Since I saw X2: X-Men United, I have been on a bit of an X-Men binge. I've gotten two different books about the X-Men and X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine, a DVD. I’m still looking for other X-Men DVDs and I’m thinking of getting the comics.

X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine contains four episodes of the X-Men cartoon that aired on Fox in the 1990s. I watched that cartoon all the time when it was on. In 2000, when the first X-Men movie was released, my local Fox station started to air the cartoons again during the week in the afternoon, and again I was watching the cartoon. I recently discovered that there is a new X-Men cartoon airing on Cartoon Network and I’ve started to watch it.

The cartoon mainly followed a small group of the X-Men - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Storm, Beast, Jubilee, and Professor Xavier. Other X-Men, like Nightcrawler, showed up in later cartoons. The X-Men battled enemies like Magneto, Sabertooth, Mystique, Sinister, and the Sentinels. A few things related to the history of the X-Men were changed slightly here and there, but it stayed fairly close to the original comic books. The cartoon depicted some important story lines from the comics like Days of Future Past and Dark Phoenix.

The four cartoons included in X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine dealt with Wolverine’s past and how the X-Men first met Nightcrawler. Those things do tie in with events that occurred in X2: X-Men United.

The first two cartoons on the DVD were Out of the Past parts 1 and 2. They both deal with the same plot. These two cartoons briefly touched on Wolverine’s past. A Morlock stole something from the Reavers, including Lady Deathstrike. They wanted the item back and ended up in the tunnels where the Morlocks lived. There was a spaceship in the tunnels. The Reavers wanted to get the technology from the ship, but they couldn’t get in. A force field was protecting the ship and it messed with Lady Deathstrike’s circuits when she attacked it with her claws. She was a cyborg with adamantium claws. She decided that she had to get Wolverine down there to open it with his claws.

Lady Deathstrike had one of the Morlocks contact Wolverine to tell him that his former girlfriend was in the tunnels and needed him. Wolverine headed for the tunnels. Along the way, he remembered some things about his past and when the experiments were done to him. Gambit and Jubilee followed Wolverine in case he needed their help. When Wolverine arrived, Lady Deathstrike had some surprising news for him and she wanted him dead.

There was some fighting and Wolverine ended up slicing open a section of the ship with his claws. The ship turned out to be a prison for a space monster. The monster escaped and sucked the souls out of people. The souls were trapped inside the monster. Professor Xavier sensed that something was going on and he summoned Cyclops, Jean and Beast and they went to help. The X-Men had to figure out how to stop the monster and rescue the souls that were trapped inside of it.

The third cartoon was called Nightcrawler. A group of people in a small village in Europe were in a frenzy because they thought there was a demon in the village. The people were chasing after what turned out to be a blue, teleporting mutant named Nightcrawler. He was able to get away from them.

Rogue, Gambit, and Logan were on vacation at a nearby lodge. Logan over heard people talking about the demon that was supposedly terrorizing the village. Logan decided he wanted to get after the demon. Rogue and Gambit went along. Gambit couldn’t ski too well and ended up having an accident. Then there was an avalanche.

There was a monastery near by when they went to recover. One of the monks didn’t seem too happy about them being there. Rogue caught someone trying to kill Gambit. She went after the person, but lost sight of them. Then she met Nightcrawler. He lived at the monastery and was friends with most of the monks. Nightcrawler told them about how his mother abandoned him and a family of gypsies took him in. He use to perform in their circus. Someone told the people in the village that Nightcrawler was at the monastery and an angry mob headed there.

The fourth cartoon was called Lotus and the Steel. Logan and Professor X were talking. Logan was worried about what he might do. During the talk, Logan remembered some traumatic events from his past, including when the adamantium was bonded to his bones. Logan felt that he had to leave the X-Men. He was returning to Japan, where he had lived before. Jubilee didn’t want him to go. She found a file and took a plane to follow him.

