Someone needs to tell Lionsgate and Marvel that they’re not doing Wolverine and the X-Men any favors with their current DVD release plan. While so far the DVD releases have had the episodes in order according to their place in the season, you’d never know it by looking at the DVD case. This DVD, named Deadly Enemies, might confuse more people than it informs considering the episodes on the disc don’t really feature any of the main X-Men nemeses; but the episodes still offer a rip-roarin’ good time with 5 action-based episodes that do more to entertain than further the rich story arcs provided in the first DVD release.
Wolverine’s assumption of the X-Men leadership mantle has gone flawlessly so far with neither Cyclops (depressed) nor Professor X (comatose) in any condition to relieve him. In a weakened state, the X-Men team can no longer rely on the all-seeing combination of Xavier and Cerebro to solve their problems, thus the self-serving telepath Emma Frost remains in their midsts. Wolverine may not enjoy her presence on the team but her abilities prove useful when the Shadow King possesses Storm, whose taken residence in Africa, requiring a telepath to forcibly remove him. Storm’s plight marks yet another earth-shattering disaster foreseen by Xavier from his existence in the future.
Two other episodes on the disc are particularly Wolverine heavy as he leaves the X-Men crew behind for independent missions – one involving fan-favorite Gambit and the other reprising the direct-to-DVD movie battle between the Hulk and the adamantium-clawed man in yellow as he takes on a mission pressed upon him by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. The two episodes have some of the best humor on the disc as the interactions between Wolvie and the Hulk come with such perfect deadpan delivery. Gambit also has a few choice moments; though his voicing by Phil LaMarr leaves a little to be desired – which is unfortunate as I’m usually a huge fan of his voice acting. The Hulk may certainly be deadly, but he’s more of a perennial annoyance than he is anyone’s true enemy.
The episode “X-Calibre” sets up a fun story arc that resurfaces later in the season and which any fan of the 90s X-Men cartoon will remember somewhat fondly. Nightcrawler learns of mutant-carrying vessels being hijacked on their way to Magneto’s paradisiacal Genosha and hitches a ride to investigate. The story marks the entrance of puppeteer Mojo and his intentions to kidnap mutants for his futuristic fight-to-the-death game show. The DVD may be titled Deadly Enemies, but Mojo doesn’t appear to such an extent for this to be a fair title; even if he did, to call him a “deadly enemy” isn’t justified.
Finally, a stand-alone episode brings the comical Brotherhood of mutants into the limelight when they kidnap an exploding mutant with plans to release him in the centers of major anti-mutant bases. The Brotherhood provides some solid laughs, but the episode isn’t one of the strongest on the disc.
This new incarnation of X-Men remains in the top-tier for the comic-book line. The writing is fantastic, the colors are rich and bold and it never fails to introduce and reuse fan-favorite characters. If it weren’t so terrifically conceived I’d say the creators were attempting to do too much with too little time, but it’s all paced so perfectly that I can’t readily find serious faults with the show as a whole. The fact that they’ve crossed over so many times within the first 8 episodes says great things for the shows future. Fans of the show certainly appreciate being able to buy episodes on DVD, but no one enjoys doing it peace-meal like this.
Please Lionsgate and Marvel Animation, release the entire season as a whole. Don’t milk us for all we’re worth. It’s a great show, give it due DVD respect.
DVD Bonus Features
The three main writers of the series (Craig Kyle, Greg Johnson and Christopher Yost) sit down for audio commentaries on the episodes. They’re really worth listening to as their visions for the future of this very promising series will fill X-Men fans with hope. Beyond that there’s nothing but a collection of trailers.
"Wolverine and the X-Men: Deadly Enemies" is on sale July 21, 2009 and is rated NR. Action, Animation, Children & Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Television. Directed by Steven E Gordon, Nicholas Filippi, Doug Murphy. Written by Greg Johnson, Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost. Starring Fred Tatasciore, Jim Ward, Nolan North, Phil LaMarr, Steve Blum, Yuri Lowenthal, Danielle Judovits, Kari Wahlgren, Liam OBrien.
