morph will use they/them pronouns.
As you can see in the picture below, the updated Morph will resemble their comics counterpart more, with white skin and no hair. They’re keeping that sick jacket, though.
Predictably, dudes online are gigantically mad about the new development. I won’t link to it. It’s gross and predictable. Can you imagine a property like X-Men suddenly being about marginalized identities, when before it was always about a group of people who were totally mainstream and universally loved? How sudden and random! There’s no precedent for it!
However, there is some legitimate criticism amidst all the noise. Some fans point out that Morph’s character in the original series was largely shaped by the trauma he endured from his near-death experiences. Could “a lighter take” on Morph undermine that character development? It remains to be seen.
X-Men ’97 drops on Disney+ on March 20.
(featured image: Disney+)
