X-Men '97 Season 2 Stumbles With Wolverine Episode That Rushes Through Major Comic Storylines

X-Men '97 Season 2's fifth episode marks the series' first major stumble, as a Wolverine-centric story introduces classic Marvel villains but races through its source material at breakneck speed. The episode, titled "Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs," brings back the Brood—alien parasites originally created in 1982—while simultaneously restoring Wolverine's adamantium skeleton that was stripped away in the season finale.

Plot and Character Setup

The episode follows Wolverine assembling a team of former Weapon X test subjects for what appears to be a mission of revenge against Doctor Cornelius, the scientist responsible for grafting adamantium to his skeleton. However, the group discovers Cornelius has been experimenting with something far more sinister: controlling the Brood, extraterrestrial parasites that infect hosts and inherit their mutant abilities. The facility has descended into chaos, with infected workers and wildlife spreading the alien threat.

Wolverine's true motivation emerges partway through—he never intended to kill Cornelius. Instead, he needs access to the scientist's laboratory equipment to reclaim his adamantium. When Wolverine himself becomes infected by the Brood, Morph must act to save him, deepening an emotional bond between the two characters that the episode explores with unexpected nuance.

Creative Strengths and Narrative Flaws

The episode draws heavy inspiration from James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens, complete with direct quotations and a tactical approach to infiltration. These sequences recall the action-horror setup of characters facing an overwhelming extraterrestrial threat—a choice that reintroduces supporting characters like Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike, and Maverick in fresh contexts. The Brood themselves reference Ridley Scott's original Alien film from 1979, sharing the xenomorphs' reproduction method of infecting sentient organisms and mutating their hosts.

Yet critics note that X-Men '97 consistently prioritizes speed over substance. The series blazes through decades of Marvel Comics material without allowing individual storylines to breathe. In this case, Wolverine's adamantium restoration—a plot point that lasted six years in the comics before his eventual transformation into Apocalypse's Horseman Death—unfolds within a single episode. Similarly, the Brood's potential as long-term antagonists gets resolved almost as quickly as they appear, limiting their impact as a genuine threat.

One bright spot emerges in Morph's expanded role. The character has largely remained sidelined throughout the new series, but this episode dedicates considerable attention to the complex emotional dynamics between Morph and Logan. Whether their connection represents pure friendship or something deeper—a question the episode deliberately leaves ambiguous—marks a rare moment where character development takes precedence over plot mechanics.