X-Men: Evolution

Plot synopsis:
=== Season one ===
The first season introduces the core characters and lays the foundations for future story lines. Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm and Jean Grey make up the original X-Men. As the season develops, the ranks of the X-Men are bolstered by the appearance of Nightcrawler in the first episode, Shadowcat in the second, Spyke in the fifth, and Rogue (who originally joins the Brotherhood in the fourth episode) in the third. In the later episodes of this season, Nightcrawler discovers the identity of his birth mother, Wolverine finds answers to his past, Rogue switches sides to join the X-Men and Xavier's half-brother, Juggernaut, is released from his prison.
Confrontations are typically with the Brotherhood, who vie for new recruits with the X-Men over the course of the season. Toad is the first to be introduced, followed by Avalanche, Blob and Quicksilver. The Brotherhood, led by Mystique, are in fact being directed by a higher power, the identity of whom was "revealed" in the two-part season finale as being Magneto. After Cyclops discovers that his brother Alex actually survived the plane crash that killed their parents, they are both taken by Magneto into his "sanctuary" on Asteroid M. Magneto captures several X-Men and Brotherhood members in an attempt to amplify their mutant abilities and remove their emotions. The Brotherhood and X-Men show up leaving Magneto, Sabretooth and Mystique trapped on the asteroid. Asteroid M is destroyed by Scott and Alex Summers, but not before two metal spheres fly from the exploding asteroid.
=== Season two ===
The second season sees the addition of several new mutants, including Beast, who becomes a teacher at the Xavier Institute and an X-Man, as well as a version of the New Mutants: Boom Boom, Sunspot, Iceman, Wolfsbane, Magma, Multiple, Jubilee, Berzerker, and Cannonball. During the course of the season, it is revealed that the villains who supposedly perished on Asteroid M are actually alive. Sabretooth continues his pursuit of Wolverine, while Magneto continues to work his own agenda. Mystique poses as Risty Wilde, a high school student at Bayville High who befriends Rogue and breaks into the mansion to steal Xavier's Cerebro files. Using the files, she recovers Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, Magneto's daughter and Quicksilver's sister. The mentally unstable mutant joins the Brotherhood upon Mystique's return, allowing them to defeat the X-Men in a battle at the Bayville Mall. Before the finale, a pivotal episode aired featuring the telepath Mesmero opening one of three doors that would unleash a mutant known as Apocalypse.
In the season finale, Xavier rigorously trains his X-Men to face Magneto, pairing them with the Brotherhood. Cyclops, furious with having to work with his former adversaries, leaves the team. The mansion is later set to self-destruct with Cyclops and several students still inside. Magneto, meanwhile, recruits Sabretooth, Gambit, Pyro and Colossus as his Acolytes to fight the X-Men/Brotherhood team. At the same time, Wolverine is captured by Bolivar Trask to use as a test subject for the anti-mutant weapon, the Sentinel. Magneto continues to manipulate events by unleashing the Sentinel onto the city, forcing the X-Men to use their powers in public. Wanda tracks down Magneto and attacks him while he is trying to deal with the Sentinel that is targeting him. The Sentinel is damaged and apparently crushes Magneto as it falls. When the mutants who have not been captured by the Sentinel return to the remains of the mansion, Cyclops and the students emerge from the explosion with minor injuries. Scott throws Xavier from his wheelchair and blames him for blowing up the mansion. Everyone is shocked as Xavier calmly stands up, transforming into Mystique.
=== Season three ===
In seasons three and four, the show notably begins to take a much more serious tone. After the battle with the Sentinel, the mutants are no longer a secret and public reaction is one of hostility. The show is brought into more traditional X-Men lore, dealing with themes of prejudice, public misconception, and larger threats. As the season progresses, the real Xavier is found, Mystique is defeated, the mansion is rebuilt, and the X-Men allowed back into Bayville High. Scott and Jean develop a stronger and closer romantic relationship (particularly after Mystique kidnaps Scott and brings him to Mexico), Spyke leaves the X-Men when his mutant ability becomes uncontrollable, deciding to live with the sewer-dwelling mutants known as the Morlocks, and Wanda continues to search for Magneto, who she discovers was saved by Quicksilver at the last second, until Magneto uses the telepathic mutant Mastermind to change her childhood memories.
