X-Men ’97 season 2 has reached its mid-point, with only four episodes left of the beloved superhero adventure.
With the many X-Men TV shows that have come and gone, the mutants are currently dominating on Disney+, with X-Men ’97 continuing the beloved property that began in the 1990s. As the sequel series is back for season 2, there are only a few weeks left before the big finale.
ScreenRant recently chatted with J.P. Karliak, who voices Morph in X-Men ’97, as their character is one of the many heroes who have been sent through time after the season 1 ending. Throughout the interview, Karliak discussed how Morph handles themselves under the new challenges with time travel, as well as the show potentially going into deeper territory about their own identity in future seasons.
J.P. Karliak On How Morph Tackles The Stakes In X-Men ’97 Season 2
ScreenRant: Have you had the chance to see all of X-Men ’97 season 2 yet, or do you watch along with fans?
J.P. Karliak: No, I watched along with everybody else at the premiere. We saw the first two episodes, and I haven’t even seen the third one yet [at the time of the conduction of this interview.]
ScreenRant: How well are they taking this new situation of being lost in time and not necessarily knowing if they’re going to come back?
J.P. Karliak: I’m sure it’s hard, but I think the benefit is that they’re not alone. Wolverine, Storm, Scott, and Jean are there, and there’s also a group that they’re around. It’s dangerous, it’s an apocalyptic wasteland – a literal one – but Morph’s been through a lot during the character’s history, so I think they’re used to rolling with the punches. As long as their family is around, then all is well.
ScreenRant: Morph always feels like a little bit of the shining light in the ever-growing darkness around the Mutants. But as things are getting more serious, is there a grittier story in store of them?
J.P. Karliak: Yes, I think that’s what’s so exciting about this seaso. So much of season 1 was more adjusting to be a part of this team again, having just rejoined at the end of the original season after going through all of the things that they went through. Season 1 is so much about getting their sea legs, getting their bearing, and just trying not to make waves in order to be well-liked in this team.
I think by the time everything happens on Asteroid M, they’re part of the family. Morph is one of the team, and now they can really focus less on trying to make everybody comfortable and more on how they actually feel about everything that’s going on. So, we will definitely see more emotional range from Morph.
ScreenRant: Do you get told ahead of time, “By the way, Morph will be X, Y, and Z,” before the season, or do you find out script by script?
J.P. Karliak: I find out script by script. I will say that, because we recorded a lot of season 2 while we were finishing up season 1, and we also started season 3 while we were finishing up season 2, I get a little blurry on what characters I turn into – especially because I don’t usually have dialogue around that. It’s usually happens in a fight scene, or Morph changes into one of the existing characters, and then they’re voiced by them, not me. Sometimes I forget, so I was as surprised as anybody in that first episode when he comes out as Thor. I was like, “I forgot about that, that’s cool!”
It’s fun. There’s Easter eggs for me that I put in the back of my mind, then I get to be delighted with everybody else when they happen. Deadpool is a lovely callback from the original series.
ScreenRant: On that note, is there another Marvel character that you would want to voice at some point?
J.P. Karliak: I always really liked Pyro mostly because my introduction to him was actually from the X-Men arcade game, as one of the boss villains. He has this line as soon as he appears, and it’s so camp. When he comes out and does it, I’m like, “Oh, he’s fun, I like him.”
Other characters that Morph could get to voice? This is never going to happen. It’s less that I would like to see Morph change into other Marvel heroes, but I’d love to see them change into a quintessential celebrity of the ’90s. Like, if he turned into Mark Wahlberg, specifically his Marky Mark persona.
I loved how in season 1, Morph changed into Siren to do that quick “show of hands” bit. I want more changing into celebrities just to do bits. I think of Morph’s very first appearance in the original series, just sitting down and watching TV, and the newscaster comes on and says something. Then Morph changes into the newscaster to parrot back and make fun of him. That’s fun! Morph just appears like some random movie star or music pop star, just to do a yuck-yuck, kind of like the genie from Aladdin.
J.P. Karliak On X-Men ’97 Potentially Exploring More Queer Identity For Morph
ScreenRant: In terms of Morph being non-binary, will they be dealing with their own self-identity onscreen, or is that something that we don’t touch upon?
J.P. Karliak: I think Morph is always going through it internally. I would love if, at some point, we were able to do just a one-shot comic book – even for Pride month or something – where we get to explore a little more of Morph’s internal dialogue about this exploration.
I think, even though the term non-binary didn’t really exist until the early 2000s, genderqueer, which is my identity, was definitely an available term in the ’90s. Morph understands themselves to be this particular thing, but they might not have the language for it just yet. I don’t know how many seasons this is going to go – hopefully many, but I hope we do see that onscreen.
