Why X-Men: The Animated Series Created A Brand New Mutant

X-Men: The Animated Series is generally regarded as one of the best animated superhero TV shows of all time – so why did it create an entirely original character, Morph? In October 1992, X-Men fans tuned in to the Fox Kids Network to see their favorite heroes brought to life. X-Men: The Animated Series is still generally viewed as the gold standard for X-Men adaptations; it featured a small cast of mutants based on Jim Lee’s popular redesigns, and stories inspired by some of the greatest X-Men adventures of all time. Its version of the famous “Dark Phoenix Saga” hasn’t even been matched by the movies.

And yet, there was one notable departure from the comics. X-Men: The Animated Series featured an entirely original character called Morph, voiced by Ron Rubin. Morph was a shapeshifter who was apparently killed in the very first episode, presumably a somewhat artificial way for the writers to indicate this was a serious show where anything could happen to its heroes. Morph’s surprising popularity led the writers to bring him back, albeit as a twisted figure who had been badly scarred by his near-death experience. There was a great deal of irony to this; death has always been a revolving door in the X-Men comics, and X-Men: The Animated Series‘ writers evidently decided to honor that tradition.

Speaking at a dedicated X-Men: The Animated Series panel at Wizard World 2020 (via Digital Spy), series producer and director Larry Houston revealed Morph was originally supposed to be a character from the comics themselves. Back in 1968, writer Roy Thomas created a minor mutant supervillain called Changeling, a shapeshifter who battled the X-Men on one occasion. Changeling would have been forgotten if not for his integration in a major retcon; Thomas killed off Charles Xavier in one story, then decided to bring him back, and so revealed Xavier had asked Changeling to take his place for a while – with tragic consequences for the shapeshifter. Houston had actually wanted to use Changeling in the first episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, but the lawyers had intervened.

“We wanted to call him Changeling, but the lawyers said no because that was one of the characters from the Teen Titans,” Houston explained. “And even though Marvel had done it first, the lawyers said, ‘No, just find another name’, so that’s where we came up with Morph. He looks like Changeling, but he’s called Morph, and that’s where that came from.” The issue will have arisen because Marvel hadn’t used their Changeling since the ’60s, and so the trademark had lapsed, allowing DC to take possession of it when they created their own Changeling. Amusingly enough, DC didn’t even keep the name for long themselves, because “Changeling” is better known as Beast Boy.

This is hardly the only occasion trademark law slipped its way into the superhero genre; the history of the “Captain Marvel” brand is another amusing example, and Marvel literally created She-Hulk and Spider-Woman in order to ensure their competitors couldn’t beat them to it. But it’s one of the most amusing examples because it means an entirely original character was woven into an animated series just because a trademark had been allowed to lapse. The modern X-Men comics have seen the mutants figure out how to resurrect the dead, literally turning this “revolving door of death” into a plot point, and it will be amusing to see whether Changeling eventually turns up again after making such an impact in X-Men: The Animated Series.

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Thomas Bacon
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Tom Bacon is one of Screen Rant’s staff writers, as well as a Peer Mentor for new writers and a member of the Care Team, offering support and a listening ear to members of the Comics group. A lifelong fan of major franchises including Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Marvel, Tom is delighted his childhood is back – and this time it’s cool. You can find him on Twitter @TomABacon.

A graduate of Edge Hill University, Tom remains strongly connected with his alma mater as a volunteer chaplain. He’s heavily involved with his local church, and anyone who checks him out on Twitter will swiftly learn he’s into British politics too.

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