X-Men 97
Most of the couples or love triangles in X-Men ‘97 are pretty obvious: Scott and Jean and Madelyne; Rogue and Gambit and Magneto; Jubilee and Sunspot; Beast and Patricia Trilby who is apparently now a murderous robot.
But there’s another that was hinted at for the duration of the show, and one that X-Men ‘97 series creator Beau DeMayo has now confirmed: Morph has a big old crush on Wolverine.
It was a little bit of a surprise that Morph was included on the main squad when the show started, but it has allowed for fun moments like them turning into Colossus or Mr. Fantastic or other characters not actually on the show. They haven’t had nearly as much to do as many of the other characters, but one thing they have been doing is pining after Wolverine.
DeMayo confirms that in the scene where they turn into the woman he knows Wolverine loves, that was indeed actually Morph using a shield to confess their feelings: “Yes, Morph was confessing romantic feelings for Logan,” he says. “Morph was giving the object of their desire the comfort of hearing those words from the woman he loves because Morph is in love with him”
- On the part where Morph turns into Sabertooth with some beers: “Yep. That wasn’t an accident.”
- On pining after a straight guy not turning out well: “Yep. Never. But we’ve all been there.”
- On the idea they’re just really good friends: “Well, that’s what Logan thinks.”
So, is this happening? It’s unclear, but given Wolverine’s comic history where (I believe), he’s been exclusively involved with women and portrayed as heterosexual (Morph is non-binary), it doesn’t seem super likely. In the comics, Wolverine’s son Daken is bisexual.
Wolverine spent almost the entire episode unconscious, given that in the previous episode Magneto had just ripped the adamantium from his body. Now, it seems likely he may turn into “bone claw” Wolverine for a spell, as we’ve seen previously.
As for his potential pursuit of Jean to add another love triangle into the mix, she is now a thousand years in the future with Scott, so I don’t see that happening. We’ll see if Morph continues their pursuit, or if Wolverine does eventually reciprocate. A bit complicated since Morph can be anyone.
All of this will have to happen without the man who wrote this storyline, DeMayo, who has been fired for undisclosed reasons and will not return for season two. Either way, we’ll keep an eye on Morph and Wolverine and see what becomes of this, if anything.
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