The Real Reason Why Marvel's Wolverine And The X-Men Was Canceled On A Massive Cliffhanger

2008-2012 was a great yet frustrating era to be a fan of Marvel cartoons. That brief period of time saw the premiere of some of the very best television that's ever adapted Marvel Comics: "The Spectacular Spider-Man," "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes," and "Wolverine and the X-Men." I both blame and cherish these shows for making me a true Marvel Comics fan.

Yet, all these truly marvelous shows concluded prematurely for infuriating bureaucratic reasons. "Spectacular Spider-Man" ended when Sony ceded some Spider-Man television rights back to Marvel. Meanwhile, "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" was canned to make way for the far inferior (and Marvel Cinematic Universe-synergistic) "Avengers Assemble." Lastly, "Wolverine and the X-Men" never made it to season 2 because the show's financing fell apart.

Series writer-producer Joshua Fine confirmed as much in a 2011 interview. Even worse, season 2 was already in production; it had a season outline, concept art drawn up, and eight episode scripts written. Then, the money dried up. Per Fine:

"Eventually we ran through our development budget and we were sort of waiting in limbo for a long time to see if we could get started again. Eventually it became clear that it just wasn't going to happen and we had to pull the plug. And then mournfully announce to angry fans that we had pulled the plug. Believe me, as disappointed as fans were, no one was more disappointed than all the folks who had poured their hearts and talent and love into the show up until that point."

For the show's 15th anniversary in 2024, Inverse spoke with show director Steven Gordon (who had previously worked on the cartoon series "X-Men: Evolution"). He reiterated what Fine had said, explaining that Marvel couldn't work out a deal with its creative partners:

"[Marvel, the animation studio, and the series' distributor] couldn't agree on who would give the larger percentage of the money towards it and who would own the bigger percentage and so forth. And so it just imploded, even though they had a surefire guarantee for a second season. They just could not work it out, which is weird to me."

Consider how "Young Justice" ended on Cartoon Network because of low toy sales, so the toy company pulled its financing. "Young Justice" returned a few years later due to fan petitions, but that seems unlikely for "Wolverine and the X-Men." (Marvel Studios has instead revived the 1992 "X-Men" cartoon as the excellent "X-Men '97.")

However, the eight "Wolverine & The X-Men" season 2 scripts have leaked in the years since the show's cancellation and can be read online. This might be double-frustrating; more of the story, but still no resolution.

The show wasn't called "Wolverine and the X-Men" just because that's how most casual fans think of the team. It also made Logan into the central character and team's leader (though it was aware what a weird choice that was).

In the series' three-part premiere "Hindsight," Xavier's School is attacked and both Professor X (Jim Ward) and Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) vanish. The X-Men disband, but a year later, things are worse than ever for mutants. Wolverine (Steve Blum) decides the world needs the X-Men again, so he and Beast (Fred Tatasciore) gradually reassemble the team: Cyclops (Nolan North), Iceman (Yuri Lowenthal), Shadowcat (Danielle Judovits), Storm (Susan Dalian), Nightcrawler (Liam O'Brien), Rogue (Kieren van den Blink), Forge (Roger Craig Smith), and newcomer Emma Frost (Kari Wahlgren).

Jean stays MIA for most of the show, but the X-Men find a comatose Xavier at the end of "Hindsight." He telepathically contacts them from a dark future, where the Earth is a wasteland and mutants are hunted by robotic Sentinels. This is, of course, based on Chris Claremont and John Byrne's famous "Days of Future Past" comic, which was "Terminator" before "The Terminator." The rest of the season cuts back and forth between present and future; Xavier's future X-Men fight against the Sentinels while Wolverine and co. try to stop that future from ever happening.

