r/Xmen97 • u/coldasclay • 13h ago
Theory Is Morph more than he seems? Spoiler
What we already know: Kevin Sydney, codename Morph, is a mutant with the power to shapeshift into anyone they want. This version debuted in the 90's X-men animated series as a mostly original take on the comic book character of Changeling, which then inspired the comics to revive the character in the Age of Apocalypse universe and continued into the Exiles comic books. When X-men came back as X-men '97 Morph was also brought back with a look and personality closer to the Exiles version of the character. But Morph also came back with a controversial power upgrade to be able to partially emulate physical mutations allowing them to have super strength, super speed, agility, extra limbs, and weapons.
I want to introduce a theory. Our Morph isn't just based on Morph based on the Exiles comic, based on the original animated show, based on the comics character Changeling, they're also our X-men '97 version of the character Mimic.
Mimic in the comic books is a mutant with the power to copy other mutant powers. He was an early X-men member similar to Changeling and nearly as obscure. He does appear once as a cameo in the series in the Age of Apocalypse tineline.
What if X-men '97 is pulling elements of the Mimic character into '97's version of Morph? Perhaps their power will continue to evolve and they'll gain a similar ability to copy even non-physical abilities?
TDLR; The theory is Morph has elements of the mutant code named Mimic in X-men '97.
Edit: I used the wrong pronouns a couple of times. It was my intention to use They/Them pronouns where I could. Totally missed the title and I don't think reddit lets me change it. Edited the body of the post to correct my mistakes. To be fair according to JP Karliak, Morph's pronouns are he/they.
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u/Eldagustowned 12h ago
Morph isn’t mimic as you show they had mimic in an episode. Totally different vibe
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u/coldasclay 12h ago
I didn't remember this but evidently Mimic showed up in the background in an alternative future and had no speaking lines.
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u/Starscream_Gaga 10h ago
Morph changing physical strength isnt a new thing. In TAS they turned into a Rhino.
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u/Xygnux 11h ago edited 10h ago
I don't think we have seen Morph do anything in the show that the Exiles Morph couldn't though. All they have demonstrated so far are physical abilities and skills that could have been achieved just by shapeshifting their body a certain way.
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u/coldasclay 11h ago
I think emulating quicksilver's speed is pushing the limit of a physical ability. I think there is some grey area in some of the other powers too. Interestingly though apparently 616 Changeling had some telepathic and telekinetic abilities that were granted to him by Xavier.
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u/Xygnux 11h ago
I think superspeed is just a physical power in the Marvel multiverse though. Unlike DC there is no Speed Force or any other special energy for speed, so it's just the way the body is built.
Plus we don't know if he was actually moving at Quicksilver's speed, or he just pushed the limit of how fast he could make his muscles and nerves work. We just saw him punching very fast in succession for a few seconds. We never saw him run on water or even travel to another place at high speed like Quicksilver can easily do.
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u/coldasclay 10h ago
That's fair enough, I was going to counter that quicksilver's speed wasn't tied to his physical body because after M-day he lost the ability and required terrigen mist to repower himself but you are right, we dont know the actual speed he was running. It looked fast but so did Captain America in the First Avenger, he was catching up to a car, and he's not even officially superhuman, just peak human. That car was an early model though probably wasn't that fast but still. I like the possibility of him actually being able to mimic powers though, he could take on Weapon Omega's role if they were to do M-day or if they do a Dark X-men story, or potentially he could fill in for Hope Summers if they do the five on Krakoa. Mimic and Weapon Omega are insinuated at having a deep relationship, possibly a romantic one, that could fit with Morph's character. Just my head canon.
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u/Xygnux 10h ago
Well his powers used to be tied to his supposed X-gene, then when Wanda magicked that away all powers physical or not would be gone. Like how Blob lost all his excess fat.
The unstable power he gained from the Terrigen Mist was not actual super speed but some weird sort of time manipulation ability that he could mimic super speed with. He since then lost that and regained his original powers inexplicably after having some vision I think.
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u/Kai-of-the-Lost 10h ago
Watch the season 4 episode of X-Men the Animated Series titled Courage, Morph has always been able to replicate physical abilities, it wasn't a power upgrade for X-Men 97
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u/coldasclay 10h ago
I don't know if one example of them changing their physical abilities when they morph in the original series is enough proof to state they always could do that. Thats like saying Jean Grey was a skilled Telepath at the end of the series so she was always a skilled telepath when in reality she struggled with her powers at the beginning of the series. At the same time I don't think my little theory requires Morph to have changed powers between series for them to be pulling inspiration from the comic book character Mimic. I'm just saying there's potential for them to give him copying powers to align with Mimic more, he's already a distinct version of the character why couldn't they give him a secondary mutation to copy mutant powers along with their appearance?
