X-Men: Evolution: Difference between revisions

X-Men: Evolution
File:XMenEvolution.jpg The X-Men, from left: Beast (front), Cyclops (back), Jean Grey, Wolverine, Charles Xavier, Shadowcat, Spyke, Nightcrawler (kneeling), Rogue, Storm.
Starring	David Kaye as Professor X (Charles Xavier) Scott McNeil as Wolverine (Logan) Kirsten Williamson as Storm (Ororo Munroe) Mike Kopsa as Beast (Hank McCoy) Kirby Morrow as Cyclops (Scott Summers) Venus Terzo as Jean Grey Meghan Black as Rogue (Anna Marie) Brad Swaile as Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) Maggie Blue O'Hara as Shadowcat (Kitty Pride) Neil Denis as Spyke (Evan Daniels) Christopher Judge as Magneto (Erik Magnus Lehnsherr) Coleen Wheeler as Mystique (Raven Darkholme) Michael Donovan as Sabretooth (Victor Creed).
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	22 Minutes
Original release
Network	The WB

X-Men: Evolution is an animated 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!

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. 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.

Differences and similarities 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. Contrary to most X-Men continuity, it is not clearly established where the city of Bayville is located, but we are led to believe it may be in the New York area. 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.

Fan Reaction: Because of its independent story line, there were complaints about the show not being faithful to the comics, although there was general acceptance of the series and its new storylines within online fan-based communities. The show consistantly 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, Kathryn Pryde's initial uneasyness with 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 shys away from identifying it as such.

Plot outline

Template:Spoiler 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 plotlines 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 cancelled at the end of the season. Several interesting plotlines 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 towards. 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.

Series Finale

The entire roster as seen in the season finale, as pictured: top rank, from left: Angel, Wolfsbane, Berzerker, Magma, Iceman, Multiple, Cannonball, Jubilee, and Colossus. Middle rank, from left: Nightcrawler, Spyke (as Armadillo), Cyclops, Jean Gray, Rogue, Gambit, Sun Spot, Havok, and X-23. Bottom rank, from left: Boom Boom, Storm, Professor Xavier, Wolverine, Shadowcat, and Beast.

The series ends with a speech by Charles Xavier, who had caught a glimpse of the future while being mind-controlled by Apocalypse. 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 Dark 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..

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

The comic X-23, an original character introduced in the later part of the show, first appeared in comic books in NYX, albeit in a slightly different version than in the cartoon, and got her own self-titled comic series in 2005. Much like Harley Quinn of Batman: The Animated Series, a character created for the cartoons has entered comic continuity.

The comic book X-Statix featured a Black 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 seperate character.

Teams

The X-Men team

The two incarnations of Wolverine, from X-Men: Evolution.

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, maskless uniform very similar to the version found in the Ultimate X-Men comic.
• Storm (Ororo Monroe), voiced by Kirsten Williamson. Storm is very similar to her comic counterpart; in fact, there appear to be no real differences, other than her cape. Storm has a habit of suddenly disappearing throughout the series, apparently because the producers don't really have much for her to do.
• 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.

Students

• Cyclops (Scott Summers), voiced by Kirby Morrow. Cyclops is toned down from his comic book counterpart; he is less stiff and posesses 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 utilise 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 posesses a jealous streak when it comes to Cyclops. After the third season, Cyclops and Jean Grey began teaching the younger students at the Xavier Institute how to better control and utilise 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. She had a long term crush on Cyclops, but later developed a flirtatious relationship with Gambit. In fanfiction, 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 that feel they can relate to her, but there are many within the Evolution fandom who are annoyed by the attention paid to Rogue.
• 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. The comic Nightcrawler's strong Catholic beliefs appear to have vanished, but this is likely due to censorship issues. He speaks with a soft German 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. The strongest departure in her character is her on-off relationship with Avalanche.
• Spyke (Evan Daniels), voiced by Neil Denis. An entirely new character, Spyke is Storm's nephew. He appears to have typical teenanger issues and is meant to be the rebel of the team. Fans have not taken kindly to Spyke, who they see as a pre-packaged and shallow character. 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 posterchild for the negative aspects of the series. This character may be based on the comic character Marrow. Both project their bones out of their bodies and both have connections to the Morlocks.