As part of the series arc, Rogue loses control of her powers, leading to her hospitalization. During this time, she learns that she is in fact Mystique's adoptive daughter. Mystique, through the visions of the mutant Destiny, foresaw that the fate of Rogue and herself lay in the hands of an ancient mutant that would be resurrected. Apocalypse emerges in the season's final episodes. Mesmero manipulates Magneto into opening the second door, and uses Mystique and a hypnotized Rogue to open the last, turning Mystique to stone in the process. Now released, Apocalypse easily defeats the combined strength of the X-Men, Magneto, the Acolytes, and the Brotherhood before escaping.
=== Season four ===
The final season contained only nine episodes. In the season premiere, Apocalypse apparently kills Magneto while Rogue murders Mystique by pushing her petrified figure off a cliff, leaving Nightcrawler without closure. The Brotherhood become temporary do-gooders, Wolverine's teenage girl clone X-23 returns, Xavier travels to Scotland in order to confront his son David, Spyke and the Morlocks rise to the surface, Rogue is kidnapped by Gambit and taken to Louisiana to help free his father, and Shadowcat discovers a mutant ghost who is found in an underground cave. The character Leech is also introduced as a young boy named "Dorian Leach".
In the finale, Apocalypse defeats Xavier and Storm, transforming them, along with Magneto and Mystique, into his Four Horsemen. Apocalypse instructs his Horsemen to protect his three domes and his 'base of operations', which will turn the majority of the world population into mutants. In the final battle, the Horsemen are returned to normal and Apocalypse is sent through time. Rogue and Nightcrawler refuse the excuses of their mother, Shadowcat and Avalanche find love once again, Magneto is reunited with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, Storm and Spyke are also reunited, and Xavier sees his students reunited as the X-Men.
=== Final moments ===
The series ends with a speech by Charles Xavier, who had caught a glimpse of the future while being controlled by Apocalypse. The following future scenarios were foreseen:
Continued anti-mutant sentiment.
A reformed Magneto teaching the New Mutants, including a returned Jubilee and Wolfsbane.
Jean turning into the Phoenix. Had the series continued, the show's next season would have focused on the "Phoenix/Dark Phoenix Saga".
The future X-Men team, consisting of Cyclops, Nightcrawler, X-23, Iceman, Beast, Shadowcat, Colossus, Rogue (able to fly and not wearing gloves), and Storm. The uniforms these future X-Men wear look very much like the dark uniforms seen in the Ultimate X-Men comic, as well as that of the live-action feature films.
The Brotherhood, including the Scarlet Witch and Pyro, standing in front of a S.H.I.E.L.D sign (foreshadowing the Freedom Force)
A fleet of Sentinels led by Nimrod.
The last scene shows the X-Men, the New Mutants, Gambit and Colossus (former Acolytes), Boom Boom, Havok, Angel, X-23, and a returning Spyke.

Tags: paranormal, psychedelic, romantic

Review:
And against all expectations, the product was a very, very good show.There's a way to sum up people's attitudes - those who don't like it are largely those who can't get beyond the fact it doesn't follow the comics versions of the characters.
It's a series with a direction - underlying story threads and sub-plots are all intricately woven together, although sometimes they get a little buried under the focus of the episode, which can sometimes be something as boring as "new kids take jet for joyride."Many of the characters aren't THAT different from their original selves, anyway, just made a bit younger.
And for the most part, this angered X-men "purists", who argued that the series butchered their favorite characters, and that this was an insult to "true" fans.
Sure, it can not compare to the Fox animated series or the hit movie, but Evolution is pretty good anyway.
For those that despise this cartoon because it takes liberties, then change the freaking channel, bub, and shut the hell up.For those who remember the early early days of X-men, they were all teenagers in a school, learning to use their powers to benefit mankind.
I like to see it as an animated version of the "Ultimate X-Men" title that marvel is producing, which does the same thing of reformatting the story to today's timeline.
And each character in this show is well written to the point that I like them even better than some of their comic book counterparts.Scott -- we're seeing a leader developing here, but he's still a kid learning to deal with who he is and his place in the world.
