Before Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers - Saban Entertainment took the challenge of a creating a TV-Y7-FV version of the X-Men. Hence, X-Men: The Animated Series (X-Men: TAS) was born as a result of that. Before that, there was the FAILED pilot called Pryde of the X-Men which an arcade came was made LOOSELY based on it. This was one of my favorite shows. I remember throwing tantrums whenever I missed an episode because of a brownout, storm, or those damn days when I had to study. It was aired on Friday evenings on ABS-CBN. It was also when Batman: The Animated Series and Conan the Adventurer were aired on the same network. Yeah, all shows were in 1992. Then in 1993 - Toei Ltd. gave Saban Entertainment the green light to launch the once-monster hit Mighty Morphin'.
I felt that toning down Super Sentai and creating Power Rangers based on it can be challenging. Though, I still think that X-Men TAS was probably a harder challenge. One needs to read the comics which contain several sensitive issues along with violence, nudity, sexual acts, deaths, etc. You know how X-Men TAS totally had to tone down everything. Yes, you have some of the villains here and there such as Magneto (who was initially the show's so-called antagonist), Apocalypse (who's actually the REAL villain and was the one controlling Magneto and company BTS), Mr. Sinister (who in here is surprisingly loyal to Apocalypse unlike the comics), and the mutant-hating bigot (but secretly the son of two mutants) Graydon Creed. Yeah, you know how censorship is done, right?
Toning down the violence to cartoony levels was just the start
One of the things worth noting is how people have LASER GUNS in X-Men: TAS. It's no different than how Power Rangers SPD had replaced bullets with lasers. Kaito Sentai Lupinranger vs. Keisatsu Sentai Patranger also replaced some guns with lasers too. That kind of censorship has become so common. It would be noteworthy how handguns, rifles, etc. were replaced with LASERS. Was it done for a futuristic feel OR was it because of censorship? Then again laser guns did KILL in the Super Robot Anime. A good example is how Hyajakuu Sentai Golion did kill Nanny with a laser gun.
When fighting baddies - there's really that censorship involved. How often do we see that the ones that get injured the most are ROBOTIC FOES? Yeah, the robotic censorship was really there. In Lion Voltron, the Galra soldiers were converted into robots. In Golion, the soldiers were all ORGANIC BEINGS. The 1980s He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon along its sister show She-Ra Princess of Power always used robots that were DISMANTLED. We couldn't have Skeletor vaporize anyone in the cartoon - something that his movie version did out of spite. The Sentinels were the ones who suffered the most damage one way or another.
The rivalry between Wolverine and Sabertooth is heavily toned for OBVIOUS reasons
A good reading of any of the older issues will show that these guys' battles have been toned down. The reason has to be the BLOODY nature of their rivalry. The comics would always portray them in a more brutal manner. Yes, there's blood and the healing factor DOESN'T stop the bleeding. It's pretty much tamed or some killings are simply done off-screen.
We know how Sabertooth is one incredibly cruel villain. Much of Wolverine's life was ruined by Sabertooth. Sabertooth was also an abusive father to his son Graydon Creed. That stuff made a lot of stuff worse for the X-Men whether it's the comics or any cartoon incarnation. Sabertooth's fights with Wolverine in the cartoon are toned down for obvious reasons. Sure, they both have healing factors but the comic series NEVER shied away from the bleeding or violence.
Sure, we did get a good intense arc in the Weapon X arc. We see false memories were used. We know Wolverine was once married to Silver Fox. Sabertooth's assault on Silver Fox was pretty much darkened for obvious reasons. The battle with Silver Samurai in "Lotus and the Steel" has been toned down. Wolverine simply cut off the teleportation device. Yeah, I guess that scene probably also inspired the staff responsible for Mighty Morphin' to make Lord Zedd's putties just go poof. Then again we also have Conan the Adventurer where the serpent men are simply sent back to the Abyss rather than brutally bloodied like the comics.
