JP Karliak on Morph evolution in X-Men 97
JP Karliak joins Naomi Kyle on Pause for Thought this week to discuss his role as Morph in X-Men '97 and how the character has evolved. The conversation touches on season one's focus on rejoining the team after trauma and using humor to fit in, contrasting with the current season where Morph feels secure enough to speak up as an individual. They also cover a massive betrayal by their best friend, citing episodes with Wolverine as key examples of this shift.
Transcript (en)
This is somebody who has been their best friend, and they have been there for each other, but this is a massive betrayal. I think in season one, it was very much about, this is a character who just minutes ago has rejoined this team after going through all the trauma and emotional stuff in the previous series. So a lot of that first season was about figuring out where they sit in this team, trying to make sure everybody likes them, using their humor a lot to make everybody comfortable. And I think this season was more about, okay, I feel secure in this team. We've all been zapped to another time period together, like, we're good. But now it's more about speaking up for themselves as an individual and the ways that they feel valued or devalued. I mean, the episode with Wolverine, prime example of, this is somebody who has been their best friend and they have been there for each other, but this is a massive betrayal. And instead of just, you know, shluffing it off, like it's not a big deal, Morph is very pointed and serious about that it is a big deal, and it hurts. I think there have been a bunch of episodes this season where individual characters have had the chance to really show what their personality is apart from the team and not necessarily blending within it.