Logan saw a monk who was an old friend and worked on helping to build a temple. Logan met the Silver Samurai. He had a group of men terrorize the local villages and force them to pay tribute to the Silver Samurai. A group of people from the village didn’t want to pay the tribute any more. Silver Samurai had the temple set on fire. There were still people who wanted to fight and not pay the tribute. Logan was struggling with his demons. He had dreams remembering things that happened in his past.

I was only able to find a list of the principal cast for X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine. I couldn’t find which characters each person voiced.

Principal Cast

Cedric Smith
Norm Spencer
Catherine Disher
Lenore Zann
Chris Potter
Cal Dodd
Alyson Court
George Buza

X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine was released in 2003. The cartoons were originally made in 1994 and 1995. It was released on VHS and DVD. I got the DVD. It was released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, so there were previews for some Disney movies on the DVD. It was not rated, but the cartoons do contain a lot of fighting, so they may be too violent for young children. Parents should check it out before letting children see it.

I enjoyed X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine. It had been a while since I had seen any of the cartoons included on the DVD, so I had forgotten things. I don’t remember seeing the last two cartoons before. I thought they were entertaining and I liked seeing the ones I didn’t remember seeing before.

Three of the cartoons in X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine did offer some information about Logan’s past, but they didn’t focus on that. In three of them, he had some demons from his past to deal with and spent some time remembering things. When he remembered having the adamantium bonded to his skeleton, it was made to seem like it happened very quickly, but I think from what I know from the comics and the movies that it really took longer than that. Events were glossed over and some things were left out, but the general idea was still there. In the X-Men movies, Logan was struggling to figure out what happened in his past and he was only able to remember bits and pieces, though more did come back to him in X2: X-Men United. Things happened slightly differently in the movie than how he remembered in the cartoons, but it was still very similar. I think that a few characters from the comics were consolidated into one for the second movie. One of the cartoons showed how Nightcrawler first met the X-Men. That meeting is completely different from what happened in X2: X-Men United. From the reading I have been doing about the X-Men lately, it looks like what happened in the cartoon was much closer to how Nightcrawler was introduced in the comics.

In the four episodes of X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine, not all of the X-Men characters showed up in the cartoons that were included. Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, Jean, Beast, Jubilee, and Professor Xavier were the main characters for the cartoon series. Other X-Men turned up every so often. There were some cartoons that focused on only one or two characters, and others where everyone was featured. In the first two cartoons, Storm and Rogue were missing, and there was no explanation for where they were. In the third cartoon, only Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine were featured, along with the first appearance of Nightcrawler in the cartoon. In the last cartoon, Only Wolverine, Jubilee, and Professor Xavier were shown. Again, there wasn’t really an explanation of where the others were, but it wasn’t really needed for that one since it was so clearly focused on Wolverine. Lady Deathstrike was in the first two cartoons and she looked very different from how she looked in X2: X-Men United. In the cartoon, she was a cyborg, and her claws were always out. That seems to be how she was depicted in the comics, though I think her history was changed slightly. Storm wasn’t in any of the cartoons.

The animation was good in X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine. It wasn’t the same quality that is seen in animated movies today, but it was good for television animation. I did notice a few goofs in one of the cartoons though. In Nightcrawler, after the avalanche, Rogue lost the sleeves of her ski outfit. Once they were at the monastery, one of the monks gave her a robe to wear. In one scene, she and Wolverine were sitting at a table talking to the monks and Rogue had on the robe. She decided that she was going to check on Gambit, and the robe was gone. When she got to Gambit’s room, the robe was back. At the end of the cartoon, one of Rogue’s sleeves appeared and then disappeared again. Also, in that same scene, Gambit’s bare hand was touching Rogue’s bare arm, something that should have caused her to absorb his powers, but that didn’t happen. Those were the only errors I noticed, but those really stood out to me. There may have been some in the other cartoons that I didn’t spot.

