X-Men ‘97 may have only started, but it’s already facing a major backlash after Marvel has confirmed that Morph identifies as a non-binary. As many social media users criticize this so-called “woke” change, the character’s voice actor, J.P. Karliak, who took the role from Ron Rubin, speaks up about the issue and even admits people’s reactions don’t surprise him at all.
Ahead of X-Men ‘97’s release, Empire made a cover story for the revival series, giving brief character descriptions for the returning characters from X-Men: The Animated Series, including Morph. There, it was revealed that the reboot would have a lighter take on the famous shapeshifter, and it identified him as non-binary, having an interesting “buddy relationship” with Wolverine—a major change from the original show or any of the comic books.
As expected, this draws criticism from fans that Karliak wasn’t even shocked about it, being a queer activist himself. Despite that, he told CBR in a new interview that he was pleased by the counter-backlash other fans made to come to the character's defense.
I know what's going on in the world, especially politically, so no, it didn't surprise me at all. I think what I appreciated was how much counter-backlash there was, with people like 'Have you watched the X-Men ? Are you familiar with why they were created and what they're about? Did you forget that?' That was reassuring.
Karliak also cleared that the word “non-binary” wouldn’t be heard in X-Men ‘97, considering it was set in the 1990s and no one used that term at the time. And despite being identified as that, Morph would still use he/him pronouns.
As far as I know, we're never going to say the word 'non-binary' because nobody said the word 'non-binary' in the '90s. It's not that it didn't exist; it was just in no way a mainstream term at the time. Morph's understanding of who he is could equate to what a modern person would say is non-binary, but he just doesn’t have the terminology for it. At the same time, they/them wasn't a concept in terms of using it as a pronoun.
Morph Still Trying to Find His Place in X-Men ‘97
In addition, Karliak revealed that Morph is still trying to find his place in X-Men ‘97 after everything that has happened to him in X-Men: The Animated Series. Being put under Mr. Sinister’s control has caused a lot of traumas to Morph, from physical to psychological. That said, this could make him relate to this character, especially as a queer person.
“I don't think he's got a clear place yet. That Mister Sinister trauma is real deep,” he explained. “Another thing I love about him is that he's a character that's experienced severe psychological trauma – not to mention, [Morph] was murdered and brought back to life – and physical trauma, as well, but he covers up and masks so much of it with humor. As a queer person, that's a lot of our stories, so I really identify with that.”
Is Morph also non-binary in X-Men: The Animated Series?
Addressing the issue of Morph being identified as non-binary in X-Men ’97, the creators of X-Men: The Animated Series said it was in line with the character’s concept. Director Larry Houston told Variety it’s the same as the word shapeshifter, adding that every character that can transform from one gender to another can be identified as that.
Co-creator and showrunner Eric Lewald added that Morph had become both a man and woman in the original show, like Rogue, Storm, and Jean Grey, as he sought revenge against the X-Men after his death in the first season. So, for him, Morph has been non-binary since the original animated series began, though it wasn’t stated at the time.
“He attacks Wolverine, his closest friend, in the most dramatic way by turning into Jean Grey and putting his hand on Wolverine’s neck and leaning in for a kiss,” Lewald explained. “That’s as non-binary as you can get. It’s Morph turning into a woman and coming onto Wolverine to freak him out. It was all there in Morph’s character.”
However, now that the term has become a social thing, Lewald believed that people are more sensitive to how it will be used. “That’s the only difference,” he added. “We didn’t see a problem in reading him and didn’t feel he was any different.”
New episodes of X-Men ‘97 air every Wednesday on Disney+. Gender issues have been a sensitive topic since time immemorial, but as the original show’s creators put it, it shouldn’t be a problem and made Morph any different.
