Considering that Mr. Sinister will likely play a bigger role in Season 2, I would imagine that Angel/Archangel will also be involved. Especially since his romance with Storm is quite literally her only character plot point.
Production on Season 2 is going on as we speak, with work on storyboarding, character designs, and likely acting. Animation takes months to return from overseas and then it has to be edited, mixed with music, etc. So I would be surprised if we saw any completed episodes before either Halloween 2009 if not 2010. Since most networks overseas will wait for packages of some 12-26 episodes to be done and sent to them before airing any.
I could imagine some teaser trailers for Season 2 being done around Fall 2009, though.
Having finally managed to see all the episodes of the first season after, initially, being unable to do so, I can certainly say that, while the show is decent enough, there are quite few bugs which really need to be worked out. Dread, in his always eloquent reviews touched on much of the problems with season 1, and I find I agree with a lot of them.
Titling the show "Wolverine and the X-Men" obviously makes Wolverine the main protagonist, which considering he's the most popular X-Men, is fine, but it does so at the cost of character development. The only characters who appeared to have any at all, besides Wolverine, were
Rogue (at least for the first 13 episodes), Cyclops (who, as far as I'm concerned, has been turned into an self-centered lovestruck *****e), Angel, Nightcrawler, Scarlet Witch, Magneto (of course), Emma Frost (who now appears dead), and (for one episode anyway) Mystique, but only because of her connection to Wolverine.
Hopefully, the show can improve things on that score.
Another thing they need to improve is if the show is going to be a back and forth between the present and an alternative future, make sure damn sure they actually connect. Now, some of you are probably wondering that they did in this already during this season, but if you look at the season closely, you actually see how loose that connection really is.
For instance:
All through this season, we're lead to believe that the cause for the "Days of Future Past" future with the Sentinels ruling the world and all of humanity--mutants and humans alike--were the result of the war between humans and mutants. Sure, we learned that Genosha was destroyed by the Phoenix, but Xavier surmised that the war must have had something to do with it because it must have emotionally stressed Jean to the point of releasing the Phoenix Force she and Xavier locked away within her mind (And BTW, if Xavier knew that the Phoenix Force ended up being the cause, why didn't he try and tell the X-Men right away that Jean was still alive? He could have told Wolverine this BEFORE Cyclops' therapy session with Emma Frost).
But as it turns out, the war had ZERO to do with bringing this future about. It was all the machinations of the Inner Circle trying to control the Phoenix Force for themselves and unleashing it so they could take over the world, not to mention Wolverine "lack of trust" for Emma Frost and, presumably, killing her before she had a chance to prove she had redeemed through the power of her love for the unworthy Cyclops. All Master Mold and the Sentinels did was just come along and convientantly take over what scraps of the Earth and humanity were left. By that logic, and considering that the X-Men still haven't located Master Mold in the present, this could still happen. Heck, since it was actually the Phoenix Force who brought all this about, Apocalypse could just have easily took over what was left himself just as easily. So, not only was all the schmeing and power struggle between Magneto and Senator Kelly to start a war for their own interests a massive red herring (i.e. waste of time), but the whole Phoenix and Inner Circle plot undermines the whole concept behind the X-Men of humans and mutants trying to find common ground to avoid disaster.
So, for the second season, I hope the connection between the present and the Age of Apocalypse is far more solid.
Some of what I think will end up happening in season 2 with regards to the Age of Apocalypse future I hope will happen and some which, thanks to what the series already established, I believe, in some cases unfortunately, will happen:
*Magneto, in the future, will end up leading the X-Men (consisting of himself, Rogue, Storm, Iceman, Nightcrawler, Sabretooh, Quicksilver, Forge, Sunfire, Gambit, etc.) and be married to Rogue, and they will have a child together (much like the actual event). That part will be good. However, I have a sneaking feeling that Rogue is going to go in a similar route that [blackout] Marrow did in last season,[/blackout] in that realizing that preventing the Age of Apocalypse will result in her child not being born, Rogue tries to sell out Xavier and ends up having all the future X-Men nearly wiped out, with Rogue doing her "What have I done" moment. That part might be bad, as well as derivative.
