When Disney+ launched with a hit original series in The Mandalorian and planned future series in the MCU like The Falcon and Winter Soldier and WandaVision, there was quite a bit for comic fans to enjoy. However, if we're being honest, there is only one thing some of us were excited to see on the newest streaming service, and that was X-Men: The Animated Series.
The 90s series is chock full of nostalgic memories that kick off every episode with the amazing intro songs we sometimes find ourselves humming, but also featured some great episodes that explored the characters while adapting fan-favorite comic series. Unfortunately, there were also some really bad episodes, so we'll be taking a look at a few of the best and worst from the series.
BEST: "WEAPON X, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE"
Throughout the series, there were a number of solo episodes that took time to explore a few members of the X-Men away from the larger adventures of the team. Wolverine had quite a few solo adventures, with the third season episode "Weapon X, Lies, and Videotape" diving into Wolverine's clouded, mysterious past by bringing him back to the facility that transformed him.
While the episode does painfully feature the same origin footage from the earlier episodes "Repo Man" that plays frequently throughout the series, it also gives us a look at some of Logan's past and former allies like Maverick and Silverfox while further exploring the vendetta between Wolverine and Sabretooth.
WORST: "SECRETS, NOT LONG BURIED"
Of course, not all of the solo hero episodes were as good as the Wolverine-focused episode we previously mentioned, with Cyclops' solo "No Mutant Is An Island" and Gambit's "X-ternally Yours" falling just behind the third season's "Secrets, Not Long Buried."
The Cyclops-focused episode followed a powerless Scott Summers as he dealt with an anti-human mutant group known as the Children of the Shadow that had taken over a midwestern desert town. While the episode featured a few characters from the comic's Mutant Liberation Front, it was otherwise incredibly forgettable.
BEST: "DAYS OF FUTURE PAST"
The first season of the series is arguably the best, largely due to the successful introduction of the team and its main villains over 13 episodes that are pretty fondly remembered by fans. That first season even included an adaptation of the critically-acclaimed storyline "Days of Future Past," though it was a bit different than the comic version.
The animated episodes featured a dark dystopian world ruled by the Sentinels that have hunted down and killed almost all of the X-Men while other mutants were put in concentration camps, which was heavy stuff for Saturday morning cartoons. The episode also featured the first appearance of time-traveling mutant Bishop, who would return a few more times over the series.
WORST: "DESCENT"
We could pick and choose almost any episode from the final half of the fifth season, as the series underwent an animation change and drop in production after the studio hastily decided to tack on a few extra episodes to the series. We could easily be discussing "The Fifth Horsemen" or "Jubilee's Fairytale Theater" here as well, but "Descent" may take the cake for the worst of these final few.
The episode takes place entirely in the past and reveals the dark origins of Mr. Sinister, which might have been interesting if it was told alongside a regular episode in a series of memories or flashbacks, but instead, it was just boring. And trying to shoehorn relatives of both Professor Xavier and Jean Grey into Sinister's origins further detracted from the episode.
BEST: "ONE MAN'S WORTH"
The two-part episode "One Man's Worth" kicked off the fourth season of X-Men: The Animated Series and partially adapted the incredibly successful comic event Age of Apocalypse, though it blended the premise with the earlier "Days of Future Past" episode and focused on Sentinels instead of Apocalypse.
"One Man's Worth" ambitiously explored a world where Professor Charles Xavier had been murdered by time-traveler Trevor Fitzroy, resulting in a new reality where Magneto led the war against the Sentinels, with Wolverine and Storm working with him as lovers. Bishop and his sister Shard feature in the time-bending tale as well that again touched on fairly dark material for a cartoon.
WORST: "LOVE IN VAIN"
There is a lot to complain about with the fourth season episode "Love in Vain" so we'll try to keep it tight here. The episode starts with the crash of an alien ship that looks like an Acanti space whale, transportation for the horrifyingly deadly aliens known as The Brood. Instead, we got weird watered-down reptilians with metallic tentacles that were supposed to be more family-friendly.
On top of that horrible representation of the Brood, Rogue's backstory with the first person she kissed was explored here as well, with that also failing to make much sense for either the characters or overall alien invasion storyline. Multiple failures on all fronts, and we're still sitting here waiting to see the Brood done right in something other than the comics.
BEST: "BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL"
This four-part series of episodes was initially supposed to serve as the series finale before Fox ordered more episodes at the last minute, and it feels like it a solid end. The episodes explored alternate timelines/realities that brought the X-Men together with time-traveling mutants like Bishop and Cable in an ultimate battle with Apocalypse, Magneto, Sinister, and other evil mutants.
"Beyond Good and Evil" also introduced new characters like Psylocke as psychics like her, Xavier, and Jean Grey were kidnapped by Apocalypse. The episodes were later aired out of sequence to reduce the finality of this four-part series, but we still like to think of it as the better finale.
WORST: "SAVAGE LAND, STRANGE HEART"
This may not be the popular opinion, but we just were not fans of the many episodes that took place in the Savage Land, with "Storm Front" and the two-part "Savage Land, Strange Heart" competing for the title of least entertaining episodes from X-Men: The Animated Series.
The problem partially lies with the villains of "Savage Land, Strange Heart" as Sauron, Zaldanna and Garokk aren't really A-list enemies, and the final showdown between giant versions of these characters seems like it would be climactic, but ultimately fizzles like most Savage Land episodes, with the exception of "Reunion."
BEST: "THE DARK PHOENIX SAGA"
There should be no surprise that the animated adaptation of the X-Men's epic Phoenix storyline would make the list of best adaptations, as it still remains the best version we've seen aside from the original comic version.
Like the comics, the animated episodes took place in two separate sagas over the course of the third season as Jean Grey bonded with the Phoenix Force, became corrupted by the Hellfire Club, turned into the Dark Phoenix, and then finally sacrificed herself on the moon. We're actually going to go watch it again right now, it's that good.
WORST: "THE PHALANX COVENANT"
Much like the unfulfilling "Love in Vain" episode that failed to adapt the Brood, "The Phalanx Covenant" ultimately failed to realize the potential of the comic event. In the comics, the arrival of the extraterrestrial Phalanx featured a huge assemblage of characters and led to the debut of new teams and years of storylines.
The two-part fifth season premiere episodes featured the introduction of the alien New Mutant known as Warlock alongside Beast, Forge, and Mr. Sinister to deal with the threat of the Phalanx, who had lost quite a bit of their menace in the animated adaptation. Warlock's debut seemed pointless, the Phalanx were wasted, and the characters involved weren't exactly captivating.