Wolverine and the X-Men



Wolverine and the X-Men is the newest Animated Adaptation of the X-Men franchise, premiering in America sometime in 2009 and everywhere else in the world mid-2008.

The show begins with the destruction of the Xavier Institute, and Professor Xavier and Jean Grey missing, apparently dead. A distraught Cyclops disbands the team, and everyone heads in their own directions. After a run-in with some token anti-mutant villains, Wolverine decides the X-Men must be reassembled, and begins locating the missing members.

As the title may have told you, this show heavily focuses on Wolverine, even becoming the leader of the X-Men. Other characters do suffer from the switch in focus: Cyclops is pretty much a wreck after he loses Jean, Storm doesn't do much of anything after her introduction, and the Professor spends most of his time as a psychic vision. That said, there were more than enough A Day in the Limelight episodes to prevent things from being too repetitive, and the show explores the "Days Of Future Past" and "Genosha as Mutant Refuge" concepts in more depth than any other adaptation. Forge and Emma Frost are made part of the main cast for the first time.

Despite early reports of plans for Season 2, it was canceled after just one season, joining The Spectacular Spider-Man, which was canceled not too long before.

In addition to all the usual X-Men related tropes, this show contains examples of:
"Wolverine: What now? Airducts?
 * Abandoned Warehouse: In the second episode, Avalanche levels an entire street of what the news conveniently announces as "empty warehouses".
 * After the End: the Bad Future Xavier is stuck in and the rest of the X-men are trying to prevent
 * Air Vent Passageway: Averted and even lampshaded in Thieves Gambit, when Logan and Remy are sneaking into Bolivar Trask's warehouse.

Gambit: Only in the world of cinema. In real life, they never hold."

"Wolverine: Oh, you gotta be kidding me, Fury. Mystical curse my a- * violently grabbed by Hulk*"
 * All of the Other Reindeer: Anti-mutant hysteria, obviously; it's X-Men.
 * An Ice Person: Bobby Drake/Iceman.
 * Anti-Hero: In this adaptation Cyclops is more anti-heroic than Wolverine...
 * Badass: Wolverine, again.
 * Badass Longcoat: Cyclops and Gambit.
 * Badass Pacifist: Beast always offers his foes a chance to surrender.
 * Badbutt: Wolverine, as is contractually obligated.
 * Bad Future: Xavier is . At the end of the first season, though, the X-Men
 * Batman Gambit: Gambit's plan to steal Magneto's helmet
 * Beast and Beauty: Kurt (Nightcrawler) and Wanda (Scarlet Witch).
 * Beta Couple: Possibly Kitty Pryde and Bobby Drake (Iceman).
 * There was also Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch
 * Big Bad: Master Mold in the Bad Future. There are a couple of contenders for the main timeline, but it probably comes down to either Magneto or . For the aborted next season, it would appear to be.
 * Brainwashed and Crazy: Mojo does this to Wolverine in an episode. Also Archangel. Although it's not made clear if this is entirely the case at first certainly by the end of the series he seems to be a mindless puppet of Sinister's.
 * Break the Cutie: Polaris.
 * Brother-Sister Incest: Wolverine's former girlfriend Mariko Yashida was forced by her father to marry the Silver Samurai. In the comics Mariko and Silver Samurai are half-siblings, having the same father.
 * Calling the Old Man Out: Warren Worthington III is not pleased that his father bankrolls the anti-mutant movement, and isn't afraid to say it his face.
 * Chew Toy: Forge.
 * Comic Book Fantasy Casting: Jim Ward's voice as Professor Xavier and Tom Kane's voice as Magneto were inspired by the live-action versions played by, respectively, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. Likewise, Kevin Michael Richardson's Shadow King sounds exactly like Frank Welker's Dr. Claw/Soundwave/Darkseid voice.
 * The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Because Logan is a perfectly level-headed leader that makes infallible decisions and always wins his fights and never puts the team at unacceptable risk, the dissenting troubled anti-hero Cyclops must always be wrong.
 * Composite Character:
 * Arclight has the gender of the Age of Apocalypse character and hence is a male, but the powers of the classic Arclight and sports a Spear Counterpart's version of her costume. Toad is basically the X-Men:Evolution version with the Ultimate look.
 * Warren Worthington II is a combination of Cameron Hodge (Corrupt Corporate Executive who funds several anti-Mutnat programs and ) and the movie version of Warren Worthington II (also funds Anti-Mutant program, such as a "cure" for mutants' believes what he did saw best for, though in reality, was only serving himself; and )
 * The Computer Is Your Friend: Master Mold in the Bad Future.
 * Continuity Snarl: According to Word of God, the Wolverine short of Hulk Vs takes place in the same universe as this show. That said, there are some things that in Hulk Vs Wolverine that contradict WatXM like.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive:
 * Mojo, as usual.
 * Warren Worthington II (Warren Worthington III AKA Angel's father) finances senator Kelly's anti-mutant campaign platform, and provides the MRD's R&D and hardware as well; needless to say, his son disagrees vocally. Unfortunately, by the time he realizes he's being a gigantic dick, it's too little too late, both to stop the anti-mutant movement from becoming a viable political and paramilitary force on its own and, leaving him with nothing but now cold and empty financial and material comforts and a mountain of regrets. Karma's a bitch sometimes.
 * Curse Cut Short: Wolverine vs. The Hulk.