*Cyclops,
as we see in the final episode of season 1, is now with Apocalypse, and I imagine that Havoc will also be on the bad guys side just like in the original event. However, considering how the show has already made Cyclops dangerously close to being a heel, I'm guessing that he ends up joining Apocalypse because Jean ends up choosing Logan over him--because after all, that's the only reason Cyclops is even on the X-Men at all, remember. And now that she's back, we clearly have seen that she does have more than a passing interest in Wolverine even though she's with Scott, so you know the whole rivalry between Logan and him will resurface, resulting in their maimed AoA looks. And how much do you want to bet it's because of this that AoA happens at all. For some reason, I have a feeling that "evil Cyclops" will be with the Madalyne Pryor, a clone of Jean Sinister created for him, or a resurrected Emma Frost, who loves him but whom he treats like crap because he still wants Jean.
*As for other pairings, Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch will have married and have a daughter named Nocturne. However, Scarlet Witch will have been killed, leaving Nightcrawler a single dad and wanting revenge against Apocalypse for killing the woman he loved. Colossus (who will have returned in the present) is now with Kitty Pryde and the two of them will have left the X-Men to lead a quiet life. Bobby, of course, will have been hurt by this.
*Beast will, of course, have become Dark Beast. I also imagine that the Horsemen will consist of Archangel, Mikihal Rasputin, Holocaust, and Abyss. And I'm sure Polaris will now be Malice in the AoA future and paired with Havok.
*Will see Nathan Summers, a.k.a. X-Man in AoA, who, I imagine will also end up being Cable, someone who comes from father in the future to prevent AoA from happening and who will be at odds with the X-Men. And I'm sure the "Twelve" storyline will play a key role in how Apocalypse takes control, and needs mutants with harmonic DNA, which will happen in AoA rather than the present. Who those will be the "twelve" will turn out to be will be the big "mystery" of the season, as Cable will, perhaps, try to go after the "twelve" to prevent this from happening.
*I also think that, in the present, will see Morlocks and the Maurders Massacre with Gambit being the one who will have been responsible, and joining the X-Men for redemption, and how this is connected with AoA. Likewise, I think Weapon X will also end up playing a role, and wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it was somehow connected with Apocalypse as it involves "improving" mutants. Which means more X-23. And perhaps, hopefully, Deadpool.
that all sounds nice, but i want some psylocke! and she basically had nothing to do with AoA. none the first time, and only a little in the 10 year anniversary re-visit.
im sure they can work something in, so they had better do so.
Great planned out ideas there. Would there be room for Banshee at all? Or should the Muir Island arc be saved for a potential 3rd Season with him and Moira MacTaggart involved?
Here's what I would like to see in season 2.
2. More non mutant guest superhero guest stars.
3. Cyclops or Storm replace Wolverine as the leader of the team.
8. I want to see a young present day 20 something version of Bishop join the team.
9. The title of the show change from WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN to just X-MEN.
2., maybe, the rest I agree with... 8. wouldn't he be younger than 20? teens maybe?
but off the top of my head I'd lke to see...
-the X-Men roster to remain relatively the same, or get smaller so as to focus on those with a lack of development or involvement in S1
-Jean without the Phoneix Force (you rarely get that nowadays
-just a hint as to what happens with the Phoenix Force
-The Professor's physical return
-The Morlocks
-Wanda & Nightcrawler's relationship
-What happens to Genosha under Wanda's command
I was reading up on Jean Greay on wikipedia (I know, unreliable) and got the impression that for season 2, the show has been retitled "X-Men: The Age of Apocalypse"
can someone confirm or deny this, I personally don't think it is, but SOOOOOOO hope it's true, and it'd be interesting if the played around with the title each season?
Indeed it would be. But it doesnt seem like it. But the best news I just discovered on Wiki is that Nicktoons has ordered 26 additional episodes. Which means not only season 2, but 3 also
I would like to see the New X-Men (Hellions, New Mutants, Cyclop's squadron etc.) in action. I know that is near to impossible for season 2, but for season 3 I hope that could become possible. I mean, we've already had 3 different shows featuring the same ol' X-Men. Not that I'm getting tired of them...
