X-Men ’97 just had its Avengers: Infinity War moment

X-Men ’97’s latest episode is so brilliant it’s comparable to Infinity War’s shocking climax.

Anyone who’s been watching X-Men ’97 will know that it’s the best thing the MCU’s produced in some time. The characters are rich and complex, the stories mature, and the animation beautiful. Yet this week’s episode, titled ‘Remember It’, is so heartbreaking and powerful that I genuinely believe that it’s up there with Infinity War’s snap in terms of the top MCU moments. 

‘Remember It’ opens with a trip to the mutant nation Genosha on the day it’s meant to be accepted into the United Nations. After a smattering of cameos from fan-favorite mutants, some political wrangling, and the resolution of the Rogue-Gambit-Magneto love triangle, disaster strikes. 

It’s not Thanos and his natty glove, though, who comes to ruin the mutant’s day; it’s a rogue Master Mold sentinel that launches a surprise attack on Genosha. As the murderous mecha tears its way through the city, hundreds, if not thousands, of mutants are wiped out in the blink of an eye — or, more aptly, the roar of a laser beam. The devastation was unbelievable, and what’s worse is we got a front-row seat to the carnage.  

Mutant Massacre

Disney Plus

As you’d expect from the uncanny X-Men, Gambit, Rogue, and Magneto do everything they can to save their fellow mutants, but Master Mold proves too powerful for them. Things look bleak. Magneto’s pinned down by the sentinel’s powerful energy blasts and seemingly killed while protecting the mutant child Leech. It only gets worse, though, when a desperate Gambit launches an attack on the sentinel and gets stabbed in the gut for his effort.

Thankfully, this is exactly what the Ragin’ Cajun was planning, and he charged the sentinel with kinetic energy, blowing it away. Unfortunately, the power of the blast and his wound prove too much for poor Remy, and he dies in Rogue’s arms. That’s where the episode ends, with Gambit dead, Magneto missing, and Genosha, which was supposed to be a mutant haven, turned into the species’ graveyard.

The massacre of so many mutants makes this a horrifying chapter in X-Men ’97s story, and the parallels with Infinity War, which also featured multiple deaths (or dustings if you want to get technical) are clear. Yet, I don’t think the spectacle of violence is why I consider this the equivalent of Infinity War’s climax. As the cliche goes, a million deaths is a statistic, but one is a tragedy, and honestly, it all comes down to how I felt in Gambit’s final moments. 

Oh snap!

Disney Plus

Remy’s desperate last stand had all the emotional tonality of the Avengers’ final battle in Wakanda. There’s violent horror when he’s stabbed, the cathartic triumph when he manages to stop the seeming indestructible machine, and finally, grief as Rogue cradles his dead body and echoes Scarlet Witch’s words for the fallen Vision: “I can’t feel you.”

If you didn’t start to tear up at that moment, I presume you have the mutant power of being an absolute bastard. In all seriousness, though, it’s so impressive that in just five 30-minute episodes, X-Men ’97 has managed to engender such sympathy for its characters and the plight of the mutants. I think it’s because, unlike other more recent MCU stories, the horror of what’s happened is played with shocking sincerity.

There are no glib one-liners or jokes to undercut the tension, just shock and dread. I’ve not seen the MCU do anything like that really since Infinity War, as so often now in Marvel, there’s a gag or a wry smirk that undermines the drama and lessens the stakes. That wasn’t true of Infinity War, and it’s not true of X-Men ’97 either. Here’s hoping Marvel learns a few lessons from this astounding cartoon.

If you’re enjoying the new adventures of Maqrvel’s merry mutants, why not take a look at our guide to the Marvel timeline? We’ve also got articles breaking down everything we know about the Deadpool 3 and Thunderbolts release date.

If that’s not enough, we’ve also got a list of all the best new movies landing on streaming this month.