Earlier this week, X-Men '97 released its sixth episode titled Lifedeath Part 2 on Disney+, and it continued the plot of Storm losing her powers earlier in the show. In the Marvel comics, "Lifedeath" is an iconic storyline for the Mistress of Elements. The original story, written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Barry Windsor-Smith, kicked of in 1984's Uncanny X-Men #185 when Storm was shot with the neutralizer gun. X-Men '97's version of this storyline is a bit different, but fans of the comics would notice similar beats to the original source material.
During an interview with Comicbook.com, X-Men '97 director Chase Conley recently explained why they didn't feel pressure when it came to adapting Storm's iconic storyline.
"No. I don't necessarily feel pressure," Conley told the outlet. "You try to do your best to elevate the script, and to really highlight the subtext of each scene, and to get into Storm's POV, and what she's feeling in that time. And the only real restriction is runtime, right? Because sometimes you really want to try to build out these moments, but you try to do the best that you can, as far as, and I think constraints also is a plus, too, because I think that it forces you to get creative."
"So no," he added. "I don't really feel any pressure, and I always treat her with the dignity that I would treat any other character for that matter. And it is just about making it feel real, getting into her head space. And as a person that's lost everything that makes them who they are, there's a lot of things, that you might go to some dark places. So it's just, 'How do we showcase that without a feeling contrived, or feeling disingenuine?'"
Produced by Marvel Studios Animation, X-Men '97 takes place after Charles Xavier/Professor X's loss in the finale, reuniting fan-favorite mutants, including Wolverine (Cal Dodd), Cyclops (Ray Chase), Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale), Storm (Allison Sealy-Smith), Rogue (Lenore Zann), Beast (George Buza), Jubilee (Holly Chou), Gambit (AJ LoCascio), Nightcrawler (Adrian Hough), Morph (JP Karliak), Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith), and Magneto (Matthew Waterson).
When is X-Men '97 Episode 7 coming?
X-Men '97 Episode 7, titled Bright Eyes, is scheduled to premiere at 12:00 A.M. PT, 3:00 A.M. ET, and 7:00 A.M. GMT on Wednesday, April 24.
Here's the full episode schedule for X-Men '97:
Episode 1 To Me, My X-Men and Episode 2 Mutant Liberation Begins: March 20
Episode 3 Fire Made Flesh: March 27
Episode 4 Motendo / Lifedeath - PT 1: April 3
Episode 5 Remember It: April 10
Episode 6 Lifedeath Part 2: April 17
Episode 7 Bright Eyes: April 24
Episode 8 Tolerance is Extinction - PT 1: May 1
Episode 9 Tolerance is Extinction - PT 2: May 8
Episode 10 Tolerance is Extinction - PT 3: May 15
