The X-Men’s return is not just X-ceptional, it hits home almost prophetically. 

X-Men ‘97, the Disney+ cartoon series, premiered in March to hype and anticipation from fans who grew up with the animated series of the early 90s. The X-Men comics have always dealt with deeper issues than simply – stop the bad guy. The super powered individuals in X-Men, known as mutants, are born that way and are hated and feared by society. This essential element makes the series, at its core, an allegory for civil rights, discrimination, and prejudice. And the 90s cartoon show did not shy away from these themes. 

X-Men ‘97 picks up right where the canceled show left off, and it does not disappoint. The show doesn’t pull any punches regarding its themes of hate and intolerance. In fact, it addresses these themes so strongly, given the world events concerning Israel and Gaza, I feel like I’m watching my childhood heroes go through the chaos with me.

Note: from here out, I will be talking about MAJOR SPOILERS for the first season of X-Men ‘97. 

X-Men ‘97 starts up with the recent death of the X-Men’s mentor Charles Xavier, a Martin Luther King-like figure, who worked toward peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants. But in Xavier’s will, he has left his estate, including the X-Men’s leadership to his ultimate frenemy, Magneto. Magneto, a Holocaust survivor and Malcolm X-like figure, believes that humans will never accept mutants, and the only solution is the enviable war with mutants becoming the dominant species. With Xavier’s death, Magneto has resigned to attempt to carry out his friend’s dream. But almost immediately the UN comes to arrest Magneto and try him for crimes against humanity. 

It was about this time, I started to feel pangs in my stomach. The International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands had begun hearings against Israel concerning the accusations of genocide merely a month prior. This UN trial against Magneto felt like it was reflecting much of the hate and misguided condemnation present in the media leading to the proceedings in the Netherlands. But when human protesters violently storm the UN building, the parallels between January 6th and the current protests on college campuses felt unreal. Then Magneto’s utterance concerning the interruption, “Oh to play by the rules and still they come for you,” nailed the very sentiment we all have thought when we hear the brutal lies concerning the IDF in spite of their abundant attempts to avoid civilian casualties. 

In the X-Men world, there is a fictional nation known as Genosha. Originally an oppressive regime for mutants, since then it has become their haven. The only place in the world mutants can call their home, the country is a vision of freedom, safety, and belonging. I remember the first time I visited Israel, knowing that most of the people around me celebrated Hanukkah instead of Christmas and that I could approach any girl I wanted (assuming I could muster the courage) and wouldn’t have to worry about the “religion talk.” It was a freeing feeling I had never known before. Those very sentiments I perhaps projected onto the cartoon inhabitants of Genosha, but there’s no escaping their feelings of relief and hope. Then came the plot twist that hit me harder than any brutal Game of Thrones rug pull. 

Genosha is attacked by a widespread and menacing terrorist offensive. Almost every superhero spectacle involves an attack on a city. The movies usually avoid the chaos, confusion, and consequences of what such an attack would actually contain. Not this one. Fan favorite Gambit dies sacrificing himself to stop the attack from going any further, and viewers are left in shocking disbelief. The fictional tragedy was elevated from mindless destruction to something personal that had been lost. I couldn’t shake the feelings of October 7th bubbling up again. 

Amongst the rubble, two characters, Jubilee and Roberto argue over the virtue of standing proud vs hiding who they are. Roberto comments, “Look at what happens when we don’t hide. When we shove it in their face. Is it worth it, Jubilee?” It wasn’t that long ago my friend expressed that she no longer felt safe having her mezuzah outside her door.  At the time, I felt that visibly standing up to antisemitism was important. But just this past week, with the UCLA protests, for the first time, I felt unsafe going to a grocery store near the campus. When I went to a different store, I strongly considered wearing a baseball cap on top of my yarmulke. It is so odd to see my fears being expressed by the comic book characters I grew up with. 

Much like with Israel after 10/7, the world’s reaction to the Genosha attack didn’t prompt sympathy for the mutant cause, but fierce hate and an uptick in aggression. The news reports that “Nations are refusing to allow Mutants displaced by the brutal attack on Genosha to return to their home countries.” Those who consider Israel a colonist entity demand Israeli citizens return to where they came from. They are oblivious to the fact that so many are refugees themselves who were displaced from countries they had lived in for centuries. And I’m not talking about the Nazi torn Europe, but Arab countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria. Should the worst happen to the State of Israel, I would imagine I would hear the very same news report on real television. 

The latest development is in the show’s new villain. The Prime Sentinels. The X-Men have always battled towering robots designed to hunt mutants. The stories’ tall purple and pink automatons were a symbol of the cold, but cartoonish personification of mutant hate. Like the way a swastika tattooed Neo Nazi surely exists, but I’m probably not going to run into one in my day to day. But the novelty of Prime Sentinels is that they are humans who have (without their own knowledge) been turned into cyborgs. And without warning they will awaken to mercilessly attack mutants. Meaning the human colleague who claims to want to help the X-Men may be their worst enemy. And this is something that is particularly chilling to Jewish life today.

Before our eyes, the institutions we have grown up in, partnered with, contributed to, have started to turn to us. This Shabbat, a friend of mine came to Shul wearing UCLA cufflinks. I asked him, “Are you being ironic? Or is it your alma mater?” He expressed sadness that it was the latter. More and more I’m seeing non-Jewish friends share disparaging posts about Israel. Talk show hosts that have avoided the Israel/Gaza conflict thus far had to make mention of the protests across the nation. Am I being alarmist? Surely my city won’t turn on us the way the Prime Sentinels have ambushed the X-Men? But isn’t that what happened in Berlin?

Finally, the most profound direction X-Men ‘97 has taken is of the attitudes of its main characters. With Xavier, the champion of coexistence gone, the X-Men have been pushed to their limit. Cyclops, the de facto leader, has begun lashing out at so-called allies to the team concerning their indifference. Rogue, the love interest of the departed Gambit, has held up to her name and gone rogue, violently crossing lines in her pursuit of justice. And Magneto, the man who swore to uphold his friend’s dream, has given up and launched a war against humanity. 

How many of us have abandoned our idealism and hope in the last 7 months? How many friends have we unfriended? How many of us have stopped fact checking our side’s social media proclamations while completely dismissing the other side’s accusations? Is the dream of a two state solution… or peace of any kind with the Palestinians beyond possibility at this point?

It’s insane that X-Men ’97 has felt so resonant to me. When our idealism gets challenged, the sentiment is to “get real.” Right now, that’s how X-Men feels, pessimistic and tragic. Will the show restore the dream of coexistence with any sort of plausibility? Hopefully. And in doing so, it may shed some wisdom on the world I live in, which increasingly feels like a world that hates and fears me.  

A version of this article first appeared on Aish.com