Almost all of the characters that were featured in X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine were mutants with powers. Several of them used those powers to fight a space monster, an angry mob, and the Silver Samurai and his goons. There was some violence in the fights, but it wasn’t extreme since this was a cartoon that was originally on television on Saturday mornings. The violence could be a little scary for young children, but it should be fine for older children who understand that this was just pretend. There wasn’t too much character development for anyone in the cartoons that were included on this DVD. I think the episodes originally aired later in the run of the cartoon, so by that time, the characters were already established. Nightcrawler made his first appearance in one of the cartoons, so he did have some development. People who aren’t familiar with the X-Men may be a little lost if they start with this DVD.

CHARACTERS

Professor Charles Xavier - He was the leader of the X-Men. He had powerful psychic abilities. He and the X-Men tried to protect normal humans.

Wolverine - Logan was fighting demons from his past. He’d been captured and a doctor experimented on him, bonding the indestructible metal adamantium onto his skeleton. Wolverine had trouble dealing with his anger and went off in rages at times. He was worried about what he might do.

Jubilee - She was a young member of the X-Men. She could generate explosive energy burst that looked similar to fireworks. She was impulsive at times. She was close with Wolverine and worried about him at times.

Cyclops - He shot energy beams from his eyes and had to wear a special visor to control the bursts. He was a leader and seemed detached at times. He was in love with Jean.

Jean Grey - Telepathic mutant. She was in love with Cyclops.

Beast - He was a large, furry, blue mutant. He was very intelligent. He was strong and had athletic abilities.

Rogue - If she touched anyone, she absorbed their energy and some memories. Rogue tended to wear clothes that covered her entire body to prevent that from happening.

Gambit - He could charge items with energy and cause them to blow up. He tended to use cards that he would throw at enemies. He and Rogue were close.

Nightcrawler - He had blue skin and a tail. He could teleport to different areas. That ability helped her to escape people who were chasing him. His mother abandoned him when he was a baby because it was so clear that he was a mutant. A family of gypsies took him in. He performed in their circus. He was very religious. He was understanding of people who feared him.

Lady Deathstrike - She was a cyborg that had adamantium claws. She had more claws than Wolverine, and she couldn’t retract her claws. She was very angry at Wolverine and wanted him dead. She joined the Reavers and they made her a cyborg and gave her the claws.

Morlocks - A group of mutants that lived in the tunnels below New York City. They didn’t want to be heros or villains. They just wanted to be left alone.

Reavers - A group of criminals who have been changed into cyborgs.

DVD EXTRAS

There were a few extras on the DVD of X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine. There was another episode of the cartoon called Final Decision. Senator Kelly, Magneto, and the Sentinels were also in that cartoon. Magneto ended up fighting with the X-Men against the Sentinels.

There was a short segment called Who is Chris Claremont? in which he talked about how he came to work for Marvel comics and write the X-men. He also discussed Wolverine.

In Power Behind the X, Chris Claremont discussed the episodes of the cartoon that were on X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine.

In Stan Lee’s Soapbox, Stan Lee talked about how he created the X-Men and came up with the idea that they were born with their powers instead of changing after being exposed to radiation or something like that. He also discussed how he thought that the hatred that the X-Men felt from humans was an important part of the comic.

There was also an option to go online and register the DVD with Buena Vista. I have done that with my Disney movies, but haven’t done it for this one yet.

I enjoyed X-Men: The Legend of Wolverine. It wasn’t the best cartoon ever made, but it is enjoyable. Fans of the X-Men may also like this DVD. People who enjoyed the cartoon series when it was on should take a look at this DVD.

www.marvel.com

X-Men Reviews
X-Men ~ X2: X-Men United ~ X-Men: The Last Stand ~ X-Men Origins: Wolverine ~ Ultimate X-Men ~ Wolverine: Inside the World of the Living Weapon ~

Other Superhero Reviews
Batman ~ Batman Returns ~ Batman Forever ~ Batman Begins ~ Batman: The Ultimate Guide to The Dark Knight ~ Elektra ~ Fantastic Four ~ The Incredibles ~ Lois & Clark: The Complete First Season ~ Sky High ~ Spider-Man ~ Spider-Man 2 ~ Superman Returns ~ Superman: The Ultimate Guide to the Man of Steel ~

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8