That Shocking Moment In X-Men '97 Episode 2 Comes Straight From The Comics

Spoilers for "X-Men '97" to follow.

Storm, mistress of the elements ... no more? In episode 2 of "X-Men '97" — "Mutant Liberation Begins" — Storm/Ororo Monroe (still voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith) took a shot from a gun fired by the villainous X-Cutioner, an assassin affiliated with the anti-mutant hate group the Friends of Humanity. The shot, intended for Magneto, robbed Storm of her weather-manipulating powers: "The breeze is gone ... I cannot feel it, nor the moisture, nor the air," she despairs before the tears finally swell up. It's a sign of Magneto's growth of character that he stays his hand of X-Cution after Storm's fate.

According to Beast, the gun fired the same radiation used by the collars that inhibit mutant powers. However, the blast is concentrated to deliver its dosage on a cellular level, so the depower is permanent. (You might remember these collars from the original "X-Men" cartoon series, specifically season 1, episode 7, "Slave Island," where mutants were enslaved in the nation Genosha with these collars.) Storm, feeling she doesn't belong with the X-Men anymore and unable to say goodbye in person, writes a farewell letter and leaves.

You wouldn't know it from the "X-Men" movies, but Storm is the greatest of the X-Men; the Earth itself recognizes her power and bends to her will. It's not only the Earth under her sway, for she's charmed both great heroes like the Black Panther and awesome villains like Doctor Doom. In more recent "X-Men" comics, she's even become the Queen of Mars (renamed Arakko by the mutant settlers). Now, though, she's only human. 

Notably, Storm's "X-Men '97" storyline is taken right from the comics. Just like the 1992 "X-Men" series, "'97" is remixing beats of the 17-year-long defining run on "X-Men" by Chris Claremont — the writer who made Storm an icon.

"Mutant Liberation Begins" effectively combines three "X-Men" comic issues: "Uncanny X-Men" #185 (Storm losing her powers after being hit with a stray shot), "Uncanny X-Men" #200 (Magneto standing trial before the United Nations), and "Uncanny X-Men" #201 (The birth of Nathan Summers). It's an elegant combination, but we'll focus on the influence of #185.

Context: in the comics, Rogue was introduced as a villain — a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants terrorist group — and only joined the X-Men in "Uncanny X-Men" #171. (The cover, drawn by Walt Simonson and Bob Wiacek, ominously declares: "Welcome to the X-Men, Rogue ... hope you survive the experience!") In issue #185, a frustrated Rogue heads home to Mississippi and Storm follows her.

Then, government agents led by Henry Gyrich (you might remember him in "X-Men '97" as the man who "assassinated" Professor X) strike. Gyrich, who is no fan of mutants, wants to apprehend Rogue. He's also convinced that the X-Men accepting her proves they're in cahoots with the Brotherhood. Gyrich brings the depower gun for Rogue, but he accidentally hits Storm instead while the two X-Men are fleeing.

Note the cover of #185 (drawn by John Romita Jr. and Dan Green), which declares "Rogue: Public Enemy" and depicts a sinister grinning Rogue standing over a defeated Storm. The reader is meant to worry that Rogue has gone bad again; she hasn't, but she still proves to be Storm's undoing.

Before Gyrich's attack, Storm lets Rogue absorb some of her powers so Rogue can see the world for a minute how Ororo does every day. This helps show the reader that Storm losing her connection to the weather is akin to her losing a sense; her sad line in "X-Men '97" that "the breeze is gone" conveys the same sense of loss. Episode 1 of "X-Men '97" also showed Ororo single-handily destroying a squad of Sentinels by conjuring a literal storm, giving viewers a satisfying taste of her power before it was ripped away.

The set-up of both the episode and issue is the same; the X-Men are harboring a reformed supervillain (Rogue in the comic, Magneto in the cartoon), their enemies come knocking, and Storm loses her powers thanks to that dastardly gun. Now, the forthcoming episodes 4 and 6 of "X-Men '97" season 1 are titled "Lifedeath" Parts 1 and 2, after the double-sized "Uncanny X-Men" issue #186.

This one follows Storm recovering from the previous issue. The first three panels gradually zoom in on her silently lying still in bed, having barely processed what's happened to her. Claremont often wrote a lot, filling pages with text of dialogue and narration. In the opening of "Lifedeath," though? He lets Barry Windsor-Smith's art alone set the mood. As for the title "Lifedeath"? That's because, for Storm, life without her powers seems like living death. If you can't wait for the new episodes of "X-Men '97," I'd suggest reading "Lifedeath" for a taste of things to come.

The first two episodes of "X-Men '97" are now streaming on Disney+.