Mr. Sinister wasn't so sinister in the cartoons
Wolverine and Sabertooth weren't the only ones to get a toned-down rivalry. We also have it when Cyclops and Mr. Sinister got played into the cartoons. The comics actually established a fiercer rivalry between them. Mr. Sinister wasn't introduced UNTIL Cyclops married the Jean Grey clone, Madelyne Pryor. Madelyne was totally cut off from the cartoons for OBVIOUS reasons. Mr. Sinister messed up with Cyclops and Jean Grey more severely in the comics. Mr. Sinister could've actually forced them to do it so he could get the offspring he wanted.
Instead, Mr. Sinister was given a toned-down treatment. For some reason, the writers decided to make him another of Apocalypse's loyal lackeys and even changed his backstory a bit. His origin was altered when he discovered his powers via experimentation. In the comics, Apocalypse was the reason why Mr. Sinister became Mr. Sinister. It's amazing how much had to be worked with to create Mr. Sinister as a TV-Y7-FV villain when the comics counterpart did more questionable stuff.
Initially. Cyclops was able to blast out Mr. Sinister in the comics. The reason was that Havok overpowered Cyclops' optic blasts at that time. The scene was rather brutal as Mr. Sinister was ripped to the bone. Heck, even the skeleton could be seen at that time. That's all Mr. Sinister's powers allowed him to regenerate via some missing cells. The cartoon Cyclops was totally aware of how Mr. Sinister could reassemble himself. Later, Mr. Sinister was able to dodge Cyclops' optic blasts just fine. However, the cartoons made it a running gag that Cyclops could somehow hurt Mr. Sinister. Heck, one episode had Cyclops blow up Mr. Sinister to pieces and send him off. Cyclops was aware of Mr. Sinister's regenerative abilities.
What was also deleted was how Mr. Sinister destroyed Cyclops' life. Mr. Sinister was the one who orchestrated the events that led to Cable's birth within the comics. Here, it seems that the two just got bad blood and hardly knew each other. The cartoons never had Cyclops mention his life in a foster home or Mr. Sinister revealing more details. Their rivalry has never been a pretty one. The comics never shied away from developing Cyclops' rationale for hating Mr. Sinister.
The love story of Cyclops and Jean Grey is more complicated in the comics
The love story between the two in the cartoons is complicated. But nowhere nera as complicated as the comics. The earlier and first group of X-Men introduced Cyclops' first rival. No, it wasn't Wolverine but ANGEL. Also, I believe that Wolverine's feelings for Jean Grey are nothing more than a psychological need. Angel had feelings for Jean Grey before he and Psylocke become an on-off couple. The censorship was truly there in that area.
One can think of Cyclops' messy love life. Cyclops has lost Jean many times. Oh yeah, should I mention the Phoenix Saga in the comics created the FIRST DEATH OF JEAN GREY? That was really a tragedy. I heard there were plans not to revive Jean Grey. That was also what created the story of Madelyne Pryor - the mother of Cable. It's really that complicated when Cyclops' first wife isn't Jean but MADELYNE. The two married and conceived their time-lost son Cable. Later, Cyclops hid the fact he was married and had an affair with Jean Grey. That totally just messes up things. Jean did turn Cyclops down. Wolverine did try to hit on Jean during the Inferno incident with Madelyne.
These events were totally just weird. I always felt Cyclops' romances in-between were also something. Cyclops did have a relationship with Lee Forrester after Jean's first death. Cyclops soon got entangled with Madelyne who was the Jean clone created by Mr. Sinister many years ago. You can really see how a lot of stuff in their love story during the earlier days can't make it past TV-Y7-FV.
The episode "Captive Hearts" actually was based on Callisto's RAPE of Angel
I remembered the episode when Callisto wanted Cyclops to produce an heir for her. Yeesh I wonder how did that slip past the censors?! It reminds me of the Conan the Adventurer episode when Conan was sent into a dystopia ruled by the serpent god Set. Jezmine said, "You will not touch me again!" and she became a giant serpent. Wait, wut? Did Set actually... oh yeah... you know that! But the whole plot was totally berserk if you knew what happened in the comics.
