X-Men '97 may serve as a follow-up to X-Men: The Animated Series, but that doesn't mean the show hasn't evolved. For example, it features a new approach to Morph; the character has a different look and, before the revival's launch, was revealed to be non-binary.
That generated claims of Marvel Studios going "woke" with the X-Men, a team of superheroes who were arguably woke decades before that word even became a thing.
J.P. Karliak has taken over the role of Morph from Ron Rubin and, in an interview with CBR (via Toonado.com), admitted he wasn't surprised by the backlash. However, he's also been pleased to see how many fans have pushed back against the hate.
"No," Karliak said when asked if he was shocked by the initial response. "I'm a queer activist. I run a nonprofit that advocates for queer representation. I also co-founded a voter registration organization. I know what's going on in the world, especially politically, so no, it didn't surprise me at all. [Laughs]"
"I think what I appreciated was how much counter-backlash there was, with people like 'Have you watched the X-Men? Are you familiar with why they were created and what they're about? Did you forget that?' That was reassuring."
"I haven't really taken offense with anything anybody's published, as much as they've tried," the actor added with a laugh. "There was one article that called me a radical queer activist and listed the insidious mission statement of my organization [Queer Vox] - verbatim of what was on the website. I was like 'Facts. No lies here, thanks for the promotion!'"
Karliak would go on to confirm that, despite Morph's non-binary status, it's not a word we'll hear used in X-Men '97 due to the show's '90s setting. It's actually for that reason the character also goes by he/him in the show.
"Two things about that - one, as far as I know, we're never going to say the word 'non-binary' because nobody said the word 'non-binary' in the '90s," he explained. "It's not that it didn't exist; it was just in no way a mainstream term at the time."
"Morph's understanding of who he is could equate to what a modern person would say is non-binary, but he just doesn’t have the terminology for it. At the same time, they/them wasn't a concept in terms of using it as a pronoun."
That explanation is one which makes sense, but it's unlikely to win over those who feel Marvel Studios has dropped the ball in terms of representation since the Infinity Saga concluded.
The first two episodes of X-Men '97 are now streaming on Disney+.