Many fans were ecstatic to see X-Men: The Animated Series revived in the form of X-Men ’97. This became clear when fans saw the new trailer released for the Disney Plus series. However, new details also revealed a major character change, and now X-Men ’97 is facing backlash from some fans as a result.
The new X-Men series is set to feature many fan-favorite characters from the original 1990s television run. And, while the new series takes place immediately after, there were always bound to be some changes to make the narrative fit for modern-day.
As it turns out, one of these changes is in the form of a familiar character’s gender identity. Some fans were quite happy to learn about the change, though others took to social media to express their frustration and disappointment.
This change happens to be made towards the character Morph. Fans will recall that Morph was a shapeshifter that presented themselves as male during the original series run. The creators have since revealed that, beginning in X-Men ’97, Morph will now identify as non-binary in the Disney Plus series.
The social media posts shared below reveal that quite a few fans are upset by this decision. While the X-Men brand has always been a metaphor for marginalized people, it seems as though some fans think Disney is going too far by changing pre-existing characters and the traits they’ve carried for decades. Here are some of the tweets:
Disney takes over: Lets make it gay and lame.
— Frank (Lets Be Frank) (@Letsbefrank2410) February 15, 2024
Idgaf if Morph is binary or nonbinary. What I do have a problem with is if they push a relationship between morph and Wolverine for the sake of being woke and with Disney’s track record it’s pretty much what’s going to end up happening 🤦🏽♂️. They’re going to ruin Wolverine. DOA pic.twitter.com/dhrrAa2pfp
— Phoenix Reviews @ZSAP (@AlexPhoenix_12) February 15, 2024
We found out 2 years ago Morph would be non-binary in the X-Men 97 series. It’s a pathetic move, but they were honest years ago with how shitty it was going to be and how they didn’t get a fuck about respecting the characters they were handed. 🤷♀️ pic.twitter.com/d9tnqkvKg8
— Vara Dark (@Vara_Dark) February 16, 2024
There were also users that defended the change:
When I see people getting upset that morph, a character who literally died in the first episode off screen, Comes out as non binary, that’s when I know people need to get a life that’s worth something instead of being on the internet.
— DimeforCrimes🕹️👾♊️🐕🖤🐘🤍💜 (@AJmightbedumb) February 16, 2024
The YouTube grifters/chuds are crying about the X-Men being “woke” because the new series made the character Morph — a shape shifting mutant — nonbinary.
How do y’all function/exist daily, holy shit. pic.twitter.com/n1Rzo8hGQl
— Ty the Cisgender Hermit 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (@DesertHermitTC) February 16, 2024
It’s so funny, as a non-binary person to see queerphobes have a meltdown over a character literally named “morph” with shape shifting powers being non-binary.
— dorklordgg (they/them) 🇵🇸 (@apexdorklord) February 16, 2024
Morph can shapeshift into any form, any gender, any race….
And ya’ll calling X-Men “woke” for making the shapeshifter non-binary???
Goodnight Twitter 🙄 pic.twitter.com/np3WdzjG2r
— PGManZZy🇨🇦🏳️🌈🍉 (@PGManZZy) February 16, 2024
Of course, it’s likely that this won’t be the only change being made in the Disney Plus series. For a revival that’s otherwise looking quite faithful to its predecessor, however, one can hope that X-Men fans will still find plenty to enjoy and that there will be less backlash.
The new X-Men animated series X-Men ’97 will be available to stream via Disney Plus on March 20, 2024. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding X-Men ’97 and any other upcoming Marvel projects as we have them.