Morph's Animated X

One controversial (and quickly disavowed) Excalibur comic had a shocking farewell to the cult-favorite metamorphing animated X-Man, Morph.

Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's 161st installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. This week, the wildly differing fates for the most tragic X-Man of them all, Morph. (Or is it Changeling?) And if you have any suggestions for the future, let me hear them. Just contact me on Twitter.

Debuting in X-Men: The Animated Series' opening two-parter "Night of the Sentinels," Morph has the distinction of being one of the few memorable X-characters to be created for the sole purpose of dying. Yet, Morph wasn't initially slated to appear at all, and early plans had Thunderbird losing his life during the story, broaching a taboo subject in the era's Saturday morning television.

The intended fate of Thunderbird was a nod to the comics' lore, which had the feisty mutant dying during the All-New, All-Different X-Men team's first mission. The death would serve the same purpose in animation as it did in the comics -- to stun the audience and exhibit the dangers these heroes face. Their adventures aren't harmless escapades; they're life-or-death missions with real consequences.

Related: How X-Men: The Animated Series Inspired Marvel's Midnight Suns

When the producers were made aware of the optics of killing one of the cast's few minority members, and its only Native American character, a decision was made to create a new sacrificial lamb. Morph was conceived as a throwaway character who could die without controversy. Many fans assumed Morph to be a new creation for the series, but in fact, the character has roots that go back to the comics' Silver Age.

Introduced in 1967's X-Men #35, Changeling was a member of the villainous organization Factor Three, who later turned on its leader, "the Mutant Master," upon discovering he was an alien scheming to conquer Earth. Without his bizarre headgear, it's clear that Changeling and XTAS's Morph are the same characters.

Changeling's most famous comic appearance occurred in X-Men #65 when a flashback revealed that the Changeling, now suffering from terminal cancer, approached Professor Xavier and offered to make amends for his past. As a means of retconning Xavier's death in X-Men #42, readers were informed that it was Changeling who died, setting the stage for an unintentional character assassination of Xavier that reverberates to this day.

The producers of X-Men: The Animated Series consisted of dedicated fans and lore newbies. Pulling Changeling from near-obscurity and repackaging him for the specific storytelling purposes for the introductory arc was a nice blend of both mentalities. And it's remarkable how closely the animators stuck to Neal Adams' rendition of Changeling from X-Men #65.

While Changeling did seem to be the perfect candidate to die, there was the issue of his name. The DC hero best known now as Beast Boy had been using "Changeling" for years, while Marvel's Changeling had been dormant since that appearance in X-Men #65. Changeling would be renamed Morph, a snappy moniker befitting his metamorphing capabilities.

Related: If X-Men: The Animated Series Failed, a Major Fox Exec Would Have Lost Her Job

"Night of the Sentinels" did everything a pilot should do: establishing the world of the series, providing character moments for each cast member, and drawing the viewers in with a compelling story. And while the producers wanted the audience to mourn the loss of the witty and good-humored Morph, they weren't expecting fans to like him as much as they did. Some research during the introductory season indicated that Morph was the most popular X-Man!

Although no plans existed to resuscitate Morph, the producers were eventually convinced to create a revival storyline as the second season's premiere story arc. The two-parter" 'Til Death Do Us Part" reveals Morph's life was saved by the scientific genius of Mister Sinister, who controlled Morph through a brain implant. This spawned the creation of a new "Dark Morph" personality, one willing to betray the X-Men.

Morph was the subject of an ongoing subplot throughout the second season (cleverly crafted by the producers in a way to evade the network's edict to end the continued storylines), culminating in Morph turning against Sinister and aiding his former teammates in the big season finale battle.

From there, the audience was told Morph had been sent to Muir Island for treatment with the tease he might one day return to the team…and he popped up once for a cameo while the show went on to bigger, bolder storylines. That is, until the September 23, 1995 episode, "Courage," written by Sandy Scesny and Michael Edens.

Related: X-Men: The Animated Series' Showrunner & Writer Help Celebrate 30 Years

"Courage" opens with Morph rejoining the X-Men, despite a few warning signs that this might not be the best decision. Meanwhile, the Sentinel robotic mutant-hunters have resurfaced. When Wolverine and Morph investigate (reuniting the buddy-cop duo we were teased in those opening two episodes), Wolverine becomes convinced Morph isn't psychologically ready to return to the X-Men.

Later, Master Mold sends his revamped Sentinels to kidnap Henry Gyrich, Bolivar Trask, and Professor Xavier. Gyrich and Trask were the original villains of "Night of the Sentinels" and persistent nuisances for the team during that opening year. Their presence in "Courage" is a welcome reminder of the earlier episodes. However, continuity purists might wonder how Trask survived what certainly seemed to be a fatal explosion in the first season finale. Amusingly, we discover in this episode that Trask and Gyrich have been hiding out in the jungle, bickering like an aging couple trapped in a loveless marriage.

Disobeying Cyclops, Morph removes himself from the bench and aids the team in their effort to rescue Xavier, whose mind Master Mold wants to use to kill every mutant on the planet. (A bit you might remember was later used as Stryker's plot in the second X-Men movie.)

