Wolverine and the X-Men (TV series)

Wolverine and the X-Men is an American cartoon series by Marvel Animation. It is the fourth animated adaptation of the X-Men characters, the other three being Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men: The Animated Series, and X-Men: Evolution.

Plot
The story begins with a sudden explosion at the Xavier mansion which was initially perceived among the X-Men to be an attempted attack by an unknown assailant, targeted at telepaths, particularly Professor Charles Xavier and Jean Grey, who consequently go missing in the immediate aftermath. The resulting trauma caused the X-Men team to disband and go their separate ways, leaving Xavier's once highly revered league of mutant peace preservers out of commission. Due to the heavy losses of the Professor, Jean, and the mansion, many of the X-Men have withered in their faith towards the stability of their former team and have since detached themselves from their former community. Some examples include Cyclops' subsequent isolation resulting from Jean's disappearance, Storm's relocation back to her home continent of Africa, and Iceman's move back into his parents' home in the quiet suburbs.

One year later, the MRD (short for the Mutant Response Division), a government-supported organization created for the detainment and subsequent registration of existing mutants, begins capturing mutants from all over the country in response to the countless human protesters determined to protect the safety of humankind. This course of action causes Wolverine and Beast to ally and resolve to bring the once defunct X-Men team back together again. Thanks to the generosity, wealth, and resourcefulness of Angel, the slowly reforming X-Men team begins to see a promising return to its former glory with the rejoining of junior members Iceman, Shadowcat and Forge along with the reconstruction of the previously demolished Xavier Institute. Unfortunately, without the necessary capabilities of a competent telepath to operate Cerebro, the possibility of locating some of the more globally scattered X-Men members along with the missing Charles Xavier and Jean seems all but a distant dream.

Fortunately, this problem does not last for very long when Emma Frost, the beautiful former Headmistress of a now inactive mutant school of her own in Massachusetts, makes a surprising appearance on the doorstep of the Mansion with an interesting proposal: membership with the X-Men in exchange for utilizing her telepathy to pinpoint the missing Xavier's whereabouts (it seems that Angel is impressed by her appearance). Upon the team's - and particularly Wolverine's - reluctant acceptance of the offer, Emma's efforts prove successful as she is able to locate a comatose Charles on the shores of Genosha in the care of Magneto. After their arrival on Genosha and a short confrontation with the master of magnetism himself, Magneto eventually permits the X-Men to take his old friend's body back to the sanctity of the Mansion where he is certain that Xavier will be placed in proper care. Upon their return, Xavier telepathically contacts the X-Men twenty years from the present in an alternate dystopian future and informs Wolverine that he is to lead and reunite the X-Men if they wish to successfully prevent the inevitable war that will cause the world to fall under the domination of Master Mold and the Sentinels.

Throughout the course of the entire season, Emma's role as the X-Men's primary acting telepath enables the team to relocate the rest of the other members in the hopes of reforming once again and assisting in Xavier's cause. While some were met with initial hesitancy such as with Nightcrawler, others such as Storm were more than willing to accept the offer once Xavier's vision had been put into perspective. The X-Men overcome many hardships and obstacles along the way upon achieving their ultimate goal of relocating Jean and finally revealing the truth surrounding the mystery of the Mansion's cause for explosion along with Xavier and Jean's subsequent disappearances.

It is later revealed in the three-part first season finale "Foresight" that the previously assumed attack on the Mansion was not from the efforts of a third party, but rather from the result of Jean who unwittingly releases the immense and highly destructive strength and power of the Phoenix Force, that originally lay dormant deep within her subconscious, in an attempt to halt an oncoming telepathic attack led by Emma (who was secretly working as a double agent for the Inner Circle and the Stepford Cuckoos). Along with Sebastian Shaw, Selene, Harry Leland, and Donald Pierce, it was the Inner Circle's utmost duty to not only obtain the power of the Phoenix Force by abducting Jean from the protection of Xavier and the Mansion, but to also obliterate the ancient being's existence before it could fully mature and consequently bring forth unparalleled destruction onto the world as it had done numerous times in the past throughout Earth's history. However in a move that was completely unknown to Emma at the time, the rest of the Inner Circle members all shared an entirely different and more sinister vision than Frost had initially believed: to control and manipulate the power of the Phoenix Force and have it cater to their own hidden agenda. Upon realizing the error of her ways, Emma betrays the Inner Circle and attempts to redeem herself in the eyes of the X-Men by not only rescuing Jean but by also following through with her original plan of destroying the cosmic entity before it could mature. Unfortunately, her actions result in her apparent death. Afterwards, the X-Men are praised for their actions by Professor Xavier, but are warned of a new danger approaching: the Age of Apocalypse.