"Gambit: Of course, she has her daddy's powers... and her sister's temper."
 * Dark Is Evil: The Shadow King.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Nightcrawler, as always.
 * Dark-Skinned Blond White-Haired Pretty Girl: Storm.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: When introduced, Emma acts pretty much like anyone familiar with the comics would expect. Compare that Emma with the one we see in the end. Hoo boy.
 * Demonic Possession: The Shadow King.
 * Demoted to Extra: Storm. Yes, Storm is shoved in the background to give Wolvie a bigger role. In fact, there's no real reason for her presence at all: she doesn't factor into any of the storylines, and the episode where she rejoins the team has nothing to do with the overall plot. It's possible that the writers only threw her in because viewers are used to seeing her.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Dust, namely she's the dirt.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Apparently, one of the longest sentences in Genosha's prison is for people who kiss Lorna.
 * Ditzy Genius. Forge, and how.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Hmmm, Tamara Evans voices
 * Downer Ending: Due to Executive Meddling.
 * Empathy Doll Shot: A scene of two children running from Sentinels, and one dropping a teddy bear is in the opening theme.
 * Face Heel Turn:
 * Family-Friendly Firearms: Some episodes used lasers, though in episode 18 the Brotherhood are attacked with firearms that resemble, and sound like, real life weaponry. The trope is immediately played straight again though, as Toad is caught in a net. However, when you think about it this makes more sense as the MRD's purpose is mainly to capture and not to kill. Despite this, Quicksilver is able to scavenge a handgun and use it to cause a Sentinel to fall down to its destruction.
 * Fastball Special: However, because Colossus has hardly appeared, some interesting variations (like Wolverine being thrown by the Blob or propelled by one of Cyclops' laser blasts) have occurred instead.
 * Fluffy the Terrible: Rover, a reprogrammed Sentinel. Although he's pretty nice to his True Companions, and Marrow especially becomes very attached to him.
 * Gambit Pileup: Let's see: Kelly's working an angle, Magneto's working an angle against him, the Inner Circle is working the X-Men, Xavier's working the X-Men too, and then there are people like Sinister and Weapon X, who were planning for the season 2 that never happened.
 * Genghis Gambit:
 * Genius Bruiser: Beast, as usual.
 * Goth: Domino's fashion style. She rocks the look.
 * Nightcrawler's design here also has some Goth influence, but his personality couldn't be further from the stereotype.
 * Heart Is an Awesome Power: One episode featured Nightcrawler teaching a groups of mutants with "useless" powers this.
 * Hello, Nurse!: Emma Frost. Her introduction into the series has practically every male at the X-Mansion (aside from Wolverine and Beast) gawking over her.
 * Heroic Sacrifice:
 * Heel Face Turn: Semi-used.
 * Heel Realization: Warren Worthington II has this epiphany right after he loses what he truly cared about most due to his own actions.
 * Hulk Speak: The Hulk in his guest appearance, naturally.
 * Hypocrite: Wolverine chews out Cyclops for running off by himself instead of working with the team, and then goes off and does the exact same thing in the next episode! This is repeatedly lampshaded, though, and Rogue straight up calls him out on it repeatedly.
 * Instant Expert: Rogue, but just temporary.
 * In the Blood: Commented on by Gambit when he steals Magneto's helmet and break's Polaris's heart (well, kinda) by revealing he was leaving without her. This, understandably, pisses off Polaris and she uses her powers to take back Magneto's helmet and almost sinks Gambit's boat.

