X-Men ’97: Tolerance is Extinction Part 3 review
Tolerance is Extinction Part 3 felt like the first time since Avengers: Endgame where there was a real sense of suspense if any more beloved characters weren’t going to make it. That’s a powerful thing for a live-action film/show about superheroes. Creating that environment with a cartoon? Pretty much unheard of these days.
Such is the power of X-Men ’97, which made Tolerance is Extinction Part 3 feel like the final issue of a massive comic book arc. This was some elite level execution for a cartoon comic book series rivaled only by a few series. Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Justice League Unlimited and Young Justice immediately come to mind.
The episode kicks off with a “flashback” to Xavier and Erik chatting about being mutants and their visions for the future. But it’s not actually a flashback. It’s Xavier trying to connect with his friend on the mental plane through a shared, treasured memory between them. Magneto still isn’t down with releasing his magnetic pulse, which is threatening to plunge the world in darkness.
Xavier reaches the end of his patience when Magneto dismisses the idea that his actions will harm his fellow mutants. Blowing off harm to humans is perfectly on brand, but not caring about mutants means Magneto has gone beyond the point of reason. That’s enough to prompt Xavier to seize control of Magneto’s mind just long enough to remove the pulse.
In the first of several cameos for Tolerance is Extinction Part 3, Captain America & Iron Man are with President Kelly, Daredevil reacts and Doctor Strange is in surgery. Watch those hands!
Bastion has Storm, Beast, Morph and Forge captive as he name drops Operation Zero Tolerance. The Prime Sentinels come for Cap and Iron Man. They try Wakanda but Black Panther (!) and the Dora Milaje are behind a shield they can’t pierce, and Black Panther wipes them out. Cloak and Dagger, The Winter Guard of Crimson Dynamo, Darkstar and Omega Red as well as Psylocke, Cecile Reyes(?) Northstar, Puck and Aurora are also shown.
It’s villain celebratory victory lap monologue time. Bastion asks Cable how many times he tried to save Madeline. 200 times! The guy is persistent. As Bastion and Mr. Sinister kept pushing it by having Jean reach the limits of her powers they pay for it with the return of Phoenix. They’ve really got no one to blame but themselves for that one. Storm legit laughing as Phoenix emerged from the water was hilarious.
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Phoenix wipes out the Prime Sentinels and strips Mr. Sinister of all his DNA vitamins away leaving him looking like Hulk Hogan in 1994. Not quite beaten yet, Bastion literally beats Cable with his own metallic arm and uses it to give him a tech boost. With this upgrade, he’s heading to Asteroid M to use as a missile to destroy Earth.
Since Phoenix is way too powerful to keep on the board too long, Jean explains there was a trace of Phoenix left, but it’s gone now.
Back in the mental plane, Magneto has lost his memory. Xavier asks him to trust him. Who exactly did that to him there, Chuck? In these visions, Magneto sees silhouetted versions of Scarlett Witch, Quicksilver and Polaris. Nice call out and now we’ve gotten four Avengers in this episode!
Bastion’s made it to Asteroid M and greeted by the X-Men turncoats who are back in the good graces with the team again — Rogue and Roberto. Rogue unleashes on Bastion and gets backup from Roberto who now calls himself Sunspot. Bastion wins the line of the episode saying, “It’s ironic that Xavier’s students never learn.”
Back on Earth, King T’Chaka speaks for Wakanda as both he and Captain America try and stop President Kelly from unleashing the Magneto Protocols.
The battle against Bastion is epic. Nightcrawler’s attack is awesome and Cyclops unleashes a Marvel vs. Capcom size blast that does massive damage to him. Even Jubilee gets in some good hits. Still, these three X-Men against Bastion is not a fair fight.
Good thing Beast and the others arrive via Sentinel. Forge stayed behind to care for Cable. Seems like two big players to have off the field. Couldn’t Forge just think up some super duct tape and aim Cable at Bastion?
Cyclops prepares the team has the team stand down as he tries to appeal to Bastion on a different level. This actually felt sensible in this case as Cyclops didn’t want to see another X-Man go down. The X-Men seemingly get through to Bastion…just as missiles start closing in. The Magneto Protocols have been enacted.
“Humanity would rather die than have children like us” was another pretty haunting line from Bastion. Cyclops decides he can make the sacrifice play to save the others. After all, Jean already did it. Rogue tells him that Gambit died so they can live. Big note. Wolverine spends the issue on a table recovering. No last second heroic rescue from him. Taking him off the board so much this season has really allowed the others to shine. That said, Morph really needed to be here instead of with Logan on the Blackbird as he could have channeled whatever power necessary to deal with the situation.
Scott and Jean say farewell to Cable in a really great moment. That was unexpectedly emotional. While the Protocols were launched, Earth is still in danger per the news reports that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson watch on a storefront TV.
The missiles create immense damage to the Asteroid as the X-Men scramble. Cyclops calls Bastion, who tries to get to Jean’s telekinetic bubble, but gets wiped out. Morph shifts to Mister Fantastic to hang on. Just when all hope seems lost for the X-Men, Xavier gets through to Magneto who awakens to say, “Magneto lives!” He pulls Asteroid M out of orbit but it’s not enough to stop a massive explosion seemingly wiping out Asteroid M and the X-Men.
Six months have passed, and the X-Men are presumed dead. Forge has photos of the various mutants done up Days of Future Past homage style when Bishop arrives. Bishop assures him they’ve already met and explains that someone has yanked the X-Men through time. Oh really?
Scott and Jean are in 3960 where they encounter Mother Askani and…young Nathan in a nod to The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix. Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Xavier and Magneto are in Egypt 3000 BC. They help a mutant who ends up being En Sabah Nur — Apocalypse. Whew boy. To be continued.
There is a post credit this time. Apocalypse is surveying the wreckage of Genosha. Perhaps questioning if mutants really were the strongest?
This was a fantastic run of 10 episodes. The weakest one of the bunch served as a perfect cool down before the shocking Genosha attack episode. X-Men ’97’s first season was a major triumph. Now the hardest part will be waiting on Season 2.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney