X-Men ’97: Professor X Actor Ross Marquand Shares Reaction to Shocking Genosha Episode

X-Men ’97 star Ross Marquand finally went deep on that shocking massacre on Genosha. ComicBook’s Phase Zero interviewed the Professor X actor about that dramatic moment and how he found out. Like a lot of the fans, he was expecting some measure of takeout. But, Gambit’s demise looks legit so far. Marquand was blown away by the quality of the episode and places it right up there with some of TV’s best. In addition, there are some interesting comics parallels there as well when it comes to Charles Xavier’s reaction to the tragedy. Check out what he had to say to us down below!

“When I was reading the script for that episode, I just was like that can’t be real. I was like, ‘So he’s dead-dead?’ And they’re like, oh, yeah.”… You know, in Marvel they often kill people off and bring them back,” Marquand revealed. “But, I just thought, ‘Ok. Wow, that’s bold! Ok.’ And obviously, we’ll see where the character goes in the future. It was such a shock to me and still is. I mean that, I will say, and I hope I’m not being biased, because obviously I’ve worked on that very closely to it. But, I really think that’s one of the best episodes of TV I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s putting the Ace of Base ‘Happy Nation’ Song in there in this very macabre episode. Just the symmetry of that with the events that unfold right after, with Cable coming from the future and saying, ‘Get out, turn the music off!’ And then, getting sucked back into the future. It’s a doozy,” the star opined. “It is crazy, such an emotional wallop from every episode. I think Professor X, once he finally intuits that Gambit has been taken from us, has this beautiful speech from the comics that was almost taken more or less verbatim. I was like ‘my Children of the Atom destroyed. You know, they were making love drinking wine. No.’” 

The series has inspired some hope for the future from the voice actor. He mused, “And then, you know, it’s just like it’s so heavy and I really feel like I’m grateful and I’m hopeful for the next generation of fans who are 10 or 11 years old now watching the show. For them to have the same reaction that I did. For them to be like, ‘I wanna do that or I wanna draw Marvel Comics, or I wanna be a part of that world.’ That’s my hope for this.”

Marquand Talks About Professor X & Magneto

X-Men ’97 puts a real spotlight on the viewpoints of Professor X and Magneto. In the same interview, ComicBook’s Phase Zero asked about that dynamic and Marquand had a lot to say. The bond between those two characters cannot be overstated. It’s so wild to see both of their ideologies on full-display. Despite their differences, they truly want what is best for mutant kind.

“They’re like brothers, they really are, and I have likening it to Thor and Loki,” Marquand began. “It’s not dissimilar at all. I think someone had made the allusion many years ago, I think it might have been Stan Lee, but basically it said that Charles Xavier is Martin Luther King, right? And Magneto was Malcolm X. Because a lot of the X-Men originally was written around the time of the Civil Rights Movement and that was not accidental, that was very intentional.”

“So, I feel like these men are two sides of the same coin. They both want the same thing. But, they go about it in very different ways,” the star added, “Charles genuinely believes in the goodness of all mutants and humans, and their ability to change. Magneto is just like, ‘No humans are terrible and they’re gonna try to kill us. So, we better strike first.’ As this episode reveals, Magneto was right.” 

Is Episode 5 the highlight of X-Men ’97 so far? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!