Eventually, Morph conquers his anxieties and manages to destroy Master Mold. Morph decides, however, that he'll need more time before he can rejoin the team. Maintaining a continuity of team members was important to the producers. The line-up we saw in the opening credits was consistently the X-Men, with no additions or subtractions.

Years later, Morph would make another small appearance in the series finale, confirming his place among the X-Men. It's a hopeful ending for the character, likely the first exposure many kids had to concepts like tragedy and heroic sacrifice. The Kevin Sydney of the comics, however, had a far less dignified conclusion to his story.

Related: X-Men: A Fan Favorite Mutant Once Sacrificed His Life to Destroy Marvel's Superman

Of all places, the Changeling's comics revival occurred in the pages of the 1991 one-shot Excalibur: The Possession…which has yet another title on its opening page: "The Changeling." Given that Changeling's role in the story is meant to be a shocking reveal, you might be wondering what's going on here. As it turns out, that's pretty much what everyone thought when this comic was released. "Everyone," but especially Alan Davis, who was writing and penciling the monthly Excalibur series in 1991.

The one-shot, from writer Michael Higgins and artist Tom Morgan, opens with Meggan adopting demonic characteristics and attacking her teammates. Phoenix reveals that an evil entity has possessed Meggan, and Excalibur's ally (and Dr. Who homage) Alistaire Stuart puts the team in contact with someone who can help, an ancient mystic named Myrd, who looks very much like the Marvel Comics incarnation of Merlin…and turns out to be, prepare yourselves, Merlin.

After a diversion that sees the return of Captain Britain's homebase and supporting cast from his Marvel UK series, Myrd initiates a séance with Excalibur to identify the spirit possessing Meggan. Professor X appears as one of the ghosts of the past before he shapeshifts into Changeling, the true cause of this trouble.

Why isn't Changeling dead? What's he doing in this seemingly random story? We discover that Changeling's spirit has targeted Meggan to gain a new corporeal form… and execute his revenge. Although Changeling's death had previously been portrayed as a heroic sacrifice, here we learn he's furious that Xavier lived and he died.

What does this have to do with Excalibur? Nothing, Changeling bluntly tells us. He wanted Meggan's shapeshifting powers to kill Xavier, but her formidable will and Excalibur's interference hindered his plan. Changeling, cackling like a mad supervillain, attempts to best the team in a psychic battle, but comes out the loser, thanks to Merlin's aid.

Related: X-Men: In The Mutant Massacre, Things Escalated Quickly With Colossus

As detailed previously in Brian Cronin's Abandoned An' Forsaked column, Alan Davis was bewildered by the continuity and characterizations in The Possession.

The column's worth a read, but to summarize, The Possession utilized elements that didn't fit with Davis' existing plans for the Excalibur monthly, which justified his wish to chuck the entire one-shot out of continuity. In short, The Possession occurred only in Alistaire Stuart's head as a part of Merlin's obscure machinations.

Davis took some shots at not only the writing but the art when dismantling The Possession, having a character describe Stuart's boss (invented for the one-shot) as "that fat ogre in pajamas who can't be real." Davis also commented on everything from characterization choices, such as the dimwitted Captain Britain, to minor art mistakes, such as Meggan's slightly off-model costume.

For fans of '90s comics art, The Possession might be worth a look. Morgan's artwork is exaggerated to the point of grotesquery at times, but it's also energetic and has some playful experimentation with traditional linework. The production values are also impressive, with the spectacular Paul Mounts (the original colorist of Marvel's beloved '90s trading card line) producing painted colors over Morgan's art.

Related: X-Men Fan Art Puts Giancarlo Esposito in Cerebro as Professor X

But what makes The Possession indefensible is its portrayal of Morph/Changeling. His most notable attribute, the one-sentence description of the character every fan memorized after he escaped obscurity, was "he's the reformed villain who died a hero as an X-Man." Revealing that he's not only alive (almost) but also harboring a seething hatred of Xavier and is scheming to murder his onetime friend is frankly ridiculous. This is a character defined by his heroic death, and a throwaway one-shot isn't the place to undo that.

Luckily, this "never happened," per the official canon. And the show's reintroduction of Kevin Sydney inspired Marvel to give the mutant new life. Sydney, now called Morph, would be revealed as a stalwart X-Man in the "Age of the Apocalypse" altered reality event and redesigned by fan-favorite artist Joe Madureira. And this version of Morph would also inspire the character seen in the monthly Exiles comic. Though the series was initially conceived as a vehicle for the cult-favorite mutant Blink, Morph would become the most enduring cast member of Exiles, surviving numerous revamps.

All in all, it's not a bad showing for a character most fans would've never discovered without the cartoon. The animated series and comic had a way of feeding off each other during the show's run, and Morph (likely never to be known as "Changeling" again) can easily be viewed as one of X-Men's largest success stories.

Gene Kendall taught himself how to program a VCR at the age of five, determined to never miss an episode of G. I. Joe: A Real American Hero. He's been writing about reputable and disreputable pop culture for over ten years at Not Blog X and CBR. Burning Chair Publishing released his snarky paranormal novel Love is Dead(ly) in 2020. His new novel Blind Cerulean is an homage to 1980s urban action films and available for Amazon pre-order today. He eagerly awaits all praise, criticisms and "um, actually" comments over at twitter.com/NBX_Tweets.