I'll like some "change" a bit. Some new blood with Surge, Prodigy, Hellion, Anole, Gentle, Wind Dancer, Elixir, etc.
I watched the whole season over and I liked this the first time I watched it a lot better. it lacks comedy in almost every way possible. they need to lighten up. It kinda feels like the Iron Man and Dr. Strange DTVs in some episodes where you just want it to be over less than half way through, but luckily these are 21-22 minutes long.
Yeah, WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN, beyond some quips or certain characters, such as Nightcrawler, Mojo, or Toad, took itself very, very, very seriously at nearly every juncture. To be fair, it is hard to blame the show itself when the comics and the motion picture franchise often do this with the X-Men, too. I might argue the X-Men comics haven't been "fun" since the 90's, usually a perpetual traumatic soap opera with endless angst. The 1990's X-MEN had the characters making puns in nearly every episode and situation, which was fine for the time but on a rewatch now seems a bit choppy.
The ideal would be to keep it a serious show but to allow the characters some light moments to flesh out as compared to always dripping angst.
I'd love to see Colossus handled well in Season 2, but if the creative team sees him as nothing more than a nice design who gets trashed in every fight, as they did in X-MEN EVOLUTION, I would rather he stay gone. The only thing worse than seeing one of your favorite characters omitted is seeing them handled poorly.
If we are doing AGE OF APOCALYPSE, a mere decade after anyone gave a **** about it (Marvel did an anniversary series of comics a few years ago, and they're still collecting dust in comic shops), I suppose that will give a chance for some new design work. Hoperfully Apocalypse is handled well; the one constant of X-Men cartoons is that he has always been a major league threat who brings out the best of a show, so hopefully this will be no exception.
The writing has to improve. They need to abandon X-MEN 3 logic; do ONE plot well, instead of trying to smash two different ones together. They need to stop trying to insert endless cameos as if they are trying to win a bet and instead focus on fleshing the characters they already have. At the season finale with most of the team fighting Sentinels, I found myself genuinely caring about little of them. Forge is a cipher, a CHUCK cliche. Kitty is a cipher, a "Kim Possible" cliche. Iceman is a cipher, your token "eager wisecracking hero". Beast's characterization ended when the roster did. Rogue's subplot ended after she rejoined the X-Men and she did nothing since. That's fine for 13 or even 18 episodes, but I expected more after 26. Granted, when you have to devote some 8 episodes a season to Logan solo or team-up adventures, two of which had nothing to do with the seasonal arc, I guess you only have so much time.
It is easy to get distracted writing the X-Men. There are so many characters with so many cool flashy powers and spiffy code-names. Season 1, looking back, looked a lot like a few writers from EVOLUTION having a ball because they weren't oppressed in what they could do by Kid's WB. And hey, that's a great feeling, but writing as if you are on a sugar high rarely presents balanced results. They need to objectively analyze the first season and hopefully the writing gets tighter in Season 2. Because trust me, this show can have the best animation and voice actors in the universe, but without good writing it will never get far above mediocrity. Just ask MTV SPIDER-MAN.
Doing the AGE OF APOCALYPSE presents the idea of a Sinister-loyal Cyclops vs. a "good" free Logan. In the comics, it was a little more complicated; Cyclops was trying to undermine the Apocalypse stuff from within. But, WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN proved to be as deep as a kiddie pool with character conflict with Logan. In Season 1, he was always perfect. He made mistakes, but they never had consequences, so they didn't really count. No character was allowed to one up him, to be right when Logan wasn't. The only time Logan took a dive for someone else was when he had to lose to Blob so Rogue could have a moment. Meanwhile, the entire team could lose easily to faceless ninja if the plot demanded it. There needs to be more balance here. Wolverine can be a great character, but he ISN'T that great when he is Red Ranger, when he is perfect, the favorite of everyone, is never a jerk, and is never called out or made to bare for his mistakes. Think back to your favorite Wolverine moments in comics, movies, or cartoons, and I can bet a lifetime salary it was a moment when he wasn't many of the things above.