With Xavier out of action and Cyclops more focused on Jean, Logan has to hold the team together. Series' co-developer Greg Johnson said in 2023 that, far from the premise being just an excuse to spotlight Wolverine, it shook up the usual X-Men team dynamics in compelling ways:

"To me, putting a person in charge who should never be put in charge was a great place to start. The interpersonal conflicts that arose because a loner like Wolverine was unwillingly put in a leadership role provided for some dynamic storytelling. As long as I was true to Wolverine's character, the results felt genuine. Ultimately, those vigilant fans did come aboard and enjoyed the series."

Blum's performance as Wolverine helps sell this too. You can feel Logan holding in his anger, trying (and not always succeeding) to be the kind of leader he admires Charles Xavier for being.

In the season finale "Foresight," the X-Men stop a human-mutant war from breaking out. They touch base with the future Xavier, who confirms they've succeeded: The Days of Future Past will never come to be. But all is not right; now, Apocalypse will rule the world instead. The X-Men have traded a future where mutants are hunted for one where they've become the oppressors instead. The very last scene of the series shows that future as Apocalypse hails his cheering crowds.

This cliffhanger ending set up an adaptation of the 1995 comic arc "Age of Apocalypse," which took place in a timeline where Professor X died young, Magneto founded the X-Men in his place, and Apocalypse seized control of the world then enacted his vision for Social Darwinism. As Fine explained in that aforementioned interview, the setting would be reimagined as a possible future instead of an alternate present; season 2 of "Wolverine and the X-Men" would've had the same parallel timeline structure as season 1. "Part of our task in adapting the story was figuring out which elements to pull into our present day storyline and how we were building towards this dark future," said Fine.

But we never got to see them figure that out.

"Wolverine and the X-Men" aired on Nicktoons, debuting in January 2009 and wrapping up in November that year. The show was left in limbo for months after its season 1 finale; I remember how I spent that time thinking a season 2 was inevitably coming. Instead, it was confirmed in April 2010 that it wouldn't be.

Of course, here's the question: did the show deserve the season 2 it set up? It had 26 episodes to prove itself; did it earn more by being a good show? For my money, yes, it absolutely did. "Wolverine and the X-Men" is not perfect or revelatory, but it's as solid and sturdy as its eponymous character's adamantium skeleton.

Like most great superhero shows, it's fun for kids but dark enough to captivate their parents and older fans too. It's not just the future timeline that's dark, either. When the series begins, the U.S. hasn't been overrun with Sentinels yet, but it's already semi-dystopian. Mutants, and the humans who shelter them, are rounded up for internment by the jackbooted Mutant Response Division (MRD).

The series' title sequence illustrates this oppressive mood. Rather than appearing as a liberating strike force fighting against colorful super-villains, the X-Men are shown battling the MRD's stormtroopers. The premise of the sequence is similar to the famous 1990s "X-Men" opening; it's a roll call of the team, showing off their powers one-by-one. But whereas the "X-Men" intro was exuberant, the "Wolverine and the X-Men" intro is ominous, even a tad frightening.

"Wolverine and the X-Men" is also a great synthesis of everything X-Men; the writers left no stone unturned for characters and stories to use. There's some Chris Claremont, some Grant Morrison, some of Joss Whedon's "Astonishing X-Men," some "Ultimate X-Men," and some of the live-action movies. This Wolverine is tall and handsome like Hugh Jackman, Beast is drawn to resemble Kelsey Grammer, and Blink puts on her best Anna Paquin as Rogue. In 2009, most kids had been introduced to X-Men by the movies; these similarities helped ease them into "Wolverine and the X-Men."

Though mostly taking after "Days of Future Past," the series weaved together its endgame from the other most famous X-Men story: "The Dark Phoenix Saga." Yet, it never forgot there are other X-Men stories to tell besides those big two.

Some of the X-Men make out quite well in this series. Beast and Kitty Pryde are supporting players, but their characterizations are pitch-perfect. Nightcrawler (voiced by the always wonderful O'Brien) only rejoins the X-Men about halfway through, but this works out in his favor. He gets a mini-arc of three episodes focused squarely on him in the first half. His first episode, "X-Calibre," features him protecting mutant refugees from pirates, a perfect story for a swashbuckling hero like Kurt Wagner.

