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Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for X-Men '97 Season 2.
After more than three decades, the Brood, who are among the X-Men's most iconic and deadliest enemies, finally appeared in the latest episode of X-Men '97. Technically, the Brood have shown up before, in the original X-Men: The Animated Series in 1994, but their brief cameo in Season 2 was merely a virtual simulation. This time, "Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" delivers the full Brood experience for fans while also doubling as a fun homage to a sci-fi action classic.
The Brood Were Originally Supposed To Be Featured in 'X-Men: The Animated Series'
"Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" serves as a companion piece to the classic X-Men: TAS episode "Weapon X, Lies, and Videotape," as well as the Season 3 episode "Love in Vain," where the X-Men face a race of parasitic alien invaders called the Colony. However, at one point, "Love in Vain" was originally titled "A Time to Brood," in which the Brood were slated to appear before being replaced with the Colony. In an interview with CBR, X-Men: TAS director and X-Men '97 executive producer Larry Houston addressed the change, saying, "The redesign of the Brood in their own episode 'Love in Vain' was partially due to their previous appearance, yes, and partially the desire by character designers Frank Brunner, Mark Lewis, and myself wanting to make them a little more distinctive and a little bit more animator-friendly."
The Brood, due to their parasitic and grotesque nature, would likely have proven incredibly difficult to depict for the Saturday-morning viewers of the Fox Kids block, during which X-Men: TAS aired in the 1990s. Ironically, at one point, animation studio Toei also created a unique opening animation for X-Men: TAS for its Japanese television broadcasts featuring an appearance by the Brood, even though they never had a featured role in the animated show.
However, X-Men '97's "Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" finally pays off the short Brood cameo from Mojo's virtual simulation in X-Men: TAS Season 2, while also referencing the Colony from "Love in Vain.” Wolverine (Cal Dodd) alludes to the past alien invaders in the new episode after he and his team encounter the Brood, stating, "Caught a whiff of something similar once, but these are something different." That comment suggests the Brood might be distantly related to the Colony, which makes sense, considering how the X-Men: TAS production team initially conceived them.
"Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" Makes Multiple References to James Cameron's 'Aliens'
The other enjoyable aspect of X-Men '97 Season 2's latest episode is that it's essentially one big homage to James Cameron's classic 1986 sequel, Aliens. The episode's very premise, where Wolverine, Morph (JP Karliak), Sabretooth (Darin De Paul), and Lady Deathstrike (Erika Ishii) discover a derelict Weapon X facility overrun by a Brood infestation, is reminiscent of what Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her crew of Marines discover at the Hadley's Hope colony in Cameron's film.
Yet the parallels between the two stories make it more than just a fun Easter egg for fans to pick up on, especially when considering the Brood's many similarities to Xenomorphs. Both are highly vicious, feral, and predatory, and, much like the Xenomorphs, the Brood reproduces by implanting themselves in living hosts, as they do in this episode, even briefly infecting Wolverine himself. At one point, Maverick (Crispin Freeman) plays up the homage even further with a version of the classic Hudson (Bill Paxton) line from Cameron's movie, saying, "Game over! That's it! It's game over!" Much like Ridley and Newt (Carrie Henn) are forced to fight for their lives to escape Hadley's Hope, in a similarly suspenseful climax, Wolverine and his team barely make it out of the Weapon X research facility alive before an explosion seemingly wipes out the surviving members of the Brood.
Have We Seen the Last of the Brood on 'X-Men '97'?
Another cool part of "Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" is how it references a classic X-Men storyline and comic book cover from Uncanny X-Men #234, published in 1988, in which Wolverine gets infected by the Brood and briefly transforms into a being known as a Broodverine. These callbacks to classic X-Men comics and references to previous episodes highlight one of the best parts of X-Men '97 as a whole.
"Weapon X, Lies, and DVDs" really only scratches the surface with the Brood, but it's great to finally see them in their full glory — and in a rather gory episode, to boot.X-Men: TAS would likely not have been able to depict that level of violence in 1996, when "Love in Vain" originally aired on Fox Kids. Knowing the Brood's cosmic origins, they always have a way of coming back, as they are basically interstellar cockroaches. Since fans have waited decades to finally see the Brood properly depicted onscreen, it would be a shame if they never appear again in the X-Men animated universe. In the meantime, new episodes of X-Men '97 Season 2 premiere Wednesdays on Disney+.
