Marvel finally has a winner on its hands. Despite a few minor controversies from a small segment of the fanbase, the recently released X-Men ’97 is an absolute fan favorite within the Marvel ecosystem. Interestingly, it’s actually not a part of the MCU, and it isn’t a massive box office draw with a mysterious post-credit scene. Instead, it’s both a soft reboot and a continuation of the original X-Men: The Animated Series (TAS), which is pretty much continuous right where its predecessor left off and promises to adapt new X-Men storylines.
As it turns out, fans aren’t really fatigued with comic book stories; they just need a break from the constant content churn that the House of Mouse has imposed on its franchises. That aside, X-Men ’97 opens up right where TAS ended, with Charles Xavier passing away and Magneto taking his place as the leader of X-Men — as per Xavier’s wishes. Of course, each of the X-Men is wary of the Master of Magnetism, and with good reason. The silver-haired, widow’s-peaked villain has tried to extinguish them countless times. However, one team member appears to be much closer to the former supervillain: Rogue
Yes, we’re referring to the second episode of the new X-Men series, titled “Mutant Liberation Begins,” where we see Rogue and Magneto reference a past relationship. Not only that, but it would seem that Magneto is immune to Rogue’s powers. This probably confused the viewers of the original show, who know that Rogue’s power is to absorb the abilities, memories, and life force of anyone she touches. While that makes her incredibly versatile and powerful as a member of the X-Men team, it also leads to social isolation because she has no control over her passively active absorption ability.
So, what gives, and what exactly is going on here? When exactly did the two have a relationship in 1993’s TAS, and how is Magneto even capable of withstanding Rogue’s touch? Well, as it turns out, Rogue and Magneto have quite a history together, which stretches through different universes and continuities. However, this relationship isn’t depicted in the original series, and its origins are drawn from comic books rather than the narrative of The Animated Series.
For those who aren’t all that familiar with Rogue’s history within the overarching X-Men narrative, Rogue was initially a villain, a member of Mystique’s Brotherhood of Mutants, before she joined the superhero team. Considering that the first Brotherhood was formed and spearheaded by Magneto, she had plenty of opportunity to cross paths with Erik Lehnsherr, the leader of this extremist cell, even though the latter wasn’t officially a part of the Brotherhood when Rogue joined. In other words, Rogue had a pretty turbulent history, and there was plenty of room for the two to interact.
Their first official canonized meeting occurred when Rogue lost her powers in 1991’s Uncanny X-Men #274, after which she joined Magneto in his mission to turn the Savage Land — a tropical preserve hidden in Antarctica — into a mutant utopia. Since she had no powers during that storyline, she was able to make physical contact with him, ultimately leading the pair to develop a brief romantic relationship. That ended abruptly after Magneto killed Zaladane, prompting Rogue to question her affection for the supervillain.
But that’s not the only time the two have developed a relationship. During the Age of Apocalypse event in the comics, Rogue absorbed the powers of Polaris, also known as Lorna Dane, Magneto’s daughter, who inherited her father’s powers. This allowed Magneto and Rogue to cancel each other’s powers and conceive a child together. Various alternative or subsequent storylines, like the Age of X, also depict Rogue and Magneto’s unique affinity for each other.
It’s becoming obvious that X-Men ’97 is introducing their romance into the canon, which opens its own can of worms. From what we know thus far, the two have been engaged in a relationship before, Rogue still has her absorption powers, and she’s able to touch Magneto. This could potentially mean two things: either Magneto is using his power to create a powerful magnetic force field around himself, which basically acts as a protective barrier — which has long been theorized by the fans — or Rogue had acquired Polaris’ powers at one point in the past.
However, in the tender moment between Rogue and Magneto — which echoes their complex history in Marvel Comics — we can see a small spark between Rogue and Magneto’s hands as they’re about to touch. This could indicate that they’re actually canceling each other’s powers, suggesting that Rogue previously acquired Polaris’ powers over magnetism. The original series doesn’t showcase any of this, so it’s more likely that the whole thing took place before the events of TAS. But it’s also entirely possible that Marvel took some small creative liberties with this.
Whether or not we’ll get an elaborate explanation of how Magneto withstands Rogue’s touch remains to be seen, as well as how their past and possible future romance affects the rest of the team. This includes Gambit, with whom Rogue is currently in a relationship; we see him drop the queen of hearts card he held after witnessing Rogue leaving Magneto’s office. This not only made the scene that much more heartbreaking, but it also points to the fact that Rogue doesn’t harbor the same disdain towards Magneto as the rest of the X-Men.