The X-Men are back with X-Men ’97 and that means it is time to bring back the ship wars! Or, more specifically, all of the angst of once specific ship that should result in everyone just kissing each other in the end. They do, after all, share a living quarters.
I am talking about the Logan/Jean/Scott of it all. If you are a fan of the X-Men in any regard, you know that the will-they-won’t-they of Jean and Logan has fueled many a fanfic dream, but she also loves Scott Summers, and it puts us into a particularly prickly triangle.
For years, fans have wanted the three to just get over themselves and be together in the polyamorous relationship they were destined to be a part of. And we thought, for a moment, that was happening when we saw their living quarters. In X-Men ’97, it all started innocently enough with Jean Grey and Scott Summers being married and having a baby. Then came the reveal that she was not Jean Grey at all but, instead, Madelyne Pryor. Let the chaos ensue.
Scott and Jean
The start of the series put us with what we presumed was Jean Grey and Scott Summers. They were preparing to have a baby and maybe even leave the team behind in order to raise him away from Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. And during this time, you can tell that Logan is not happy.
Not necessarily because they’re married and having a baby but because they are secretly talking about leaving and leaving him out of the equation. While it was not said outright, you can see the pain that Logan has, and even when he’s in charge of getting who he thinks is Jean to the hospital, it weighs on him because he’s clearly still got feelings.
But the twist that it wasn’t Jean at all really made us question some things, like why not have Scott Summers with Madelyne and Jean with Wolverine?
Madelyne and Scott
The X-Men ’97 take on Madelyne and Scott, including the fact that their son Nathan (who will later become Cable) still has to go to the future to be cured, has me somehow feeling for Scott Summers. I don’t hate the man but I do think he is boring. But now that he is in the midst of trying to figure out his feelings, what to do without his son or the woman he thought he married, and just trying to navigate all of that, I understand aspects of him I never did before.
And while I wouldn’t hate a Madelyne/Scott and Jean/Logan endgame situation, I do think that there are some interesting dynamics between the four that the show can explore if Madelyne were to return at some point. She committed to their plan of leaving the X-Men behind but Scott is still at the school and dealing with the fall out from Mister Sinister’s meddling.
Jean and Logan
I am sorry but I have always been team Jean/Logan. Maybe it is just because I love my short king more than I’ve ever loved Scott Summers, but I also get why Jean would be attracted to both of these men. Seeing the real Jean Grey appear at Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and then suddenly having her face to face with Logan in this way really hurt my shipper heart.
Logan and Jean were never completely together together, but they did have a flirtatious back and forth that begged the question of “What if?” to fans. In a show like X-Men ’97 that is bringing us back to our childhood heroes and giving us a second chance with them, why not lean into that romance fans have loved?
Plus, the fact that everything is so messy with the Madelyne/Scott/Jean triangle gives me hope that the show will lean into what I’ve always wanted.
Throuple? Throuple.
I often want everyone to kiss. I wanted Mobius M. Mobius/Loki/Sylvie to all smooch, and the Jean/Scott/Logan of it all is right up there with it. It’d be easier to have them all just be in love with each other and then no one would get hurt! Sure, now that Madelyne is part of the scene, Scott could easily be more in love with her instead of the real Jean Grey, but that’s not as fun.
I am always Team Throuple when it comes down to it, and I just think that it would be a missed opportunity to not have Jean/Scott/Logan all kiss each other at least one time.
All this to say: Just get over yourselves and make out together. After all, there’s strength in numbers, right?
(featured image: Disney+)
