JP Karliak, the voice of Morph in X-Men ’97, has shared some fresh thoughts on the character’s future. Morph is widely considered one of the most creative and memorable characters in both X-Men ’97 and X-Men: The Animated Series. Karliak commented on Morph’s complex identity, their will-they-won’t-they with Wolverine (including that wild scene with Morph as Jean Grey) and how the character might evolve in a big-budget, live-action MCU adaptation.
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Karliak recently did two deep dives into Morph’s background, character, and future. In conversations with MCU Direct and Polygon, Karliak showed the deep thought he’s put into Morph’s character, identified what he hopes to see (and hopes not to see) in a live-action adaptation of the character, and showed plenty of love for his original-series predecessor Ron Rubin. He also got into what fans might expect from X-Men ’97 Season 3, including potential romance for the shapeshifting fan favorite.
Morph Knows Their Worth, Karliak Reminds Fans
In his conversation with MCU Direct, Karliak addressed Morph’s future in the widely-discussed upcoming MCU take on the X-Men. “So much of Morph’s role has been exploring themselves, getting back to them, their real self,” Karliak notes. An appearance in MCU canon would open new doors for Morph, while both story considerations and the technical limitations of live-action vs. animation would give the character time to settle into a defined identity. In particular, Karliak enthusiastically pitched a future romance plotline for Morph, noting that a relationship with a teammate would help Morph build out their identity and create new character dynamics in the cast.
Like Morph, JP Karliak is nonbinary, and raises concerns about story cliches attached to queer and NB characters. In an earlier interview with Polygon, Karliak noted that pop culture often depicts queer and nonbinary characters falling in love with straight leads, potentially limiting their development to a minor influence on another character’s arc. That’s not good enough for Morph, who has consistently been a standout even in X-Men ’97’s steadily increasing cast of popular mutants.
Karliak raised another important point in that interview: if Morph has to shapeshift into someone else just to declare their love for Wolverine, how much of a relationship can the two have? “He’s still in love with Jean,” Karliak said of Wolverine. “Jean is always going to be numero uno. I’m sorry, but my dear Morph does not play second fiddle.”
Karliak Made Morph A Unique Character While Honoring Ron Rubin’s Original
Karliak said that his performance as Morph was meant to honor Ron Rubin’s work on the original series without doing an impression of it. “For me, it was just sort of like, Why don’t we just sit him in this grounded space, and not slap a character voice on top of it?” To that end, Karliak built his own voice for Morph, delivering lines several times in a row in wildly different tones – heartbroken, amused, bored – then working with voice director Meredith Layne to pick the perfect take.
For Karliak, Morph’s value is in that multifaceted uniqueness. With that in mind, Karliak’s take on Morph’s widely discussed declaration of love to Wolverine while wearing the form of Jean Grey was the opposite of romantic. “Less about like, Oh, I’m jealous, so I’m gonna, like, razz you about your girlfriend who I hate, and more about, Hey, buddy, I think this is harmful for you, and I just want to point this out, that maybe you need to move on.” Karliak drew inspiration from classic portrayals of close friendship like Frodo and Samwise to hit the right tone for Morph’s dynamic with Wolverine. Karliak also had a simple message for critics behind the ugly backlash attacking Morph’s non-binary identity and potential relationship with Wolverine. “So the people that shouted about it before it came out — once everybody saw it, and it’s just so universally lauded, it really silenced everything. You can’t argue with excellence.”