He works better as a lovable loser, who just can't get a break.I will also give honorable mention to a couple other characters, like Magneto, who is actually a threatening presence in this cartoon, and Beast, whose transformation in this cartoon makes more sense than in the comics.The best animated X-Men yet, and it will be very hard to top..
And to those who said that characters like Beast were being ignored, the episode "Beast of Bayville" proves otherwise and also proves that the series is living up to its name and evolving, which takes time.
Having been familiar with the ORIGINAL X-Men (Angel, Beast, Iceman, Marvel Girl, and Cyclops) and having caught up a bit on the more recent adventures so I wouldn't be a total doofus for the movie, I find this series EXCELLENT!I like the alternate concept, and the way the series is being handled, even if it doesn't mesh with the comic version.
Although it seems many kids really enjoy and like the series, it should remain a fact that X-Men Evolution is barely an adaptation of the actual X-Men universe (comics & the original animated series).
Yes, X-Men Evolution is a good animated series, but the best thing to do is to take it INDEPENDENTLY, as in SEPARATE from the real X-Men story line.
The series' bigger fans seem to be unable to acknowledge that some don't mind the differences from the comics, and just think it's a good show that doesn't do it for them.
No spectacular arcs, but overall enjoyable and entertaining.I have an opinion regarding the dissimilarities with the comics: The series is so different that there isn't any reason to use the usual X-Men favourites, aside from money-making.
Okay, Season 1 wasn't brilliant, there was a lot of cheesy dialogue, slow and melodramatic story lines, not enough Wolverine, a great character, and too much of Spike, one like Kitty that annoys me to no end, plus Rogue seems bland to me in this series.
I have friends my age who do, too so it's *far* from a "kid's show."Now, onto my *real* point:This series had the courage to take on a number of issues, metaphorically, and helped (in some small way) to highlight problems common to youth and suggest solutions.It was *so* much more than a simple animated series--It said it's okay to be different, be accepted for who you are, things will even out...
The original "X-Men" animated series often read like nothing more than an "action-soap opera." The plot lines were convoluted, the action sequences overblown and superfluous.
anyway, if children watch the show and get into the x-men they will be more inclined to get into the comic's and get the original story, the entire genre will be more likely to fade into complete obscurity over the years if todays children never hear of the x-men.
Many reviewers, I've noticed, are bashing this series by comparing it to the previous show and movie.It has nothing whatsoever to do with them.The original concept of the X-Men was, "a team of high school-age mutants learns how to effectively control their powers in a world that fears their kind".
Most of the new characters were age-matched to the current age of the rest of the team, although some of them were younger, like Kitty.This series essentially takes the base concept and revisualizes it.
This however was completely undermined by the evil shape-shifting Mystique who hatched her own plan to expose the X-Men at this season's end.It's after that point in the series that it's gotten so much better.
It's because this series has its heroes blending action between the supervillians as well as the normal people in public and their reactions to the mutants that I think is a much more realistic interpretation that what's seen in the comic books.I also like the quality of the animation and the special effects aren't as over the top as they were in the 90's series.
They still managed to keep some of her background with Mystique and bond a little with Nightcrawler, since they're of a certain relation because of the evil shapeshifter.About my only problems with the Evolution series in comparison to the 90's X-Men series is the lack of focus on adult characters like Storm and Beast.
X-Men: Evolution is definitely becoming one of the best quality animated series on television..
I understand that a lot of people didn't like the 1st season especially compared to the previous animated series by Fox. The show had a goal of targeting younger audiences and people who were not necessarily familiar with the X-Men. Therefore they decided to do a reboot of the 40+ years of x-history from the books.
The thing I like most about this series is that we got to know these character as people not just superheroes.
After all the great plot arcs and challenging topics not dodged and amusing dialogue and well drawn characters with explored back stories from the other X-Men series (1992-1997) I simply cannot watch this Devolution tripe with it's vapid lines, eye roll inducing catch phrases, shallow characters, pointless episodes, and poor animation.
