1 Year Later, I Still Can’t Believe Marvel Used This Brutal Wolverine Scene In X-Men ’97

[[{“value”:”

It’s been almost a year since X-Men ’97 adapted one of Marvel Comics’ most shocking Wolverine moments into the animated series, and it’s hard to imagine something this graphic being adapted for the live-action MCU. X-Men ’97 premiered on March 20, 2024, as a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran for five seasons between 1992 and 1997. It was fantastic to see the classic animated X-Men team back in action, and the series’ new Marvel Studios home meant that more of the X-Men’s wild stories from Marvel Comics could be explored.

Over X-Men ’97 season 1’s ten episodes, the titular mutant team battled Sentinels, the Friends of Humanity, Madelyne Pryor’s Goblin Queen, Mister Sinister, Mojo, the Adversary and more. Perhaps their most significant threat, however, was Bastion, a human/Sentinel hybrid whose dire actions also unleashed the antagonist inside the X-Men’s greatest foe, Magneto. This allowed X-Men ’97 to adapt one of the most shocking and graphic Magneto moments from Marvel Comics that put Wolverine’s life on the line, and X-Men ’97 might have been Marvel’s only opportunity.

1 Year Ago, X-Men ’97 Adapted An Incredibly Dark Wolverine Moment From Marvel Comics

Magneto Removed Wolverine’s Adamantium In X-Men ’97

In May 2024, Bastion began his subjugation of the world’s mutants by enacting his Prime Sentinel program, turning regular humans into Sentinels. To put a stop to this, Valerie Cooper broke Magneto out of his prison, and the Master of Magnetism released an electro-magnetic pulse around the world that wiped out the Sentinels and marked his transformation into an antagonist yet again, despite his more heroic turn as leader of the X-Men. This led to a stand-off between Magneto and the X-Men that ended with the former ripping the adamantium from Wolverine’s skeleton.

This brutal and violent act was truly shocking to see unfold in animation, though it was great to see X-Men ’97 season 1, episode 9, “Tolerance is Extinction – Part II,” pay homage to the scenes from Marvel Comics’ X-Men (Vol. 2) #25 from 1993, part of the Fatal Attractions story arc. Magneto tearing the adamantium from Wolverine’s skeleton in X-Men ’97 was almost a shot-for-shot remake of one of Marvel’s darkest X-Men moments. While it would be incredible and unbelievable to see this scene also play out in the live-action MCU, this seems rather unlikely.

I Don’t Think We’ll See This Magneto & Wolverine Moment In The Live-Action MCU

Marvel Studios’ X-Men Reboot May Not Be This Graphic

While X-Men ’97 continued the story of the animated X-Men team from the 1990s, Marvel Studios is also currently actively developing a live-action reboot for the X-Men and presumably a number of other mutant-centric projects. This presents the opportunity for many of Marvel Comics’ most iconic mutant moments to be explored in the live-action MCU, after 20th Century Fox wasted, ignored or butchered some of the best. However, it seems unlikely that this will include Magneto removing the adamantium from Wolverine’s skeleton, as this might just be too dark for the MCU.

Animation might be the best place for this legendary and harrowing moment to play out in the MCU, so it might be better to avoid something so visceral and shocking in live-action. While Marvel Studios has recently been exploring more mature, R-rated and adult-focused projects, such as Daredevil: Born Again, Deadpool & Wolverine and Echo, the MCU’s upcoming X-Men reboot will surely want to be more family-oriented. This means this dark moment likely won’t be seen in the MCU, but that doesn’t mean the new version of Wolverine can’t still be more comic-accurate.

I Hope Marvel Studios Does Adapt More Of Wolverine’s Marvel Comics Moments For Hugh Jackman’s Successor

Hugh Jackman Was Seldom A Comic-Accurate Wolverine

Upon his casting as Wolverine in 2000’s X-Men, Hugh Jackman received some criticism for not being a very comic-accurate choice to portray the clawed mutant. In Marvel Comics, Wolverine is Canadian, short and stocky, with a gruff and slightly campy, overdramatic personality. Hugh Jackman did not fit this brief at all, as a tall, serious and slightly comedic Australian. While Jackman did go on to become beloved as Wolverine, there are hopes that Marvel Studios will introduce a new iteration of the character who is more faithful to his Marvel Comics roots.

This would open the door for more of Wolverine’s stories from Marvel Comics to be explored in the MCU. Marvel Studios could explore Wolverine’s debut fighting the Hulk, could delve deeper into his Weapon X history with more care, could indeed explore the Fatal Attractions storyline, and could focus more on Wolverine as a member of the X-Men team and other superhero groups, rather than a primarily-alone hero. X-Men ’97 delivered a fantastic version of Wolverine that Marvel Studios could copy for the live-action MCU, though perhaps keeping his adamantium inside his body where it belongs.

Upcoming MCU Movies

“}]] I can’t believe X-Men ’97 did this to Wolverine.  Read More