Is Morph Really In Love With Wolverine? X-Men '97's Creator Ends The Debate
This article contains spoilers for the "X-Men '97" Season 1 finale, "Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3"
The X-Men are in a rough spot at the end of "X-Men '97" Season 1. Much of the team is scattered across time following Bastion's (Theo James) failed attempt to drop Asteroid M onto Earth. The morale of the remaining members like Forge (Gil Birmingham) and Jubilee (Holly Chou) is shaken, to say the least, but few survivors have it as physically bad as Wolverine (Cal Dodd). In a fit of rage, Magneto (Matthew Waterson) uses his power of magnetism to tear the adamantium coating from his skeleton, rendering him severely wounded. He's out of action for the finale, "Tolerance is Extinction – Part 3," but he's not alone.
Throughout the episode, Morph (J.P. Karliak) is right by Wolverine's side, making it abundantly clear how badly they want to see him pull through. At one point, they even shapeshift into Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale), telling him, "I love you Logan, stay with me." While this could've been an attempt to give Wolverine strength through his enduring love for Jean, there's actually more to the story. According to "X-Men '97" creator Beau DeMayo on X, formerly known as Twitter, this was Morph not-so-subtly expressing their love for Logan. "Yes, Morph was confessing romantic feelings for Logan," DeMayo wrote, swiftly ending any debate regarding Morph's true feelings for their X-Men teammate.
Unfortunately, DeMayo also teased that Morph's love for Logan could end terribly for the shapeshifting mutant.
DeMayo has teased Wolverine's response to Morph's affection, and it's not looking good
Morph professing his love through the voice and form of Jean Grey is the most overt sign that they're in love with Wolverine, but it's not the only one "X-Men '97" Season 1 features. For example, Mister Sinister (Christopher Britton, though Bryan Cranston very much wants to play the villain someday) terrorizes the X-Men through Madelyne Pryor (Jennifer Hale), subjecting all of them to deeply personal visions. In Morph's, they see a faux Wolverine in the shower and remark about helping him with hard-to-reach places as he washes up. The duo has also bantered back and forth throughout the season, with Morph going out of their way to cheer Logan up over his inability to make a relationship with Jean work.
Sadly, it doesn't seem that Wolverine will be too receptive to Morph's affection. Despite Beau DeMayo's firing from Marvel Studios, the "X-Men '97" creator completed writing work on the show's second season. Therefore, his posts on X about Morph and Wolverine's dynamic going forward are a bit telling. In response to a comment about the two being good friends, which was first established on "X-Men: The Animated Series," and nothing more, DeMayo replied, "Well, that's what Logan thinks." He also responded to a tweet showing pity for Morph, teasing that their yearning for Wolverine won't lead to anything good.
Hopefully, "X-Men '97" Season 2 will see Wolverine make a full recovery and, in the event he doesn't reciprocate Morph's romantic feelings, let them down easy. After all, based on the Season 1 post-credits tease that understandably has Marvel fans freaking out, the X-Men will need to be on the same page going forward.