There are many reasons why X-Men ’97 is a runaway success for Disney+, but chief among them has to be the fact that it pulls no punches. This is a show that gave Storm the most badass moments of the two-part premiere and then stripped her of her mutant abilities. You’re going to give us the forecast and then dry up all the rain? That’s cold, X-Men ’97… but it’s damn good storytelling.
Everyone out there who was worried that we’d seen the last of Storm — SPOILERS ahead — breathed a sigh of relief at the end of Episode 3, “Fire Made Flesh.” In the coda, we catch up with Storm at a saloon called Tequila Mockingbird. Now clad in the leather and studs that she wore in the 1980s comics, Storm takes a swig from a nondescript bottle that is definitely not beer as far as Mickey Mouse is concerned, and watches the local weather report on a heat wave.
And then a stranger sits beside her. He’s a stranger that will likely change Storm’s life forever. Y’all, we gotta talk about Forge.
We don’t learn much about Forge in the scene in “Fire Made Flesh.” We know he knows who Storm is, and he says that he’s an old friend of Professor Xavier. He also hints that he’ll be able to reverse the effects of X-Cutioner’s weapon and give Storm her powers back. As far as meet cutes go, this one is pretty dry with the promise of a downpour. … Yep, that metaphor got away from me. Oh — and Forge is voiced by Gil Birmingham, who you might know from playing Thomas Rainwater on Yellowstone (among many, many other credits).
Created by Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. in 1984, Forge was introduced as a Cheyenne mutant and Vietnam War veteran. Forge used his mutant ability to build anything he can think of to replace the hand and leg he lost in combat. He also possessed the ability to absolutely rock the hell out of mid-’80s fashion.
It’s not a stretch to say that Forge’s polo and short shorts make his debut in Uncanny X-Men #184 one of the most iconic intros in all of X-canon.
Anyway — Forge was an on and off ally of the X-Men for much of the ’80s stretching into the ’90s. He was also romantically linked to Storm, becoming her first — and still one of her most prominent — love interest. That speaks a lot to Forge’s character, considering that many, many ’70s and ’80s X-Men stories boil down to “maniacal, wealthy, powerful, legendary man kidnaps Storm and begs her to be his wife and she says ‘Nope.'”
That’s what you wanna know, right? After all, this is Storm. I will at least say this: animated Series Forge has a robotic leg up on Marvel Comics Forge. Why? Because in the comics, the neutralizer gun that robs Storm of her powers was built by Forge. He didn’t fire it, but he also didn’t initially disclose that information when he helped Storm through her post power loss depression and began a romantic relationship with her. Shady behavior!
As we’ve seen on the show, though, the neutralizer gun was built and fired by X-Cutioner, thus absolving animated series Forge of this particular baggage — although you know things aren’t going to be easy for anyone who pursues a romantic relationship while also being a superhero.
This is not the first time we’ve seen Forge in the X-Men animated series universe — and, buckle up, this ain’t the only Forge that we’ve seen either.
Forge actually debuted in the X-Men Season 3 episode “Cold Comfort” as the leader of X-Factor, a government-sponsored team of mutants. It’s in that episode that Forge meets Professor X, apparently beginning something of a friendship that persisted offscreen (unless Forge is lying to Storm and his go-to pickup line is saying he knows a world-renowned geneticist).
Forge later appeared in the Season 5 premiere, “The Phalanx Covenant,” as a member of a ragtag team formed by Beast. In both of these storylines, Forge never crossed paths with the entire X-Men team, and therefore never met Storm.
And then there’s the other Forge.
An older Forge actually appeared in the Season 1 episode “Days of Future Past.” That Forge built the time travel tech that sent Bishop back in time to stop a political assassination. And then, since Bishop essentially resets his timeline every time he pops up season after season, every Old Man Forge you see in the original series is technically a different Old Man Forge. Okay, maybe this is confusing.
Look: all you really need to know is that there is a Forge in the present of X-Men ’97 and there’s always an old Forge in the future helping Bishop out on his time travel journeys. In fact, at the end of X-Men ’97 Episode 3, Bishop actually teases that he’s going to task his buddy Old Man Forge to come up with a cure for baby Nathan Summers. So yeah, it is entirely possible that we’re going to get storylines with present day Forge helping Storm and Old Man Forge helping Nathan.
X-Men ’97: All Forge. All the time.