"Kitty Pryde: Juggernaut? As in, "The Unstoppable Juggernaut?" What could do that to him?
 * Intangible Man: Shadowcat.
 * Jumped At the Call: Iceman and Shadowcat; literally, in Shadowcat's case.
 * Kick the Dog: Selene revealing that  Plus, Selene is clearly enjoying it.)
 * Killer Robot: Sentinels.
 * Knight Templar:
 * La Résistance
 * Laser-Guided Karma: In "Hindsight", a camper calls MRD about Wolverine, and then rats out on his neighbors just for showing kindness to him for saving their daughter. His RV ends up getting smashed by a MRD helicopter, thanks to Wolverine.
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: The X-Men cast is large enough that some of them don't actually get anything to do. The series throws in villains and secondary characters so often that few of them get any buildup or development, even some characters that are important to the plot aren't introduced until the very last minute (such as the ), or appear to have monumental importance for a single episode before being relegated to extras (Tildie).
 * Love Redeems:
 * Love Triangle: Wolverine/Jean Grey/Cyclops and Emma Frost/Cyclops/Jean Grey.
 * Man Behind the Man:, though if you're familiar with many other versions you probably guessed that.
 * Meanwhile in the Future: Taken to a very, very, ridiculous degree. What happens in the past directly affects the future in real time. Even worse when you realize that the future affected the present that affects the future.
 * Mechanical Evolution: The future Sentinels begin copying the powers of captured mutants.
 * Mind Control Eyes: Lampshaded. Scarlet Witch can't believe Nightcrawler is serious when he states that Wolverine is no longer under Mojo's control because of a change in his eyes.
 * The Mole:
 * Mood Motif: The music from the three movies is threaded throughout the show's theme music.
 * Most Common Superpower: When those costumes come complete with plunging necklines, makes no sense for most of the women to NOT be blessed up top.
 * Ms. Fanservice: Emma Frost, whose costume design has gone completely unchanged from one of her comic looks. And considering how she usually dresses... they sure were lucky for being able to do so.
 * Mythology Gag:
 * A lot of background mutants are cult favourites such as Dazzler; Wolverine wearing his silly original costume in the flashback in Wolverine vs The Hulk.
 * The number of mutant cameos is frankly ridiculous(ly awesome). Seriously, there was a whole action sequence in one episode that was just dealing with Fever Pitch.
 * And when the Marauders Blockbuster and Vertigo are first seen, they're harassing the Morlock Berserker, in reference to their part in the infamous Morlock Massacre storyline.
 * Never Say "Die": Averted with a few uses of the word "kill", but most notably when in episode 17 when the theme is a duel to the death between Logan and the Silver Samurai. Other instances Kurt and Wanda run from a and when Logan and Beast try getting Bobby to rejoin. In episode 16 . This trope can pretty much be considered averted.
 * Not as You Know Them: Not as prevalent as one would expect. Besides Cyclops and Wolverine's role swap, and Storm's Demoted to Extra, the rest of the cast is pretty much spot-on.
 * Depending on which media you were introduced to them. Rogue and Kitty seem to be movie versions, Emma is the comics version, Forge is no version we've ever seen, Poalris is a Daddy's Girl, etc.
 * Oblivious to Love: Nightcrawler seems to have no idea just how badly Scarlet Witch is into him.
 * Oh Crap: Nightcrawler's reaction to Mojo sending a brainwashed  after him and Wanda. "Oh, dang."
 * Overprotective Dad: Magneto, but only to Lorna.
 * Parental Substitute: Rogue thinks of Logan as this. Or at least, as an absentee-version of it, since he keeps leaving for days or weeks at a time.
 * The Phoenix: As a motif.
 * Pokémon-Speak: Rover, a Sentinel that Polaris built out of scrap, only says the word "Destroy".
 * Power Strain Blackout: Christy faints after using her powers to save Wolverine and her father.
 * Rebellious Princess: Polaris.
 * Recursive Adaptation: The Ultimate Marvel, Movie, and X-Men: Evolution versions of many characters seem to have more influence on their portrayal here than the mainstream Marvel Universe characterizations.
 * Redemption Equals Death:
 * Reverse Mole: Played with.
 * Later,
 * Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Xavier seems to have it. Or does he? As a telepath in contact with people from the past he can read from their minds what he told them to avert, even when it no longer happened.
