Growing up as the only “out” gay kid in northeastern Montana I had a very special affinity for the X-Men. While being gay wasn’t a superpower I could use to better humanity, I was an outcast ostracized by members of the small-town community I lived in, including family members. So, like many queer kids of my day, I saw myself in some of these characters.

When Disney+ first announced a reboot of the beloved 90s animated series, I couldn’t have been more excited. I loved the idea of reconnecting with Storm, Rogue, Jubilee, and my very first cartoon crush, Gambit.

Picking up just a few short months after the original series finale, a world without Charles Xavier is even more hostile than it was when he was alive. But, still, as it does – the cycle of life continues and Jean Grey is not pregnant while Scott is trying to run the X-Men. Logan is still a hard-ass, Jubilee is still a happy-go-lucky teenager, and Gambit is still sexy.


I didn’t realize how easy it was going to be for me to fall back into the world of these characters. Older, wiser, and more confident in my own super-powers as a grown-ass gay man in the entertainment industry, watching a group of misfit superheroes taking the cruel and hate-filled overlords of the world seemed just as timely as it did then. From the moment Shuki Levy’s original theme started to play, I was all smiles and anticipation waiting for the one and only Storm.

I wasn’t disappointed.

Little by little news of people losing their minds over the fact that the X-Men have gone “woke” has been surfacing all over social media. All this tells me is that these people either didn’t watch the original series / read the comics or they just missed the point completely. The X-Men were created for the outcast. To make us feel seen and heard, and most importantly, to know that we would – eventually – find a place where we belong.

Long story short, the series was exactly what it needed to be.

More series reviews soon so…

Stay Tuned!