New Mutants

File:NewMutants.jpg

The New Mutants, from X-Men: Evolution. Characters are, from left: Iceman, Cannonball, Jubilee, Wolfsbane, Multiple, Boom Boom, Berzerker, Magma, and Sunspot

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 they share the same personalities and traits as their comic-book counterparts. The New Mutants are listed as they appear in the image at right, from left to right.

• Iceman (Bobby Drake, later promoted to the X-Men), voiced by Andrew Francis. The most outgoing and cocky of the new recruits, and later became a standby X-Man.
• Cannonball (Sam Guthrie), voiced by Bill Switzer. The most noticeable role for Cannonball was his challenging Wolverine to a motorcycle race, with the other New Mutants using their powers to create obstacles. Sam nearly won until he "went all Cannonball" and tried to show off by using his powers to gain a larger lead, before going over a bump and losing control of his bike. He also tried to break out of the mansion's defences after Mystique activated Defcon 4 (Self destruct sequence)
• 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 can transform into a wolf or werewolf.
• 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.
• For Boom Boom, see below.
• 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 shoots out lightning from his hands.
• Magma (Amara Aquila), voiced by Alexandra Carter. The only New Mutant who was the lead character of an episode ("Cruise Control"). After Iceman, Magma is the New Mutant who was given the most attention by the writers. She has been altered in appearance from her comic book incarnation, where she is an older teen with blond hair and blue eyes, whereas in Evolution, she is fully Brazillian with brown hair and brown eyes.
• Sunspot (Roberto Da Costa), voiced by Mike Coleman. Like Wolfsbane, he only spoke in one episode (in fact, the same one that featured Wolfsbane), but was shown to be a perfectionist and an overachiever.

The Brotherhood

File:Image bhood.jpg

The Brotherhood of Bayville, from X-Men: Evolution. Characters are, from left: Mystique, Toad, Quicksilver, Avalanche, Blob, and Wanda

The Brotherhood are an oddity in that they started out as villains, but as the series progressed, fell more into the role of casual wild cards not because of shifting ideology, but because they had become lazy and simply stopped caring about their original cause. 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, they have 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.

• 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 Appocolypse, 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. This version of Avalanche has almost nothing in common with the original character. Here, he is the grungy Lance Alvers (the original was Dominic Petros), and he is the Brotherhood's unofficial field leader and has a rivarly 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. At one point he quits the Brotherhood to join Xavier's in order to be near Shadowcat. Some have noted that Lance Alvers is very similar to Rictor, another X-Men character.
• 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 became the official team leader due to Magneto's influence, and even after Magneto's demise, continued to assume leadership, giving the team some much-needed ambition.
• 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 weasely 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, (occasionally cited as a fan favorite). 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. To say that he fails would be an understatement. His strongest friend in the Brotherhood is Blob, a fellow freak, and he and Nightcrawler have a nemesis relationship.
• 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 powers, and she grew up bitter and vengeful. She was released by Mystique to help her in her own revenge against Magneto. Eventually, Wanda's memories were altered by Mastermind and she believed her father to be kind and caring, resulting in a more well-adjusted Wanda, though she was still very introverted.
• 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).

Magneto's Acolytes

File:Evo accolytes.jpg

Magneto's Accolytes, from left: Gambit, Sabretooth, Mastermind, Collosus, and Pyro

File:Magneto.jpg

A statue of Magneto based off his character design in X-Men Evolution.

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. 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 Strine 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.

HYDRA

• Viper
• Omega Red (Arkady Rossovich), voiced by Richard Newman.
• Gauntlet, voiced by Mark Gibbons.