Callisto lusted after Angel in the comics instead. It should be disturbing that Angel was nearly naked in that plotline. Callisto called Angel the most beautiful man in the world in the comics. Callisto even mentioned their "wedding night" which means getting sexually intimate with him. X-Men TAS had cut that down for obvious reasons. Though, why the authors chose Cyclops over Angel was just weird if you ask me.
Introducing the new generation of Four Horsemen was more brutal than the comics
X-Men TAS featured Apocalypse as the true founder (and backer) of Magneto's organization. How long Magneto was under Apocalypse' control within the cartoon is unknown. All that's known (and implied) is that Magneto actually was fully aware of Mystique's plan to assassinate Robert Kelly, It's probably implied that Senator Kelly's kidnapping by Magneto was a direct order by Apocalypse. Both Magneto and Mystique were secretly working for Apocalypse. This would have the plot where Mystique killed off the REAL DR. ADLER and impersonated him. The killing was done OFF-SCREEN for obvious reasons.
The plot was where "Dr. Adler" promises a cure that will turn mutants into humans. This didn't sing too well for Avalanche and Pyro. Both had no idea that Mystique was secretly working for Apocalypse. I guess the X-Men never knew that Magneto was secretly backed by Apocalypse himself. This is very different from what Apocalypse did in the comics. This is a rather censored version of the creation of the new generation. Instead, we had four suckers who wished they were human but became his HORSEMEN instead. This is a far cry from Angel in the comics.
The comic version presents a much different scenario that wouldn't make it past censors. Angel lost his wings thanks to Mr. Sinister's Marauders. Mr. Sinister was ordering the death of the Morlocks as some hindrance to evolution. Angel's wings were severely injured and were soon amputated. Angel attempted suicide in his madness. Instead, Apocalypse spirited away Angel and like the other three, was offered a new chance in life in exchange for eternal servitude. The others were Abraham Lincoln Kieros who was trapped in the iron lung (as War), Autumn Rolfson who was an anorexic (as Famine), and Plague a survivor of Mr. Sinister's massacre (as Pestilence).
Just thinking about Angel's bloody loss of wings was one thing. Angel wanting to be human was a u-turn from the comic books. It's because Angel took pride in his wings to the point losing them made him lose his sense of living. I felt that was too intense for a TV-Y7-FV cartoon.
Not to mention, there was also a continuity error regarding Angel. How was it Angel wasn't recognized when he first appeared but later he was recalled? It's almost as bad as the parentage retcon that Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch had last 2016. A bit of retro-reading will help us understand why writing Magneto as their father made more sense than any possible parents they had (such as Whizzer) or after the writing. The Maximoffs were already established as their ADOPTIVE PARENTS for some time.
When the dysfunctional family tree of Nightcrawler comes to play
One of the most notorious villains in Marvel is none other than Graydon Creed. There's been much censorship. If you know the full story - you'd realize that Sabertooth and Mystique had a ONE-NIGHT STAND together. Yeah, Mystique disguised herself as a deceased spy and had a relationship with Sabertooth in the comics. However, the cartoons didn't immediately reveal who Graydon's mother was until the "Bloodlines" episode. Yes, that episode where Graydon was given a chance to prove himself but FAILED to do so.
I think there was some faulty dialogue IMHO. Obviously, the plot where Graydon and Mystique had a one-night stand wasn't mentioned. However, the way that Nightcrawler's paternity was revealed suggested one thing - SABERTOOTH COULD BE HIS REAL FATHER. The episode "The Lotus and the Steel" also suggests that Nightcrawler could be Sabertooth's son. I guess Mystique was too afraid to admit that she cuckolded the count - a plot that was made in the 2000s when Azazel was retroactively introduced as Nightcrawler's father. Wolverine had a flashback of Nightcrawler's wise words then Sabertooth appeared. Mystique's words "gave birth to a mutant son" may suggest that she and Sabertooth slept with each other while she was married to the count.
