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Disney+‘s new Marvel animated series X-Men ’97 is something of a ’90s nerd kid’s wet dream. The series reunites many actors from the original X-Men: The Animated Series with their iconic superhero roles, continues the soapy vintage show’s storyline right where we left it, and is chock full of Easter eggs ripped from the pages of Marvel comics. Not to mention the fact that X-Men ’97 doesn’t shy away from the fact that its target audience are the full grown adults who watched the O.G. Saturday morning cartoon as kiddos. Meaning, as the show’s fans have matured, so has X-Men ’97‘s storylines. In just the first three episodes of X-Men ’97, we get a childbirth storyline, teases of Morph’s queer yearnings for Wolverine, and — most importantly — confirmation that in this universe, Rogue and Magneto were once a thing.
Oh, yes, the Master of Magnetism and the Southern spitfire who can drain a person’s energy with a feather soft touch used to get it on. Magneto, the World War II survivor who has recently traded his scary armor for slutty skin-tight body-con duds, and good old Rogue, whose vague backstory obfuscates how old she may or may not be*, used to bang. At least, that’s the implication in X-Men ’97 Episode 2 “Mutant Liberation Begins.” Rogue confronts the X-Men’s new de juro leader in private to offer him advice, one former villain to another. After listening to Magneto spill his guts about missing Charles Xavier, Rogue tells him that he can’t force the X-Men to trust him; he has to earn that trust.
*So how old is Rogue in X-Men ’97? Well, Rogue’s backstory is mired in mystery, but in the comics she was kicked out by her family and adopted by Mystique. After palling around with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, she turned to the X-Men in desperation and became one of their most devoted members. Rogue could be older than she presents, but she’s at least as old as the likes of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm…meaning she’s a full grown adult, ergo old enough to consent to a relationship with Magneto. It’s a far cry from the Fox movies where Anna Paquin played the character as an underage teen.
Again, this is the trollop-y way Magneto is illustrated throughout this scene… Those exposed shoulders, hulking biceps, flirty hips… Magneto is hot??:
Then Ole Maggie makes his move. He tells Rogue he’s surprised that she would risk being seen alone with her “friend.” Magneto leans his forehead against Rogue’s and even goes so far as to try to take her glove off!! The implication is he is totally fine with touching Rogue’s dangerous skin because he a) has found a safe way to do so and b) has done so before!!
She chafes from his touch, rejecting him, only for Magneto to ask if the X-Men would still trust her if they knew about their past together. Rogue insists whatever they had was a long time ago. However, by the end of the episode, Rogue and Magneto are barebacking handholding while Storm’s voiceover talks about the deep universal yearning for connection.
Folks, we have steamy confirmation of a Magneto/Rogue relationship!
While news of Rogue and Magneto’s former (and ongoing??) fling might have come as a shock to many casual X-Men fans — and poor Gambit — it sent a surge of electricity through this recovering comic book nerd. Rogue and Magneto’s romance is one of the most exciting and sexy parts of what’s probably the biggest X-Men comics event of the whole ’90s: Age of Apocalypse. In that saga set in an alternate universe, Charles Xavier is accidentally killed in the past, setting off a chain reaction of events that leaves Magneto in charge of the X-Men, married to Rogue, and committed to resisting the supervillain Apocalypse’s stranglehold on Earth.
The key to Magneto and Rogue’s connection there is that Magneto comes up with a way to cover his whole body in an electromagnetic “sheath” — think super-powered full body condom — so they can touch, kiss, and get it on. And for all of Rogue’s incessant yearning to touch Gambit, the Cajun cutie can’t do that. If Rogue wants her hands on a hard body, she’s got to turn to Magneto.
Whether or not Gambit knows the ins and outs of Rogue and Magneto’s past, it’s clear the Louisianan lover boy intuits something is happening between his lady and new overlord by X-Men ’97 Episode 3 “Fire Made Flesh.” Morph gets under Gambit’s skin by listing off all the various Danger Room sessions Rogue and Magneto, and just Rogue and Magneto, have blocked out. Gambit tries to shrug it off, but he’s clearly worried that Rogue is hooking up with Magneto. So much so, villian-of-the-week Mr. Sinister is able to torture Gambit with a vision of the two on top of each other, taunting him. In this nightmare, Rogue and Magneto aren’t just touching; their flesh has fused together. It’s a clever “PG” way to illustrate sex.
There’s so much about X-Men ’97 to savor, from the series’ speedy narrative pace to its nostalgia porn. However, X-Men ’97 isn’t just scratching the nostalgia itch for fans. It’s literally hitting another spot. X-Men ’97 is not-so-subtly tip-toeing into the seedy personal lives of the X-Men, which is great.
Laymen might think the X-Men have been popular for decades because they’re an allegory for various civil rights struggles. That’s only half of the story. The true allure of the X-Men are their messy, incestuous personal lives. For over half a century, Marvel fans have soaked up these misfit mutants’ unrequited crushes, tumultuous love stories, illicit love affairs, and kinky costumes. Magneto and Rogue’s fiery new backstory in X-Men ’97 just pays homage to this legacy in the hottest way possible.