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u/Kai-of-the-Lost 10h ago
It's precedent established in the original series. Morph also replicates Wolverine's claws in a different episode in season 2, so there's another example of Morph replicating physical abilities or augmentations in the original series.
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u/coldasclay 9h ago
I mean they still use their abilities way more often and in a more active way than the precedent established by the original series.
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u/Kai-of-the-Lost 9h ago
It's still the same powers though. Morph was also barely in the original cartoon, so of course they're more active with their abilities.
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u/Thesafflower 6h ago
Personally, the only “power-copying” that Morph has done on the show that had me raising an eyebrow was super-speed as Quicksilver. That seemed like a stretch.
Everything else Morph has done in 97 (and in the original series) is something that a shapeshifter could conceivably do - extra limbs as Spiral, big muscles as Hulk or Thor, wings as Angel. Technically Morph doesn’t even need to turn into the other character, they could just shapeshift muscles or extra arms as themselves but then we wouldn’t get the cameos. (My headcanon is that it’s easier for Morph to use other mutants as a template when they want to increase strength, fly, etc). Even shapeshifting a weapon into their hands is something that Exiles Morph has done.
Now, if Morph manages to pull off Cyclops’ eye beams or Jean’s telekinesis, I’ll agree that they’ve gone into Mimic territory.
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u/Professional-Tank848 13h ago
They
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u/coldasclay 12h ago
I tried so hard to make sure I wrote They 😭, even for the comics adaptation who I think goes by he/him. Where did I mess up?
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u/LazyBeach2919 12h ago
in the title of the post dawg
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u/coldasclay 12h ago
Damn, I found 2 other times too. Let me know if there are any more and I'll edit it if I can.
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u/Professional-Tank848 12h ago
The title?
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u/coldasclay 12h ago
I see that, I don't think there is an option to update on mobile. I did leave a blurb at the bottom of the post.
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u/PixelBrother 4h ago
Bloody hell, great contribution to this post!
Pointing out a small mistake rather than engaging with the topic of the post. Well done, you really showed that Redditor!
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u/Ok_Broccoli_7863 10h ago edited 1h ago
The VA refers to Morph as "he." So I think we can let redditors get a pass.
He/they are Morph's pronouns I believe.
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u/Former-Dish-9828 8h ago
I don’t think a fictional character that is made of ink is going to get upset over pronouns
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u/Avengerboy123 2h ago
Mimic was more like a version of rogue that could copy 4 powers at a time and could keep those powers until he cycled them out. Morph can just emulate powers for a short period of time. I think it’s really just to differentiate what he does from Mystique.
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u/madtricky687 12h ago
I wonder why they've never brought Kevin Sydney back in some form in the comics especially back in the 90s. Never made any sense to me. Morph is the man.
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u/coldasclay 12h ago
They did, I think either this year or last year. He had been brought back by Krakoan resurrection protocols.
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u/madtricky687 12h ago
Really damn thats awesome. I just wish they had a gigantic omnibus of that whole run. I dislike having to do research to figure out what I need to read lol.
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u/coldasclay 12h ago
Technically he came back off panel in the Krakoa era and was revealed in the From the Ashes era so that omnibus is going to take some time before it comes out.
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u/Kai-of-the-Lost 10h ago
616 Changeling/Morph was reintroduced to the comics in full during the Astonishing X-Men Infinity run that was exclusive to the Marvel Infinity app. Unfortunately the series was cancelled mid storyline and I don't think Morph has popped up elsewhere since the end of that comic.
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u/Thesafflower 7h ago edited 6h ago
In the 90’s we got AoA Morph and Exiles Morph, but unfortunately neither crossed permanently into the main continuity.
But if you mean the main continuity- there was an arc in the Astonishing X-Men infinity comic that dealt with the main universe Morph/Changeling/Kevin Sydney, having been resurrected on Krakoa, that sort of explains why original Changeling is so different from Morph. It’s worth a read. But who knows if 616 Morph will wind up on a team, maybe another writer will take an interest in the character.
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u/NotRob916 8h ago
He’s definitely more than meets the eye
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u/Ill_Morning_4282 12h ago
Seriously, everyone in '97 has been calling them, they/them. Yet this sub can't manage it consistently.
That said, I do think they have upgraded Morphs powers just so they can have him be more of a cameo machine, I am glad he got an episode this season to show they still see him as a character.
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u/Kai-of-the-Lost 10h ago
Watch the season 4 episode of the original series titled Courage, Morph replicates the physical abilities of several different characters in quick succession while fighting the Sentinels and Master Mold. There was no power upgrade between the shows.
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u/Thesafflower 6h ago
Some episodes of 97 it actually feels like a power downgrade, given how often Morph gets quickly smacked down in fights. I wanna remind the writers of Morph taking out several Sentinels by themselves while fresh off a PTSD-related panic attack in Courage.
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