Not that they didn't have good episodes, but they could be counted on one hand.The idea of turning either a beloved solo hero or in this case a team into highschool students is in the category of being prone to clichéd stereotypes that come with such a setting, and while has worked in shows like Batman Beyond, X-Men: Evolution sadly falls into many of those clichés.Not that it's complete garbage, because some of them kind of work even though it on papers sounds stupid.
A nit-pick, but it struck me as a little lazy.So to sum up, in terms of substance X-Men: Evolution is noticably weaker than the 90's show and delivers best in the third and fourth seasons, but it looks really good and offers some interesting takes on the different characters and their ways to becoming the X-Men or The Brotherhood..
And I liked that Bobby/Jubilee hint.But the most annoying and preposterous thing in the series is ROGUE (and she's my fav person in comics).
These were complex, interesting, fleshed out characters in the comics and other mediums, and they have been reduced to the worst stereotypes possible in this animated series.
Do they believe that the younger set cannot understand, empathize or develop interest in characters that aren't formulaic embodiments of every bad cliché associated with social groups like 'goth', 'prep', 'jock', 'the weird foreign students', 'valley girl', etc.?
These characters are true 'cartoons' rather than well-developed animated versions (reworked or otherwise) of their comic book counterparts.
The entire X-men team seems to be teenagers except for Wolverine and none of them are like the comic.
It is pretty bad, there was an X-men series that came out in the early 90's and it looks so much better, here it looks like the animators aren't really trying.
The lines are so horrible, my younger brother exclaimed, "I could have written better lines!" It lacks the same spirit of the original animated series and completely misses the point of the comics, and, in fact, has no point whatsoever.
Thus, I had a lot to thank to the Evolution series because it made me feel fascinated with the X-Men and eventually Marvel universe.The concept of making the characters teenage high schoolers was a bit appalling, especially to the comic fans, but I guess it was intended to appeal to younger generations.
In return, viewers will have certain opinions on most of them, be it love, hate or neutral.The animation in X-Men: Evolution is of course much better and smoother than the X-Men: TAS (which is not to say the original animated series is bad or anything).
Kudos to Steve Gordon for coming up with great character designs as well.All in all, X-Men: Evolution is definitely a good series to try if you're an X-Men fan.
The stories does not quite follow to the comics, but that's what makes it good, as it tries to tell the stories of the X-Men universe in a more relatable way, especially to the younger generations..
The show's great.I'm still loving it.I really love the art.Animation as well.It was awesome.Cool,when the fist time I saw it.The characters were well designed.A great variation and ' evolution ' among the X-Men.I cant wait for season 4 to be out on DVD.It's nice to see so many of fans of the show still wanting for more X-M:E.This show has a very obsessive fan base,though I don't know why.A job well done.After watching Season 3.It did gave hope me that there are fans of the show out there.I like Rogue,Jean,Scott and Kurt.Boom Boom as well.I think season box sets are coming out as well!I really wished there was a 5th season.But now the Wolverine and the X-Men animated series gives me hope for some reflection of evolution in it..
You either hate it because you've been reading every single comic book since you were 5 and can't accept change or *gasp* adaptation, or you love it because you enjoy fun stories and characters, cheese, and good animation.
I never knew of the legendary comic book series, I never watched The original cartoon from 92 (?) I was a busy teenager.
Oh, and for you purists complaining how Wolverine would never be in a "teacher" role, you need to pay attention to both the original X-Men as well as the TV series better.
As much as I loved it, I'm pretty sure that I couldn't grasp the concept because I was so young, and I couldn't relate to the characters for that same reason.I started watching the original cartoon when they showed it Fox for a while.
The whole story line might not be the same as the comics or original cartoon, but that's because the creators wanted the characters to "fit in" to this current time.
They go to a normal high school so they can deal with all the problems (well, besides they're power related problems anyway) that we teens deal with ourselves.I really like X-Men: Evolution.
It's hard not to have cartoon characters look constipated when they dance.) And it's refreshing to have the X-Men in high school.
So I was glad to see that's what they did with the X-Men. Being a young fan of the origional animation, which i grew up with and quite enjoyed, I had rather low expectations of this new one (a "travesty" is what they've been calling it) and wasn't initially too pleased with the new characters: Nightcrawler?