But not everyone is so lucky, and there are a pair of mutants who're especially hurt by Wolverine taking center-stage: Cyclops and Storm, the two X-Men who would normally step in for Professor X. Storm doesn't get nearly enough focus outside her return episode, "Overflow." The one attempt to give her depth involves a last-minute romance with the X-Men's friend Warren Worthington aka Angel.

Cyclops gets the worst of it, though, being single-mindedly focused on Jean. Even the crew had some mixed reactions to it. "I grew up as a big Cyclops supporter and I couldn't see how we could have Wolverine as leader but still have Scott on the team," Fine explained, adding that the execution convinced him. Gordon, however, told Inverse that he still feels it was the wrong approach:

"I get the whole Cyclops being a depressed lovelorn person, but to me, it doesn't say much about his character."

The season 2 scripts suggest Cyclops would have stepped up. In the three-part premiere, "A New Order," he makes peace with Logan and starts to get his head in the game. Even when giving Wolverine pointers on how to be a better leader, Cyclops is supporting him, not usurping him.

The ending of "Foresight" also revealed that Cyclops would become a servant of Apocalypse. In the "Age of Apocalypse" comics, Cyclops was raised by Mister Sinister, and so he was always evil. The show would instead explore how he could have become evil. This is just speculation, but I think it's likely that the drama in the season would've come down to whether Scott's turn to evil could be prevented. In the end, he'd probably prove it could and be critical to Apocalypse's defeat.

It's not just the Apocalypse storyline that got cut short when "Wolverine and the X-Men" was canceled. The show also had a handful of ongoing subplots that will never see resolution. In episodes 11 and 14, Wolverine confronted his past as an agent and experiment of the Weapon X program. Neither he nor we learned the full picture of that backstory. Likewise, in Mojo's (Charlie Adler) second and final appearance, episode 15 "Hunting Grounds," he promised a "sequel" where he'd get revenge on the X-Men. 

Many characters also never got to see their full arc through.

In episode 19, "Guardian Angel," Angel (O'Brien) loses his wings and goes to Mister Sinister (Clancy Brown) to restore them, only for Sinister to turn Warren into his attack dog, Archangel, with wings of metal. Even by the end of season 1, Angel is still Sinister's captive. Similarly, in episode 23, "Shades of Grey," Sinister gets DNA samples from both Cyclops and Jean, proclaiming he'll use them to create the ultimate mutant. That was probably setting up the introduction of their son, Cable, in season 2. (Concept art has confirmed Cable was planned to appear.)

"Wolverine and the X-Men" even has the best Emma Frost outside of the comics. She's a frigid jerk on the surface, but also someone trying to make up for her past mistakes, including some good intentions that had bad consequences, and be a hero worthy of the X-Men. In "Foresight," Emma sacrifices herself: she absorbs the Phoenix Force and its power shatters her diamond form. But Emma Frost was never meant to stay dead.

Had season 2 gone ahead, it would've been revealed that Emma transferred her consciousness into Jean. Beast would then rebuild her shattered diamond body, just like in Grant Morrison's "New X-Men," and Emma would be reborn.

Then there's Magneto (Tom Kane). In "Wolverine and the X-Men" season 1, he is downright evil and acts like a conqueror, not a liberator. He's the ruler of Genosha, a mutant nation, but reigns as an autocrat and king. He imprisons dissidents or anyone who displeases him for any minor offense with no trials. In episode 22, "Aces and Eights," Professor X shows both Magneto and anti-mutant Senator Robert Kelly (Richard Doyle) a vision of the future a human-mutant war will bring. Kelly is horrified and backs down. Magneto? He senses an opportunity, arranging a Sentinel invasion on Genosha as a false-flag attack so he can wage war from the moral high ground. This Magneto is worse than the worst of humanity.