Characters
The overall situations and the look of the series and character designs takes inspiration of the Astonishing X-Men comic series.

X-Men

 * Wolverine
 * Cyclops
 * Emma Frost
 * Beast
 * Storm
 * C:marvel:Warren Worthington III
 * Kitty Pryde
 * Iceman
 * Rogue
 * Nightcrawler
 * Forge
 * Jean Grey
 * Colossus

Future X-Men

 * Berzerker
 * Bishop
 * Domino
 * Hellion


 * Kamal
 * Marrow
 * Polaris
 * Professor X


 * Rover
 * Vanisher
 * Wolverine
 * X-23
 * Samuel Bleeker

Brotherhood of Mutants

 * Avalanche
 * Blob


 * Domino
 * Quicksilver


 * Rogue
 * Toad

Acolytes

 * Magneto
 * Mystique
 * Scarlet Witch
 * Polaris


 * Scanner
 * Mellencamp
 * Senyaka
 * Kleinstock Brothers


 * Pyro
 * Blink
 * Mercury
 * Juggernaut

Marauders

 * Mister Sinister
 * Arclight
 * Archangel


 * Blockbuster
 * Harpoon


 * Multiple Man
 * Vertigo

Inner Circle

 * Sebastian Shaw
 * Donald Pierce


 * Harry Leland
 * Selene


 * Stepford Cuckoos

MRD/Project: Wideawake

 * Senator Kelly
 * Warren Worthington II
 * Bolivar Trask
 * The Sentinels


 * The Prowlers
 * Master Mold
 * Dr. Sybil Zane
 * Colonel Moss


 * Dr. Kavita Rao
 * Agent Haskett
 * Dr. Peterson

Weapon X

 * Professor Thorton
 * Dr. Abraham Cornelius
 * Sabretooth


 * Maverick
 * Mystique
 * Deadpool


 * X-23
 * Wolverine

Other mutants

 * Apocalypse
 * Big Bertha
 * Boom Boom
 * Christy Nord
 * Darwin
 * Dazzler
 * Dust
 * Feral
 * Fever Pitch


 * Firestar
 * Gambit
 * Magma
 * Network
 * Nitro
 * Pixie
 * Psylocke
 * Quill
 * Rockslide


 * Sauron
 * Shadow King
 * Shatter
 * Silver Samurai
 * Squidboy
 * Thunderbird
 * Tildie Soames

Other characters

 * Mojo
 * Spiral
 * Reavers


 * Nick Fury
 * Bruce Banner/Hulk


 * Wendigo
 * Mariko Yashida

Cast

 * Charlie Adler - Mojo, Reavers
 * Tamara Bernier - Mystique
 * Kieren van den Blink - Rogue
 * Steven Blum - Wolverine, Vanisher, Vindaloo, Fever Pitch
 * Clancy Brown - Mister Sinister
 * A.J. Buckley - Toad
 * Corey Burton - John Grey
 * Susan Dalian - Storm, Dr. Kavita Rao, Jean's Nurse
 * Grey DeLisle - Psylocke, Spiral, Network
 * Alex Désert - Nick Fury
 * Richard Doyle - Senator Robert Kelly
 * Chris Edgerly - Agent Haskett
 * Crispin Freeman - Multiple Man, Maverick
 * Jennifer Hale - Jean Grey
 * Kate Higgins - Scarlet Witch, Pixie
 * Mark Hildreth - Quicksilver
 * Michael Ironside - Colonel Moss
 * Dominic Janes - Squidboy
 * Danielle Judovits - Shadowcat, Tildie Soames
 * Tom Kane - Magneto, Professor Thorton
 * Phil LaMarr - Gambit, Bolivar Trask
 * Yuri Lowenthal - Iceman
 * Peter Lurie - Sabretooth
 * Gabriel Mann - Dr. Bruce Banner
 * Graham McTavish - Sebastian Shaw
 * Vanessa Marshall - Vertigo
 * Phil Morris - Colossus
 * Liza del Mundo - Polaris
 * Nolan North - Cyclops, Pyro, Berzerker
 * Liam O'Brien - Angel/Archangel, Nightcrawler, Nitro
 * Kevin Michael Richardson - Shadow King, Bishop
 * Crystal Scales - Boom Boom
 * James Sie - Yakuza Leader, Sensei Ogun
 * Roger Craig Smith - Forge, Hellion, Kamal
 * André Sogliuzzo - Arclight
 * Stephen Stanton - Blob
 * April Stewart - Selene
 * Tara Strong - Marrow, Dust, Firestar, X-23, Stepford Cuckoos
 * James Patrick Stuart - Avalanche
 * Fred Tatasciore - Beast, Hulk, Blockbuster, Juggernaut, Harpoon
 * Kari Wahlgren - Emma Frost, Magma, Dr. Sybil Zane, Christy Nord
 * Jim Ward - Professor X, Warren Worthington II, Abraham Cornelius, Sentinels, Rover the Sentinel
 * Gwendoline Yeo - Domino, Master Mold, Mariko Yashida
 * Keone Young - Silver Samurai