Neutral mutants

• Boom-Boom (Tabitha Smith), voiced by Megan Leitch, sometime member of both the X-Men and The Brotherhood. Originally one of the New Mutants, she felt that she didn't fit in and moved in with the Brotherhood, who did nothing to stop her. Though she mooched off of them for a while, she left following Mystique's return. Since then, she appears to be living on her own, but her loyalty is with the X-Men. Her powers are making time bombs that will explode at will
• 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 froglike 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Alex Summers (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.

Other villains

File:Apocevo.png

Apocalypse's two incarnations in X-Men: Evolution.

• 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 backstory 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 irridescent 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 dialogue. 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 skintone.
• 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-Witch-Doctor Storm's tribe. He is jealous of Storm because her powers over climate made her a more venerable idol in the village, he comess to America to seek revenge and is able to drain Storm's powers. It is unclear if he is a mutant, relies on magic, or a combination of the two.

Miscellaneous characters

• Amanda Sefton, another schoolmate of Kurt Wagner. Her comic book incarnation is that of an airline stewardess and gypsy sorceress. It was never directly touched on if her Evolution incarnation was similarly inclined, but she seemed to have put the pieces together about Kurt not being all that he appeared to be.
• Arcade, aka Webber Torque, a freshman computer whiz. Mystique, posing as a girl called Risty Wilde, gets him to hack into Cerebro and while he thinks it's some high-tech game, she steals data about Scarlet Witch. In the cartoon, Arcade is apparently not a villain, but just a regular student.
• 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 and Nick Fury also make an appearance in the series.

Music & Songs

X-Men: Evolution featured several unique songs as well as a music video, the inclusion of which was landmark at the time.

• "I'm only a girl" The first music video of X-Men: Evolution focused on animation and video rather than the song, but fan reaction was positive, leading to the video's promotion.Source of who sang the song is still a mystery

• "Toad's theme song" Another orginal song producted just for the seires. This was the longest running song on Kids WB! Radio.Toonami even bought a sound track for the show

Episode list

X-Men: Evolution Episode List

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", see 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 favourite 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 is the only Marvel Superhero to cross over with Evolution, and is the second superhero referenced during the course of the series. The first being a small Iron Man in-joke from the episode
• The Burger King promotional sets were the first use of mini-disc toys.
• The voice cast and other team members of the show reportedly had a lot of fun doing work on this series.
• Mystique was originally to be be presented as nude (as in the X-Men movies), but Warner Brothers wasn't ready for this.
• In planning of Season 2, there was to be a teenage Colossus, but the directors moved on to other plans.
• Emma Frost, Psylocke and Mr. Sinister were meant to to appear but never did due to the show's cancellation.

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 fanbase), 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: Eovlution themed promotion for its Kids Meals.

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.

News

• Official website for the latest DVD is to launch soon at www.classiccartoonsdvd.com
• Xtras Xposed for Season 3 set at TV SHOWS ON DVD.
• 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 [2].

See also

• Pryde of the X-Men
• X-Men: The Animated Series

External links

• Official X-Men:Evolution-complete season 3 DVD site
• New official customs site featuring Apocalypse from X-Men: Evolution
• X-Men: Evolution news source which is frequently updated.
• Toon Zone's X-Men:Evolution website
• Marveldirectory.com
• MDP:X-Men - Marvel Database Project
• UncannyXmen.net
• William Anderson
• InvertedStripes.com
• X-Men: Evolution at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Official site of Iron cow for X-Men: Evolution customs
• X-Men: Evolution site at putfile.com
• TV.com: X-Men: Evolution episode list
• X-Men: Beyond Evolution hosted by Toon Zone
• X-Men: Evolution Page run by Kataclysm
• Original art of X-Men: Evolution by the show's very own director, Steven E Gordon - includes animations, designs, tips on drawing and much more
• X-Men: Evolution music videos at The Balcony - a website dedicated to Nightcrawler
• Company that created X-Men: Evolution macquetts
• Film Roman Official site of the show's production company.