Magneto as a full-on villain isn't inaccurate to Marvel Comics tradition, it's just not my preferred take. I think the show was deconstructing the reality behind his compelling rhetoric of mutant liberation; he'd gotten what he supposedly wanted, but lost himself in his hunger for power.

Except maybe I shouldn't judge so quickly, because season 2 of "Wolverine and the X-Men" was going to be Magneto's redemption. In the present, he'd let himself be captured by the MRD so another young mutant, Shiro Yoshida aka Sunfire, could escape. In the Age of Apocalypse future, Magneto would fight alongside Xavier, having founded a new team of X-Men in Charles' absence: Colossus (North), Quicksilver (Mark Hildreth), Sabretooth (Pete Lurie), Sunfire, Mystique (Tamara Bernier Evans), and Blink (who was cleverly introduced in season 1 as one of Magneto's Acolytes on Genosha). Looking back, "Foresight" sets this up. Magneto is humbled when his plan fails and his daughters, Wanda aka Scarlet Witch (Kate Higgins) and Lorna aka Polaris (Liza del Mundo), reject him. In season 2, Magneto's goal would be to become the man his daughters had believed him to be.

The one X-Man who never got the chance to rejoin the team was Piotr Rasputin/Colossus; he makes only a cameo in "Hindsight" before the explosion that changes everything. However, while season 1 had too many moving pieces to fit him in, Colossus was always intended to come back eventually: in season 2, episode 6, "Russian Magik." Sinister tries to abduct his little sister, Illyana, so he'd team back up with the X-Men to stop the twisted scientist.

Based on dialogue in the "Russian Magik" script, "Wolverine and the X-Men" season 2 would've also adapted "The Twelve," where Apocalypse tries to sacrifice 12 especially strong mutants to become all-powerful. In the show, these 12 would be: Professor X, Magneto, Storm, Rogue, Iceman, Shadowcat, Scarlet Witch, Juggernaut (Tatasciore), Tildie Soames, Magma (Wahlgren), Caliban, and Magik.

For reference, the eight scripts written for "Wolverine and the X-Men" season 2 were:

• "A New Order Part 1" — Mostly set in the Age of Apocalypse as Xavier tries to understand how the future has changed. In the present, Archangel steals Xavier's comatose body on orders from Sinister.

• "A New Order Part 2" — The MRD steps up its mutant hunting under Operation: Zero Tolerance. Hiding in Japan, Magneto saves young Shiro and passes him onto the X-Men before being captured.

• "A New Order Part 3" — Investigating Shiro's past, the X-Men discover Sinister is creating a new type of Sentinel.

• "Infinite Future" — Set entirely in the Age of Apocalypse as the X-Men try to reclaim Cerebro.

• "Recall" — Weapon X sends in X-23 and then Deadpool to capture Wolverine. The ending reveals that Apocalypse is the mastermind behind Weapon X, tying this subplot to the main one.

• "Russian Magik"

• "Legacy" — Wolverine teams up with the Brotherhood to stop the production of a mutant "cure."

• "eXodus" — The MRD invade Genosha, so Wanda moves the mutant population to Mount Wundagore.

Fine said in the 2011 interview that Professor X would've awoken from his coma in the season 2 finale, but there would be "complications." What would those "complications" have been? Perhaps Onslaught, a malevolent psychic entity born from Xavier's mind? Fine later said in 2021 that the original Onslaught comic arc was very impactful for him, so I imagine it would've been at least considered for adaptation.

Speaking of which, concept art for "Wolverine and the X-Men" season 2 confirms that "Operation: Zero Tolerance" villain Bastion would've made his animated debut had the season gone ahead. He ended up having to wait 15 years instead, with Bastion and "Operation: Zero Tolerance" finally being adapted in "X-Men '97" season 1.

Based on how "X-Men '97" season 1 ended, I think there's a good chance we will see the Age of Apocalypse play out there. "Wolverine and the X-Men" season 2 remains a pipe dream, but we may get a taste of what it had planned by other means.

The first and, probably, only season of "Wolverine and the X-Men" is streaming on Disney+.