The premiere of X-Men ’97 Season 2 just gave one Marvel hero some long overdue credit. It is always a danger in an ensemble show that some characters will fade into the background more than others. In this case, however, the original animated series from 1992 trapped this hero in a role and offered them little chance to advance beyond that.
The character in question is Jubilee, who has been part of the X-Men animated series since the first episode. Jubilee acted as the entry character for those who weren’t already familiar with the Mutant heroes from the comics. This meant that many of her early appearances had her being the newbie to whom various things were explained.
Unfortunately, Jubilee rarely progressed beyond this during the five years building up to X-Men ’97. More often than not, she was also the hostage the other heroes had to rescue and never really a hero in her own right. However, the sequel series took steps to fix this in its first season. It was here that Jubilee took on a mentor role for the first time with Sunspot. However, this was only the start, as X-Men ’97 Season 2 gave Jubilee a chance to truly shine.
How X-Men ’97 fixes years of missed potential
The second episode of X-Men ’97’s three-part premiere, “A Force To Be Reckoned With,” finds Jubilee and Sunspot recruited into X-Force. With most of the X-Men lost in time, Cable needs allies to help him stop Apocalypse in the present. This sets up a conflict between the career soldier and the more idealistic Jubilee.
At first, it seems like “A Force To Be Reckoned With” will force Jubilee back into the role of naive rookie and eternal captive. She is the only member of X-Force to be captured by the government-sponsored X-Factor team. This leads to her being sent to a containment camp for teenage Mutants run by the American government. However, after her idealism inspires Polaris to let her out of her bonds, Jubilee goes to work.
In an epic action sequence scored to Veruca Salt’s 1997 song ‘Volcano Girls’, Jubilee launches a solo jailbreak. Despite being outnumbered, Jubilee comes out on top through a combination of combat training, power mastery, and roller-skating skills. To add insult to injury, she sets off a massive fireworks display as she makes her escape, jumping off the X-Factor helicarrier. The act of defiance manages the impossible and brings a smile to Cable’s dour face.
Jubilee’s treatment in X-Men ’97 is more in keeping with her portrayal and power level in the comics. While typically using her powers to make simple flash-bangs, she is capable of much more. No less an authority than Emma Frost said (in 1994’s X-Men #36) that Jubilee had the potential, as she matured, to detonate matter on a sub-atomic level, replicating the effects of a nuclear fusion bomb. Jubilee later lived up to that assessment, triggering an atomic explosion to destroy the spaceship of The Collector.