Regardless of whether we get to tell this story or not, as I think of Morph growing into the 2000s and beyond, it will be a beautiful moment for them to enter this era of understanding gender nonconformity and what that means, and what the terminology is around it, knowing that they’re not alone, and that there’s other people who identify this way.
ScreenRant: Given the fact that we know season 4 is in the works, have you talked with the new sheriff in town?
J.P. Karliak: I’ve had ongoing conversations with Jake Castorina about this, and also Matt Chauncey – though not so much about pitching them ideas about what they should do.
I kind of wear two hats in this: one as the voice actor who’s playing Morph, but also as the founder of Queer Vox, which is a nonprofit that advocates for LGBT representation in animation and video games, and also for LGBT voice actors. There is that responsibility of wanting a non-binary character represented authentically and correctly, so I think the conversations I’ve had with them have been more about, “Here are some things to consider around Morph’s identity.” We had to talk about pronouns. Rogue uses they/them pronouns for Morph – not because of a conversation that we had – and it is those conversations that help in understanding how we are actually going to discuss Morph’s identities as being queer and non-binary in the subtle ways that make sense, without necessarily doing a very special episode.
Now, if they did a Pride episode on X-Men 97, I think I would just bawl my face off! I would even accept a Mutant pride episode, but where we all know that it’s actually gay pride.
ScreenRant: I would love to see what gay pride would look like in the ’90s through the lens of the Marvel universe.
J.P. Karliak: Yeah, that’s from your lips to God’s ears.
J.P. Karliak Is Ready For Morph’s Live-Action Debut With Marvel
ScreenRant: We’re seeing an era of the MCU timeline celebrating past X-Men eras, and they’re coming back in this little indie film called Avengers: Doomsday. Would you ever want to play Morph in live action or do a cameo in any capacity?
J.P. Karliak: Sure, yeah! On-camera work is not something that I have actively pursued in 20 years, but it’s certainly something that I would do if someone asked me. That sounds like a blast, why not?
I’ve just been riding the voiceover train for such a long time, and I like being in my little booth. But to be an Avengers film? I’m a massive MCU fan, and I’ve binged everything until Endgame like a crazy person, so to get that opportunity would be amazing.
In the post-credits scene of Kraven, a guy appears as Chameleon, but it really looks like Morph’s face. I was like, “Ugh!” I actually think it would be funny to have live-action Morph, and to have Deadpool be like, “Wait a minute, weren’t you in that Aaron Taylor Johnson film?” “No.” “You’re Changeling, right?” “No.” “Who are you?” I want to see Deadpool just started grilling Morph about who they actually are.
J.P. Karliak On Morph & Wolverine’s Dynamic Growing In X-Men ’97 Season 2
ScreenRant: I always love any scene that Morph and Wolverine have. Is there a world where we could finally see Morph tell Wolverine how they feel as themselves, not hiding as under any other mutant on the team?
J.P. Karliak: I think Morph is going to say some very honest things to Wolverine this season.
Personally, regardless of whether Wolverine is straight, bi, or pan – he’s definitely not gay, he’s in love with Jean Grey – what it boils down to is that a good friend to Morph could say to them, “Sugar, it’s never gonna happen.” Partially because the trope of the queer person pining after the unattainable straight person was such a trope of the ’90s, I’m like, “Yes, we’re a show set in the ’90s, but maybe that’s a thing that we don’t need to rehash.”
To your earlier point about Morph feeling more solid in the team, I think Morph has more of an opportunity to be honest about their feelings, as opposed to being real teasy, changing into Jean Gray, and just being a troll to poke the bear. I think they can be more serious and and direct.
ScreenRant: What’s coming up for you next? I think you guys have finished season 3, but what are you working on right now?
J.P. Karliak: Star Wars Visions is doing a longform series based on one of the shorts from a previous season. It’s now being expanded into a full season, and I’m a part of that. I think I kind of have to leave it there, but it’s exciting. I’m reprising a character that I played previously in Star Wars Visions.
About X-Men ’97 Season 2
“X-Men ‘97” Season 2 continues with the heroic mutant team of X-Men, divided and thrown across different eras in time as they struggle to navigate their return home. Meanwhile, back in the 1990s, suspicious foes and new strains of mutant intolerance are on the rise in the wake of the X-Men’s absence.”
Catch new episodes of X-Men ’97 season 2 on Wednesdays on Disney+.
- Release Date
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March 20, 2024
- Network
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Disney+
- Directors
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Jake Castorena, Emi Yonemura, Chase Conley
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