I liked the original series on Fox, but this one has different story lines showing the maturing of the mutant group.The animation is cleaner, character development actually occurs and most importantly of all - in X-Men Evolution, Storm doesn't make a speech every time she uses her powers!!!
So much so that he was one of my favourite characters.The stories in this series are all fresh, whereas the stories in the Fox series were just retreads of stories from the comics, where you knew the end result without watching the cartoon (occassionally there would be slight variations but not many).I would therefore recommend this series to anyone who like the X-Men and to remember this is the X-Men as teenagers in modern times.Out of 10 I would give this series 10, with the original series 7/10.
X-Men: Evolution is based on the comic book about Professor Charles Francis Xavier, who has the mutant ability to read minds, searches for new mutants to train them how to use their powers for good and to prevent the mutants from harming themselves and others at his School for Gifted Youngsters.
I haven't read the comics, however, I don't think they're this bad.What you get with this series is a bunch of prepubescent teenagers with poorly scripted dialogue, pathetic humdrum story lines, and character development that goes against the movie and the original series.Go watch Batman Beyond, or better yet, the movie, or original series..
you have X-Men Evolution.I have been a fan of the X-Men comics since 1981, and a fan of the original X-Men cartoon, and I can honestly say, that I am extremely disappointed in this series.Great characters like the Beast are ignored, while cheap rip-offs (Spyke) of other characters (Marrow) are created.
If you want to watch a superhero cartoon with great characters, great animation, that follows the comic closely, catch a rerun of Batman: The Animated Series..
they could have been better but with an outline for an entire show being what I described above the plot lines being decent is actually pretty good.So if you have a kid that likes X-Men. I would suggest they watch this but I also suggest that they watch the superior shows Wolverine and The X-Men as well as the 1992 Cartoon of the same name.
I hear there are people complaining of the characters not being involved in enough of the original story arcs, maybe the reason I like it is because I don't know of any of these story lines (save maybe the whole Dark Phoenix thing) but I really don't think an adaptation of a comic book should be down put by some die-hard fans who can't stand the idea of every single detail from the original comic not being in every adaptation..
If you like comic book stories, and can relate to the woes of high school, this is definitely something you'll want to watch.
I love that they're trying something new with the characters that I watched in the original series.
I have been watching it for a while now and it's gettin' good now, especially since the fact they-the X-men are about to get into the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix storylines-which were some of the best ones in the entire comic series!
It is a little like x-men but different, this is good.
People maybe glad that Spyke is gone but he wasn't the last and a lot more are going to leave to make room for other characters.Some didn't like the aliens and alternate timelines brought in from the comics and the Fox cartoon but the way the Apocolpyse arc is going things are going to get really convoluted as the writers will have to deal with that, the rise of President Kelly arc and what I'm betting is the return of the Sentinal Program arc.
I'm sorry but this show is good and has moved on from the original series comic book stuff hence the evolution part.
anyway i did watch the early 90's series and got bored easily of it as space back in time now really this isn't real but however evolution it could possible in a small way happen,There are some characters i really enjoy in this show for instance rouge so much better, kurt not so religious, toad yuk but cool, wolverince seems more powerful in this series and less violent.
I think X-men Evolution is the best TV show I've ever seen.It has an excellent plot.At first I didn't like it but now I love it.It's got action,very good voices, and it talks more about characters like the Scarlet Witch.I recommend to watch this show.It's awesome..
The new X-Men evolution series is weaker than the 90's cartoon.
At last a good x-men series the animation excellent the x-men have a fresh new look.Professor x looks and sounds like Patrick Stewart.The villains look a lot better in this recent x-men incarnation.This is really a must see  .I give it 9 adamantium claws..
I wasn't even that much of an X-men fan anyways, never having watched the old nineties cartoon due to number of characters and story lines I had to keep track of.
So I don't know why people are complaining that it's not exactly like the comics, since it's not suppose to be.I was never a big fan of Rogue, but she has become my favorite character in Evolution.
What you see on X-Mne Evolution is the development of the characters and story lines used in their later-years during the comics.
A different version of the X-Men. This is a different interpretation of the comic heroes and but tries to incorporate the origins of certain characters; the show has some great story lines; with character development and shows the hardships that mutants face in their world.