Crew

 * Jamie Simone - Casting and Voice Director

Production
The series was in the pre-production stage as of April 2007. On November 4, 2008, a second season, consisting of 26 episodes was confirmed as being in production. During Comic Con 2009, images of season 2 were shown, consisting of Colossus, Magik, Deadpool, Jubilee, and Havok. It was announced that these characters were to appear in season 2. Colossus was set to get a reintroductory storyline and would have been a regular character in season 2.

Cancellation
On April 13, 2010, Comics Continuum reported that according to an inside source a second season of the series seems very unlikely. On April 15, 2010, Marvel Animation Age confirmed the recent report that Wolverine and the X-Men will not be returning for a second season. At C2E2, the Marvel animation panel consisting of Joe Quesada, Arune Singh, and Josh Fine stated that the reason for the cancellation is because they were unable to work out the financing for the show with their financing partner.

Later allusions in other Marvel media

 * Steven Blum, Tom Kane and Fred Tatasciore reprise their respective roles as Wolverine, Professor Thornton and Hulk in the animated movie Hulk Vs. Wolverine, a prequel to the series. Prior to the show's cancellation, Nolan North was set to reprise his Hulk Vs role as Deadpool in a planned episode of the second season.
 * Alex Désert, Steven Blum, Gabriel Mann, Fred Tatasciore and Tom Kane all reprise their respective roles as Nick Fury, Wolverine, Bruce Banner, Hulk and Professor Thornton in the television series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
 * The MRD is mentioned in passing in one episode of The Avengers.
 * The role of Cyclops is once again played by Nolan North in Black Panther.
 * Steven Blum, Liam O'Brien, Jim Ward and Tom Kane each return as Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Professor Xavier and Magneto in Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Video Game. However, only Blum and Ward reprise their characters for The Super Hero Squad Show.
 * Steven Blum, Tara Strong, Tom Kane, Susan Dalian, Jennifer Hale and Jim Ward return to voice Wolverine, X-23, Magneto, Storm, Jean Grey and Sentinel in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
 * Steven Blum, Nolan North, Phil LaMarr and Kari Wahlgren returns to voice Wolverine, Cyclops, Gambit and Emma Frost in X-Men: Destiny.
 * Steven Blum, Jennifer Hale and Fred Tatasciore reprise their roles of Wolverine, Jean Grey and Beast in Marvel Anime: X-Men while Gwendoline Yeo reprises her role of Mariko Yashida in Marvel Anime: Wolverine.
 * Steven Blum, Kate Higgins, Liam O'Brien, Fred Tatasciore, Kari Wahlgren, and Jim Ward return as Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, Nightcrawler, Beast, Hulk, Emma Frost, and Professor X in Marvel Heroes.

Merchandise
Hasbro produced a Wolverine and the X-Men toyline as a tie-in to the series. The first wave consisted of Avalanche, Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Logan (not in classic outfit), Iceman, Magneto, Wolverine. Wave two contained the new figures Nightcrawler and a Black Uniform Wolverine. Wave Three, the final wave, added Forge and Toad to the line. The toy line ended before any of the main females of the series were turned into toys; notably missing were Emma Frost, Jean Grey, Shadowcat, Rogue, and Storm.

Reception
Due in part to the abundance of advertising for the series done by Nicktoons and Marvel, the Nicktoons Network premiere of Wolverine and the X-Men garnered over 3,500,000 viewers, one of the network's highest ratings ever.


 * Hindsight, Part One - 3,436,000 viewers
 * Hindsight, Part Two - 4,589,000 viewers

It has an 8.1/10 on IMDB with positive reviews.