Marvel’s new animated series, X-Men ’97, has been creating a significant buzz. From its storyline to its characters, many fans have come to appreciate the tone and narrative it has taken. Based on and a continuation of the original series, they have been appreciating how similar it is to the original series.
Yet it is not without criticism. Ever since the series aired, many fans have expressed their dislike over one or the other thing featured in the show. Among the many things, most fans have found the character Morph’s non-binary identity an issue. But the voice actor for the character in a recent interview revealed he is unfazed by all the criticism.
X-Men ’97 Voice Actor Does Not Care About Criticism Over Moprh’s Identity
Just recently, Empire Magazine, in their latest issue, published brief descriptions for each X-Men ’97 character, describing Morph as nonbinary. Morph, aka Kevin Sydney, is a shapeshifting x-men who can take any character’s face regardless of gender.
While in the original series, he appears as a brunette man, in X-Men ’97 Morph has a bald head, is white, and has a mask-like face. As soon as Marvel confirmed the character’s identity, there was an immediate fan backlash over the series’ wokeness (see X).
While responding to the criticism in a new interview with CBR.com, the voice actor for Morph, J.P. Karlink revealed that he does not care about the criticism.
“I’m a queer activist. I run a nonprofit that advocates for queer representation. I also co-founded a voter registration organization. I know what’s going on in the world, especially politically, so no, it didn’t surprise me at all. [laughs] I think what I appreciated was how much counter-backlash there was, with people like ‘Have you watched the X-Men? Are you familiar with why they were created and what they’re about? Did you forget that?’ That was reassuring.”
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While the fan backlash is not surprising at all, Karlink added that if anything, he is glad for all the criticism his character and he has been getting from certain factions of the fandom.
X-Men ’97 Star Is Rather Thankful For The Criticism
While it is true that heavy criticism and backlash can drown one’s boat, it is also true that in some cases, it can give it extra sails to soar across the sea. This is precisely why J.P. Karlink has little to no care about all the criticism he and his character have been subjected to.
While speaking to CBR.com, he remarked,
“I haven’t really taken offense with anything anybody’s published, as much as they’ve tried. [laughs] There was one article that called me a radical queer activist and listed the insidious mission statement of my organization — verbatim of what was on the website. I was like ‘Facts. No lies here, thanks for the promotion!'”
While the creators themselves remarked that the objection is only from certain fans who missed the point of the original show (via Variety), Karlink states Mroph is still figuring out himself after having the traumatic experience of being killed and revived back to life.
With the debate over the character still raging on, there is no denying that most fans have been enjoying the series.
X-Men ’97 can be streamed on Disney+, with a new episode airing weekly.
