After just three episodes of the hit Marvel animated show,X-Men ‘97,things have already begun heating up as one of the most intriguing characters X-Men comic fans will know all too well has arrived. Madelyne Pryor, AKA the Goblin Queen, introduced a major story arc from the original comic books, with the show finding some brilliant ways of incorporating an updated backstory for her into the show via a condensed retelling.
Already showing much of the same superb quality that made the original show one of the most revered animated series of all time,X-Men ‘97is certainly living up to all the hype it created since it was first announced as an upcoming title.
Whilenot a part of the MCU, the show was a stroke of genius, since it plays on fans’ nostalgia for the original show and generates new interest in the X-Men as marvel characters ahead of their highly anticipated full introduction to the MCU. With the addition of the Goblin Queen so early on, the show already laid bare just how deep into comic tradition it’s willing to go, delighting older fans who would have grown up reading them in the process.
However, with the show proving popular among a wide array of viewers, including many not familiar with the older comic story lines, some audiences may be wondering just who the Goblin Queen actually is, and why she’s so powerful. Here’s the scoop.StreamX-Men ‘97on Disney+.
Comic Book Origins
The original introduction of Madelyne Pryor inthe comic booksformed part of a masterful storyline that started with the death of Jean Grey as Phoenix. As the love of Cyclops’ life, her death left him inconsolable and grasping onto anything to have her back. As fate would have it, on the same day as Jean’s death, a pilot named Madelyne Pryor survived a crash, with Scott later meeting her. Her uncanny resemblance to Jean made him believe that Madelyne was an incarnated version of her.
While he later dismisses this belief, it doesn’t stop him from falling for Madelyne, with the pair eventually marrying and Scott leaving the X-Men as a result. Madelyn laterspends time with characters like Loki, before she and Scott have a son together — Nathan Summers AKA Cable (remember the soldier from the future inDeadpool 2?).Despite seemingly being given a second chance at happiness, Jean is later found alive, causing Scott to basically abandon his family life with Madelyne.
Related:Essential X-Men: The Animated Series Episodes to Catch Up With ‘97
The Connection to Mr. Sinister
Circumstances later cause Madelyne to strike a deal with a demon from another realm, leading to her iteration as the Goblin Queen. Her powers mirror Jean Grey’s, but she can also teleport and even bend reality to her will. Another deal with a separate demon sends her on a quest to find Nathan, although, she encountersthe infamous Mr. Sinisterinstead.
Sinister’s mutant experimentation and fascination with Scott and Jean has become notorious, and it’s these same underpinnings that are revealed as Madelyne finds out that she was actually created by the villain as a clone of Jean Grey, but was essentially a failed experiment.
Tragically, Jean’s reemergence ultimately spells Madelyn’s doom, as she later commits suicide after a massive confrontation with Scott and the X-Men. Her memories and emotional connections are transferred to Jean in the process, which is how Jean ends up loving Nathan as her own son and helping Scott to raise him.
Since Nathan Summers is destined to become Cable, the X-Men Universe’s version of John Connor, Nathan is later sent to the future by Jean and Scott to protect him; explaining why many of his interactions with the X-Men stem from story lines where he travels to the pastTerminator-styleto prevent future calamities before they occur.
How X-Men ‘97 Introduces Madelyne Pryor
By the third episode ofX-Men ‘97,it’s revealed that Madelyne had been swapped with Jean already at some point, and even Scott was unaware that this had occurred. In this version, we can assume that Mr. Sinister had already swapped themas he did in the comics, but held the real Jean prisoner until she escaped and came back to the mansion, rather than her dying. The show’s version of Madelyn treats her less harshly than the comics, which mostly portrayed her as a villain despite her never asking for any of what happened to her.
In the show, she truly believed that she was actually Jean Grey, but is manipulated into becoming the Goblin Queen by Mr. Sinister as a ploy by him to pit her against the X-Men. Instead, she and Scott work together to free Nathan from Sinister, while she and Jeansearch each other’s mindsto help them piece together the missing pieces of what happened to them. Jean is able to see the truth, that she truly believed she was the former. At the same time, Madelyne is provided with the unassailable reality that she isn’t the real Jean.
Related:Biggest Easter Eggs in X-Men ‘97’s Episodes 1 & 2
A Fresh Update
Finding a more condensed way to redo the Madelyne Pryor/Goblin Queen arc in the show, the episode made for a terrific piece of writing that managed to give Madelyne closure. Rather thantragically cast her as a villain, when she was in fact a victim herself, the show chose to redeem her and provide a more sympathetic approach to the character.
As one of the most tragic characters from the X-Men’s comic book history, no one was probably more deserving of a new lease than Madelyne. Rather than evoke any anger among lifelong X-Men fans who know the original story,X-Men ‘97showed a touch of class that only reminded them why its precursor was so brilliant in the first place.
For purists out there who might not agree with the departure, the MCU has already shown us how different versions of the same characters are able to exist simultaneously across varying story lines. All we need to do is think of theX-Men ‘97universe as a different one from the comic universe, and suddenly the multiverse concept allows both Madelyne Pryors to peacefully coexist.
Originally created by the iconic Marvel writer Chris Claremont and artist Paul Smith, the former has already suggested thatchange is an inevitable part of the X-Men universe. As the man who created iconic characters like Rogue, Gambit, Psylocke, and Sabertooth, there aren’t many true fans of X-Men who would begrudge him that opinion.
