X-Men ’97 Just Killed One of Marvel’s Most Popular Mutants

This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 season 2 episode 7

A lot of the fun of the original X-Men: The Animated Series was seeing deep-cut characters make it to the big screen, bringing weirdos like Nimrod, Mojo, and the Warwolves out of the comics. X-Men ’97 has continued and expanded the practice, not only making X-Factor and X-Force into equal players with the X-Men, but using scenes on Krakoa or in Xavier’s school to let Beak and Eyeboy have time to shine.

Of course, X-Men ’97 episodes only run about 30 mins each, and the series loves to rush through plot lines, which means that most deep-cut characters won’t get to do too much. Still, even with that caveat, it was a shock to see the seventh episode of season 2, “Strange Land, Savage Heart,” brought back Colossus’ sister Illyana Rasputin, put her in her New Mutants costume as Magik, and then killed her immediately. It was shocking because Magik is currently one of the most popular X-Men characters. But within the context of X-Men ’97, Illyana makes perfect sense as a motivator for her brother Colossus.

Bright Child, Darkchylde

Illyana originally existed as little more than an object to motivate Colossus, debuting as the unnamed little sister of Russian teen Piotr Rasputin in 1975’s Giant-Size X-Men #1, by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. Colossus’ mutant powers activated when a runaway tractor hurtled toward little Illyana, and his skin became organic steel as he shoved it away from her. Illyana largely stayed off-screen for the next few years, eventually coming to the United States in 1981’s Uncanny X-Men #145 by Chris Claremont and Cockrum. But even then, she was a young girl, and one who could not speak English, which made her a central character in the classic “Kitty’s Fairy Tale” (Uncanny X-Men #153), but otherwise kept her in the background.

Illyana’s fate began to change in 1982’s Uncanny X-Men #160, by Claremont and Brent Andeson, in which the Satanic Belasco kidnaps the six-year-old Illyana and takes her to Limbo (Marvel’s version of Hell). Seconds later, she reappears, having aged to 14, learned to speak English, and manifested her mutant powers. Her time in Limbo doesn’t get fully revealed until the 1983 limited series Magik, by Claremont and Sal Buscema. In that story, we see how young Illyana was tormented by Belasco and his demon henchman S’ym before she was rescued by Storm and Cat, demonic (but still friendly) versions of her X-Men friends.

Thanks to her time in Limbo, Illyana has become a sorceress, which allowed her to manifest her soulsword, and she has developed a mutant ability to open portals to Limbo (which she also uses a stepping stones sometimes). Taking the codename Magik, Illyana joined the New Mutants, where she finally moved out of her brother’s shadow. In particular, Magik paired well with Magneto, then trying to turn over a new leaf as the headmaster of Xavier’s school and imperfect guardian of the New Mutants. Only he could truly understand the anger and darkness inside of her, which sometimes manifested in her demonic form, the Darkchylde.

Ironically, Illyana’s most notable moment in Marvel history also briefly removed her from a central role in the universe. Thanks to her disruption of Limbo, Illyana paved the way for the demons N’astirh and S’ym to launch their coup on the underworld, enlisting Cyclops’s wife Madelyne Pryor as a pawn. The attack resulted in the 1989 Inferno crossover, which not only encompassed all of the X-Men but the entire Marvel Universe (including Daredevil, who got beat up by a demon-possessed vacuum cleaner). By the end of the story, Illyana had reverted to her six-year-old self, all demonic traces gone.

Magik Restored

And that’s the way it stayed for more almost twenty years. Illyana fell out of favor with readers and off the page until the 2007 storyline “The Quest for Magik” from New X-Men #38–41 by Christopher Yost, Craig Kyle, and Skottie Young. The story sees Belasco recreate Illyana as the Darkchylde, leading to her return into the world of the X-Men. She became a major player during the team’s 2011 Schism era, when she joined the increasingly militant Cyclops against not just those who would harm mutants, but also Wolverine and former teammates. On the mutant soveriegn nation of Krakoa, Magik served as one of the chief military leaders.

Moreover, Magik’s become a favorite beyond the comics. Some are struck by her current, anime-inspired look, all sharp angles and giant sword. Others find her romance with Kitty Pryde compelling, something that really moved to the forefront after Kitty almost married her childhood boyfriend Piotr, Illyana’s brother in X-Men: Gold #30 (2017). Anya Taylor-Joy‘s punk take on Illyana was a standout in the dismal 2020 movie New Mutants (despite the strangely racist dialogue she’s given), and Magik has become a go-to for players of Marvel Rivals.

So if Magik is bigger than ever, why does she just get killed off again in X-Men ’97? The answer can be found in the show’s title. The series takes place in 1997, and treats the comics of the time as the touchstone. And in 1997, Illyana was dead. She died in Uncanny X-Men #303 from 1993, the first victim of the Legacy Virus, a disease that affected only mutants (and operated as a clunky AIDS metaphor).

As in “Strange Land, Savage Heart,” Illyana’s death drove Colossus to despair, leading him to briefly join the Acolytes. And as also shown in the episode, the heel-turn doesn’t last long, as Colossus soon stays with the Acolytes to care for Magneto and then his clone Joseph, but that part isn’t in X-Men ’97… yet. Until then, Magik fans annoyed by her absence on the show will just have to make do with the comics, movies, video games, and toys where she’s a very, very important character.

X-Men ’97 streams new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.

The post X-Men ’97 Just Killed One of Marvel’s Most Popular Mutants appeared first on Den of Geek.