Jonathan Dobres

Season 5, Episode 7. Air date: February 22, 1997.

X-Men: The Animated Series usually downplays the fact that mutants live alongside the rest of the Marvel universe. Other than a light sprinkling of quick cameos (Stephen Strange and Spiderman’s hand in “The Phoenix Saga”, or an alt-universe glimpse of the Avengers in “One Man’s Worth”), the show treats X-Men as a completely separate franchise. “Old Soldiers” is an unusual episode because it prominently guest stars a Marvel hero from a different comic entirely. Captain America, no less.

I don’t think I really need to tell you who Captain America is, but there are two details about him that are worth remembering here. One, the early Captain America comics about a kid signing up to serve in World War II weren’t a period piece. Captain America #1 was published in 1941, during the war. Two, the cover of that issue shows Cap punching Hitler right in his god damn face. There’s no ambiguity about what Steve Rogers means when he talks about fighting for freedom and liberty. He means literally fighting. Yes, he understands the symbolic importance of his big, bright costume, but first and foremost he’s going to punch a lot of Nazis.

And who better to join Captain America in his enthusiastic Nazi punching than Wolverine? I really mean it, this is a fun pairing. Of course, in 1944 he’s not really “Wolverine” yet, since the Weapon X program hasn’t given him a metal skeleton, retractable claws, or false memories. While we’re on the subject, one of my favorite retcons to X-Men lore is that the “X” in “Weapon X” is not a letter, but a Roman numeral, making Wolverine part of the tenth iteration of the Weapon Plus program. The first was Weapon I, which created Captain America. That retcon didn’t happen until 2002, during Grant Morrison’s run on New X-Men. In 1997, Wolverine and Cap were just two Marvel characters who had both fought in World War II.

The episode opens with Wolverine dramatically cursing at the grave of one Andre Cocteau. A nearby group of elderly veterans almost recognize Wolverine as one of their old war buddies, before brushing off the idea as a silly mistake (he’s probably the guy’s son, right?). While the show has occasionally hinted that Wolverine is older than he looks, this is our first confirmation that his healing factor makes him extremely long-lived. Wolverine watches the retirees depart, no doubt remembering when he last saw them, in the prime of their lives. Personally I would have liked for the episode to dwell on this a little more, but we’ve got Nazis to punch.

The ensuing flashback takes us to 1944 in Nazi-occupied France. Wolverine—or Logan, rather—is working for the OSS, and is told to rescue Dr. Andre Cocteau from the Nazis, who are forcing him to work on a mysterious project. Cocteau is an original character to the show, as is his daughter Justine, who is only there because the episode needed at least one woman, I guess.

Logan also gets Captain America as a partner for the mission, which is a great pairing. Logan is cynical and used to working in the shadows, whereas Cap wears a bright red, white, and blue costume on purpose, the better to be a symbol of hope, liberty, etc. The episode will somewhat belabor the point as Logan and Cap save a kid from some mean Nazis (one of whom calls Captain America an “Amerikanischer Hund”), but it’s a point worth making.

Logan and Cap infiltrate the Nazi-controlled castle by scaling a nearby cliff. They’re assisted in the effort by some rather implausible strap-on claws, which Logan likes a little too much. He’ll keep them on for the rest of the story. Our heroes punch a lot of Nazis before finding Dr. Cocteau, who is strangely resistant to being rescued. They eventually cross paths with the Red Skull, who chains them up in a dungeon, gleefully informing the good guys that Cocteau has betrayed them (hence Logan’s anger in the opening scene). Red Skull’s delightfully campy performance is provided by Cedric Smith, who ordinarily voices the staid Professor Xavier. It’s a real treat, all exaggerated rolled ‘R’s in a high register that evoke, perhaps intentionally, Skeletor.

Captain America and Logan get trussed up like they’re about to film a Van Darkholme video. It’s up to Logan to swing around the room, knock Cap’s shield into the air, and ricochet it into his restraints to cut himself loose. Cal Dodd has a ton of fun in this scene and seems to know what’s up, especially when he shouts, “Get ready for it, boy!” for no real reason.

With our heroes free, another Nazi-punching melee ensues. This escalates when the Red Skull activates Cocteau’s mystery project, a big robot called the Sleeper. I know I’ve often criticized the show for forgetting that its characters have superpowers, resulting in simplistic action, but the punching works really well here. Both Logan and Captain America are fighters, pure and simple. The episode isn’t leaving creative opportunities on the table—this is what these guys do, and they’re having a lot of fun doing it. Logan clambers all over the Sleeper and opens up its rather conspicuous chest cavity. With a hearty, “Yo, Cap!” he signals Captain America to throw his shield into the thing’s machinery and put it down for good.

Red Skull and Cocteau manage to escape, which Logan considers a failure. Captain America, however, sees the escapade as one battle won in the larger war. The Axis is weakened that much more, and therefore the mission was a success. It’s at this point that the episode returns to the present. An older Justine Cocteau approaches Wolverine in the cemetery to explain that her father was a double agent. The mission was a smokescreen to make her father’s defection to the Axis more convincing. Thanks in part to Logan’s actions fifty years ago, he was able to continue sabotaging the Nazis from behind enemy lines throughout the war (hence why he seemingly didn’t want to be rescued, and maybe why the Sleeper had such an obvious weak point).

It’s a decent story, but I think the reveal of Cocteau’s double agent status would have been more fun if it came from Captain America. It also would have been nice to see Wolverine react to the sight of someone who, like him, has an unnaturally long lifespan.

Stray observations:

• Wolverine somehow makes Cocteau lose consciousness so that he’s easier to carry around. Mutant nerve pinch, maybe?

• On the toilet: it’s a Wolverine solo episode, so he’s the only X-Man who appears. Most of the action takes place in the 1940s, long before the other X-Men have even been born (though Xavier himself would be about ten years old).