There is a part of me that is dreading AGE OF APOCALYPSE, because I see it as adding more distractions. More episodes of people from an alternate future who don't matter for more than plot convenience. Another season of Future Xavier leading Logan by the claw at every critical juncture and us still having to believe Wolverine is leading through adversity. And finally, I see it as another chance to prove that Wolverine's the man and Cyclops is a waste, like a lot of Season 1 did. That's boring because that isn't a rivalry. A rivalry has to give both sides that are rivals some distinct advantages and disadvantages. Instead Wolverine is awesome and Scott is a sad sack, and that's not as interesting.
There is also a part of me that wonders if, in planning for the moment rather than the future, the writers traded a gut wrenching character sacrifice in Season 1 for a boring relationship in Season 2. Had Jean died in Season 1, I would have griped up the wazoo about the fallacy of expecting me to care about the death of a walking Maguffin, but I would have then felt excited about the next season for Scott & Emma. Instead, I was going on about a tragic end for Emma, while now cringing for Season 2 bringing us the umpteenth version of Scott & Jean, a relationship so boring that it makes Reed & Sue look like a kinky swinger couple in comparison. Scott would have had to grow with Emma, to maybe actually stand up on his two feet for the first time in his entire life (in the show's world, that is) without Jean there. Now he doesn't have to. It made his entire trials and tribulations in Season 1 basically worthless. He learned nothing. He didn't have to change or adapt. Even Logan had to adapt. Season 2 thus means that the writers are forced with trying to make us give a **** about Jean Grey very, very quickly. Furthermore, they have to try to redeem a cad like Cyclops. He abandons his friends for himself at every juncture, he crumbles at the slightest bit of adversity, he needs to be molly coddled for everything, and he uses women to feed his own sad sack ego problems. Not only does Season 2 have to make us like Jean as a character rather than as a walking Maguffin, but it has to at least try to make Cyclops in the least bit as sympathetic; why does Jean so love a man who sees her as nothing more than a plug to his leaky dam of issues, who practically exploited Emma's feelings at every turn and barely winced when she died for him. It's akin to loving the Sentry, a person who is not a character, but a walking psychological session. On that note, maybe having Cyclops join the bad guys whole hog for a season might work; WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN cemented very well that he is absolutely dreadful as a hero, but as a villain he may work. I mean, hell, Two-Face is probably more sympathetic overall. He became a DA on his own gumption.
But, yeah, as much as I would like Colossus to come in, if they need to nix him in order to better flesh out Beast, Iceman, Shadowcat, Rogue, Forge, and god, Storm, then so be it. I'm convinced that Kyle & Johnson have no ability to make any "super strong" character look impressive in this show, but that could be due to storyboarding That has to improve, too. Even if it is nothing more than telling the storyboard team to study JLU and shamelessly rip off some of their best fights shot for shot, that would be better.
Basically my point in all this is that what has to really improve in Season 2 is the foundations, the meat and potatoes writing and storyboarding and pacing. More mutants, new enemies, change of alternate future, those are all pretty bows without better writing. My patience wore thin for Season 1 considering many shows in a debut season are lucky to be assured 13 episodes, much less 26. I'll be even less patient if Season 2 doesn't pick up a lot sooner. I believe the creative team has the talent to pull it off, and we saw hints of that all over Season 1. The trick will be delivering on a more consistent basis and not letting themselves fall into traps of distraction and fan-******* with the X-Men. They're hard traps to avoid, but that's why not everyone has the chops to write 'em.
To use a sports analogy, even the worst baseball players can usually hit a home run at least once or twice a season, or get on base a few times. The best ones are the ones who offer consistent quality; consistently good at bats, consistently good base-running and field presence, and so on. WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN has a good animation budget, good enough character designs and a great voice cast. What it needs to step up in Season 2 is for the writing and storyboard crew to move from hum-drum middle rotation to MVP. Or at least MVP contention. They need to get consistent. That above anything else is what I want in Season 2.
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