'X-Men '97' Has Introduced the Goblin Queen
X-MEN '97 IS one of the most exciting projects that Marvel has put out in recent years. The animated series picks up right where '90s staple X-Men: The Animated Series left off. But whether you're a newcomer or a longtime comic book fan, it's easy enough to get into for anyone who enjoys the X-Men.
The first two episodes premiered on March 22, and immediately viewers had a shock. Professor Xavier is gone, and the recipient of his estate... was Magneto. The longtime X-Men adversary then put aside his ire for humans and decided to help the team pursue Xavier's dream of harmony between humans and mutants.
To add yet another shock, Storm lost her powers in an anti-mutant attack, and at the end of Episode 2, decided to leave the X-Men to live among humans. One last surprise, though, comes in the form of a mysterious woman who collapses on the X-Men doorstep and looks eerily like Jean Grey.
Episode 3 reveals the truth behind the strange doppelgänger phenomenon. In case you're confused, or just want a comic book refresher, here's what you should know about who's who, and what the title of "Goblin Queen" really means.
Who Is the Goblin Queen?
In the show, Beast runs some tests, and discovers that the woman who just arrived is the original Jean, and the one the X-Men have been with for an indeterminate amount of time is the clone version of Jean. The "not Jean" doesn't agree at first, but when she runs off to her bedroom with Nathan, Mister Sinister appears. He reveals she's actually a clone he created to have a child with Scott so that he could kidnap the baby.
Sinister proves all of this by taking control of Jean's clone, and calling her the Goblin Queen. She immediately goes and fights the X-Men, distraught over her false memories.
In the comics, Madelyne Pryor meets Scott in Alaska after Jean's death in the famed "Dark Phoenix Saga". She looks eerily similar to Jean Grey, enough for Scott to fall head over heels in love with her. The two have a child, Nathan, and Scott ends up leaving the X-Men to live a peaceful life with Madelyne, while mourning the loss of Jean.
Jean is resurrected, however, and Scott (in a shocking turn of events) abandons his wife and child to be with her. In Uncanny X-Men #206, Nathan is kidnapped by the Marauders, and Madelyne is left for dead until the X-Men save her.
Madelyne then begins to meet various demons, who plague her with hints that she's not who she thinks she is. This leads her to Mr. Sinister's lab in Uncanny X-Men #240, where Sinister reveals her true origins: she's a clone he created to seduce Scott.
Overwhelmed by the revelation of her false past and the loss of her husband (a demon returns Nathan to her), Madelyne actively works against the X-Men in the "Inferno" storyline when demons take over New York City. There, she completes her transformation as the Goblin Queen, where she works with the demons from Limbo. She later comes to her senses and to defeat Sinister, sacrifices herself.
Scott and Madelyne's son, Nathan Summers, is later infected with a techno organic virus that can't be cured in the present day, so they send him into the distant future to hopefully be cured. We meet him again as the hero Cable.
In X-Men '97, all of this is revealed in a more condensed way. We only learn Madelyne's name at the end. And there's no clarity on when or how Sinister switched her and Jean. Still, the "Inferno" storyline is included in a more contained version (the invasion is relegated to the X-Men mansion and Sinister's lab), and there's even a brief glimpse of Magik (Morph becomes her for a short while), another superhero who is raised in Limbo.
Still, the crux of the original storyline is there, along with Nathan's subsequent origin story. Rather than dying at the end of the Sinister fight, Madelyne decides to leave the X-Men, striking out on her own and appearing to leave on good terms with Jean and the rest of the team. It's unclear if we'll see her again, but X-Men '97 is leaving the door open on what could be next for Madelyne Pryor. The Goblin Queen could return!
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