Review: X-men Evolution

One of the most prominent comics of all time is the X-Men. Alongside other superhero comics like Batman, Spiderman, etc, X-men is based on a large number of superheroes instead of just one. I think many people will remember the original X-Men animated series from back in the 90's. X-Men evolution is based on mostly the same characters, except the setting is when they were younger, i.e. still at school. I guess this was to make the show target the high school audience, who could relate more to the characters... but also to show what happened pretty much at the beginning of when the Xavier Institute was starting up.

I think the background of the X-Men is quite widely known since theres so many things based on them, i.e. movies, tv shows, figurines, games etc... but basically the plot is that there are people who have the 'x gene' which gives people supernatural powers. These people are termed 'mutants', and the powers vary greatly, although there are some powers which multiple people possess the same of... the most common being psychic related powers, and superhuman strength.

Now to the main story... a man named Charles Xavier has started an institute for mutants, where they can be themselves and avoid public knowledge. This is because people do not know of the existence of mutants yet... so it's the pretty typical "don't reveal your identity" kind of thing that is quite common in superhero stories, except in this case it's to not reveal your powers. Within the institute, there are teachers who train the younger generation of mutants to develop their powers and to teach them to use it for the good of mankind. In the background, a mutant named Magneto is scheming plans for his own purposes. He believes that as a mutant, he is a superior being and separate to humans.... and that mutants should be ruling the world.

There are 4 seasons in total. The first season is pretty much an introductory season, where the beginning X-Men are recruiting the first members such as Shadowcat, Spyke (a new character that's not in the comics), Rogue and Nightcrawler. You'll basically get a fair bit of background on each of the main characters throughout season 1. Season 2 comes with the addition of even more mutants, especially from a younger generation. It also further develops some of the 'villains' like Magneto. To be honest, I don't think characters like Magneto and Mystique are really villains as such, since they're not really evil... but I'd say it's probably the best way to describe them. Season 3 is when the serious note takes off, and season 4 finishes off the primary storyline.

There is a huge cast in this series, so I'll just emphasise the main characters and keep the less important ones brief;

Charles Xavier - As mentioned, he started the institute for the X-Men. He is extremely intelligent, as he use to be a doctor... and he is arguably one of the most powerful psychics in the X-Men universe. He is a seemingly influential person even without his powers, as he is able to bail out the younger X-Men in many situations.

Storm - One of the teachers at the institute. I like her a lot more in this version as her cape makes her look pretty cool... and she's just generally better looking in this series than in the original animated series. As her name implies, her power is weather manipulation, as well as the ability to fly.

Wolverine - I'm sure people know about him now, since theres a movie based on him. In this series, he's kind of like Xavier's right hand man. He is also a teacher at the institute, and normally does a lot of rigorous training sessions for the students. As you'll probably know... his ability is his healing factor combined with an adamantium skeleton and claws.

Scott Summers (Cyclops) - He is the unofficial leader of the X-Men. He does most of the leading when theres a combat situation. He has a crush on Jean, but he's reluctant to confess his feelings to her. His ability is to produce energy blasts with his eyes. Due to brain damage, he is unable to control it, so he has to wear a viser or special sunglasses. This is not actually explained in the series... but it's the reason why you see that Rogue can absorb Scott's powers yet can control when she fires it.

Jean Grey - The good looking and popular high school girl. She is extremely intelligent, athletic and well-liked. She's very jealous when she sees Cyclops with other girls, even though she already has a boyfriend. She has psychic and telekinetic abilities, and she frequently uses it to give herself the ability to fly.

Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) - He is a blue furred person with abnormal hands, feet and a tail. He receives an image inducer which allows him to appear to be a normal boy. He likes to goof around a lot, and has a very close friendship with Cyclops. His power is of teleportation, although he can't teleport long distances, and he has to know where he's teleporting too.

Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) - She is a pretty smart girl, but really loves to party as well. She's also quite good looking. She has a phasing ability, which means she can pass through solid objects, and she can also make things that she's touching phase through too.

Rogue - Very different to the original. In the original, she's a pretty open fun-loving girl. In this series, shes an emo goth who keeps to herself a lot... which is why it took her so long to join the X-Men. Her ability is to drain a person's power and absorb their memories. For this reason, she makes sure that her body is covered as much as possible, and she always wears gloves.

Evan Daniels (Spyke) - a new character to the X-Men scene. He is the nephew of Storm, and he cares a lot about his Aunt. He's the type who prefers to slack off and do other things like skate-boarding instead of studying. His ability is to produce wooden stakes from his body, which he figures or throws at people.

Magneto - my favourite character of all time. His intelligence is of a genius level, especially in genetics. He is an old friend of Charles Xavier, who he worked alongside in their younger days. Due to their differences in opinion of mutants, they parted ways. Unlike most of the other mutants, he is an advanced mutant who has complete mastery of his powers. His power is of magnetism, which also allows him to fly as well. His level of control of his powers far exceeds any other mutant except maybe Xavier, as he can manipulate many metal objects over vast distances. He is also highly resilient to psychic attacks, although it's not explained why he has such strong mental defences.

There tonnes more mutants, but I won't go into detail about their backgrounds... but I'll give a brief list of their mutant names so that the X-Men fans know who to expect to see in the series; Iceman, Cannonball, Magma, Jubilee, Wolfsbane, Multiple, Berzerker, Sunspot, Mystique, Avalanche, Toad, The Blob, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Gambit, Sabretooth, Colossus, Pyro, Mastermind, Boom-Boom, the Morloks, X-23, Angel, Forge, Havok, Destiny, Leach, Juggernaut and Apocolypse.

Rating - 9/10. I'm a big fan of the X-Men, as it was one of the animations I grew up with. I also like the storyline and I think the idea of mutant powers is very interesting... so I really enjoyed watching this, as it's much better made than the original series. If you like the comics, or any of the movies/tv series based on it... then I'm pretty sure you'll like this one.