Besides, I always thought that Nightcrawler had a strong resemblance to Sabertooth. I always felt that the easy answer was that Sabertooth fathered Nightcrawler. I guess there was a lot of editing to avoid Mystique's adultery plot. Yet, we know there are some details that tend to get past the censors, right?
Need I mention the episode "Beauty and the Beast"? True, we had Graydon attempting to execute Jubilee. The guns that his goons had were all lasers. Graydon's handgun was laser. Graydon showed more signs of a psychologically ill person than a cunning villain. I still feel that Graydon could've won the day IF he fired his laser gun straight at any of the X-Men or something like that. Instead, TV-Y7-FV became the real hero of the day. The X-Men were able to fight another day because Graydon couldn't do any more villainy thanks to censorship.
The Legacy Virus Arc really was more toned down than the comics
The Legacy Virus plot was something. The comics had a rather weird plot. Mr. Sinister tried to get the lineage of the Summers throughout the centuries. Instead, there was an EMPTY CANNISTER which was opened by his assistant Gordon. Gordon soon caught the Legacy Virus, had a flu (at first) then it blew up into a full-blown worldwide epidemic. Yeah, we know why I call COVID-19 as the Legacy Virus. It made me imagine Stryfe brought SARS into the world during my college days. Heck, now I even imagine Stryfe brought COVID-19 into the world. Even the situation in the USA during the height of the pandemic was pretty much like "Time Fugitives".
How was it toned down? I re-watched the "Time Fugitives" arc during the height of the pandemic. Something worth noting is how mutants were wrongly blamed. In the US, Asians were WRONGLY BLAMED for the pandemic but they were INNOCENT of it. The show had riots but as we know it - bullets were always replaced with lasers. We don't see people get into the ICU after getting hit by the Legacy Virus. The Friends of Humanity started the plague. The irony was that Graydon Creed was secretly manipulated by a MUTANT. Yeesh, talk about irony as Apocalypse sought to let only the strong survive and the weak perish!
The two episodes made it look like it was that easy to end the plague. Cable entered into the past and allowed Wolverine to get the Legacy Virus. Wolverine's antibodies produced a vaccine that would beat Pfizer, Moderna, etc. today. After that, the plot was never mentioned again. Meanwhile, the comic book series kept writing for years and years to come. Yeah, I know I feel comics become an endless storyline that gives endless possibilities of bad plots too.
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Pretty much, I felt that the task can be more daunting. True, recreating the content of Super Sentai for the American audience was a challenge. Though, one needs to see the violence of Marvel Comics has been higher than that Toei Ltd. allowed for their Tokusatsu series. It's pretty much weird how Conan the Adventurer was a toned-down version of the VERY ADULT Conan the Barbarian. Heck, I really feel ridiculous why I was even obsessed with Conan the Adventurer. Meanwhile, I find myself somehow still enjoying X-Men: TAS more than Conan the Adventurer or the Power Rangers franchise.
I still think that this is pretty much an accomplishment. I always felt Power Rangers' toning down hasn't been my type. Yet, I still find myself being able to enjoy X-Men: TAS AS AN ADULT regardless of the toning down. Though, part of me still wants to regard it as an Old Shame now or is it? Then again, I feel Disney did worse in its animated adaptations than Saban Entertainment ever did. I may dislike Power Rangers but I can still the Spiderman: The Animated Series (Spiderman: TAS) even today. Sure, Morbius was given the plasma drain thing instead of him biting people for censorship. Still, both X-Men: TAS and Spiderman: TAS are still the better pieces of Saban. They had a crossover too which was miles better than "A Friend in Need" in Mighty Morphin'.
So yeah, there's another huge rant, right?
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