 * Robot Buddy: Rover.
 * Sacrificial Lamb: Jean Grey in the first episode.
 * Say My Name: Cyclops: SINISTER!!!!!!!!
 * Screwed by the Network
 * What makes this infuriating is the fact that Nicktoons Network often advertises marathons of the show,which makes one wonder why they even canceled it in the first place if it was apparently so popular.
 * It was probably that pesky habit that anyone associated with making a show tends to have: demanding payment for services rendered.
 * Maybe the fact Disney bought Marvel has something to do with it? The show is based on characters belonging to a direct competitor!
 * Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Prof X sends them messages from the Bad Future, in the hope they can stop it.
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: Nightcrawler says this about the Scarlet Witch. She is visibly sad.
 * Ship Tease: Angel and Storm. We only get to see it in one episode, though, thanks to the show's cancelation.
 * The also teased the hell out of Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch. See She Is Not My Girlfriend.
 * Shout-Out:
 * Logan calls Hank Chewie in the first episode.
 * In the episode that focuses on Jean, there is a scene where Bobby Drake (Iceman) is clearly playing a Real Life Iron Man game. More specifically, the main console game based on the first film.
 * Spider Tank: The Sentinel Prowler.
 * Spotlight-Stealing Title: Wolverine and the X-Men. You might not notice the second part at first on some posters.
 * Sunglasses At Night: Cyclops, as usual, to contain his otherwise-uncontrollable mutant powers.
 * Supporting Leader: In the future it's Xavier, but in the present Magneto (oddly enough) cites Nightcrawler as one of these characters. One episode shows that he actually does have fantastic leadership skills and his time with the X-Men has made him well-respected in the mutant community.
 * Teleportation Sickness: In "Hunting Grounds", the Scarlet Witch when Nightcrawler teleports both of them repeatedly.
 * This Is Reality: See Air Vent Passageway above.
 * Timey-Wimey Ball: The way time changes in the future from the present.
 * Token Good Teammate: Domino, to the Brotherhood.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Nightcrawler is decidedly more badass than he appears in other adaptations.
 * Took a Level In Dumbass: Quicksilver, as noted below.
 * Too Dumb to Live; Oh sure Inner Circle go ahead and try to probe Phoniex's mind without Emma Frost, the one who know what she's doing. I'm sure nothing will go wrong.
 * Trojan Prisoner: Gambit is able to get onto Genosha by
 * Undying Loyalty: Toad stands by the Brotherhood, no matter what. Even during the aforementioned battle with the Sentinels, he stayed with them.
 * The Unfavourite: Magneto makes it very clear which of his three children he has the least regard for.
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Despite his best efforts, Quicksilver can never get daddy to cut him any slack, or even recognize he might be useful at anything. To be fair though, he is a complete idiot.
 * Though he does manage to set up the X-Men in a clever fashion in the second episode of the three part Series pilot.
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist:
 * What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Subverted in the episode where Nightcrawler saves a sinking ship with help from a bunch of mutants with marginal-seeming powers.
 * White-Haired Pretty Boy: Quicksilver.
 * Window Pain: Cyclops puts Wolverine out, forcibly, via optic blasts, through a window in Episode 2.
 * Wolverine Publicity: The title and the posters show him prominently.
 * The Worf Effect:
 * Juggernaut only makes two appearances in the series. In the first he was clobbered to demonstrate how powerful another character was. His second sequence is barely a cameo, where he escapes entirely off-screen. He doesn't even get to say a word. Commented upon in his first appearance when he gets launched halfway across a city and knocked out cold.

Cue giant monster.

Kitty Pryde: Never mind."


 * Wolverine, despite having his name in the title, is not slacking on his indestructible punching bag duties. Against anyone with a name he either loses, stalemates, or gets a beatdown before winning. The hazards of having blades as your main offense when you aren't allowed to cut anyone.
 * You're Insane!: Scott to Sinister in Shades of Grey.