Gone But Not Forgotten: Mutant X

You’re trying to find something they would like, something recognizable, and you come across something like Robert Cop.

It has become a hobby of mine to see the creativity some of these companies will go to make a buck. But imagine if we took this and applied it to a billion-dollar-making I.P., This is not something new; one of the most famous was the original Battle Star Galactica, which has been accused of being a cheap copy of Star Wars. Another more current example is the BBC America show called “Demons,” which is a blatant rip-off of Buffy. Yet one of the most memorable knockoffs is one that involved two giant companies getting into a fight like two-year-olds in the playground over a toy. I am talking about The X-Men….I mean…Mutant X. A show that, even though it was obvious in its deception, was still a surprise hit with comic book fans. So, considering Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters at the time of this video, let’s check out an X-Men but “definitely not an X-Men” TV show. Not to mention, watch Avid Arad try to pull a fast one on Fox in the most uncreative way. But am I exaggerating? Am I making a mountain out of an x-gene? Let’s find out in this episode of Gone But Not Forgotten.

In 1994, Marvel went through severe financial issues and began selling the movie rights. One of those studios was 20 Century Fox, who bought the X-Men for 2.6 million dollars, which, with inflation, comes out to be about 5.5 million dollars today. As you can imagine, when the first X-Men made 296.3 million, the head of Marvel Studios, Avi Arad, was unhappy. This big studio was making buckets of money while Marvel got the scraps. So Arad had an idea: he would make an X-Men TV show but not call it the X-Men. He brought in the president of Marvel Character Group, Rick Ungar, to help him develop the show. The series would be called Genome X. The pitch was that 30 to 20 years ago, a conglomerate called Genomex began to experiment on embryos for various reasons. In some cases, it’s parents who want their child to have advantages or to exclude genetic defects the family suffers from.

Unfortunately, this has an unintended effect when those children begin to develop superpowers. They are mutants and are now being hunted by that same conglomerate to avoid their illegal actions from going public. One of these mutants, named Adam Xero, has super-intelligence and decides to form a group of new mutants called Mutant X. This team’s goal is to save other mutants from Genomex. The team consists of 4 mutants. Brennan Mulwray, a former thief, AKA ‘Fuse,’ has electrical powers. Emma DeLauro aka ‘Rapport’ is a tele empath who can sense and manipulate emotions. Shalimar Fox, aka ‘Shadowfox,’ is a mutant with agility, super senses, and strength. Finally, Jesse Kilmartin, aka Synergy, can alter his density, becoming intangible and increasing his mass to become invulnerable. They also wore black leather costumes and traveled on a superjet. Yet Arad said that this was not the X-Men or a spin-off.

Fox caught wind of this and quickly sued Marvel, stopping production of the series. Marvel then countersued to stop Fox from killing the show. Eventually, it was ruled that Marvel could continue with the series but with some caveats. First, the code names of the characters had to be dropped. Adams’ last name, Xero, was too close to Professor Xavier’s name, so that was changed to Kane, and he was no longer a super-intelligent mutant. He was now just a genius who created the genetic project that created the mutants. Oh, and no leather costumes. By this point, the title had to be adjusted to avoid being confused by the X-Men films. It was decided that the new title would be Mutant X. Side note: when the show was announced, a popular Marvel comic called Mutant X was still being made. Arad and the producers didn’t know this and had to tell fans that this was not an adaptation. So I’m pretty sure that didn’t make Fox feel any assurance by Arad that this wasn’t an X-Men show. But then Marvel got sued by Tribune Entertainment, which produced the series. They said Marvel lied and told them that this was an X-men spin-off in order to secure their involvement in the series. God, these people need a time-out.

After all that was settled, casting began. For the commander of Mutant X, Adam Kane, veteran actor John Shea was cast. Shea is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. But, he has been acting since the 1970s and started on Broadway, even winning a Theater World Award for his role in Yentil. Adam Kane was the leader and founder of Mutant X. He created the group to atone for his role as the chief bio-geneticist of the experiments that created the mutants. He was kind and a father figure to the team. His former friend and nemesis was Mason Eckhart, played by stage actor Tom McCamus, the former head of security for Geneomex who was involved in an accident that compromised his immune system. So now he has to wear a wig, gloves, and synthetic skin. Basically, he winds up looking like an albino Jeremy Irons. Eckhart spends the first season hunting down Mutant X and the mutants they are trying to protect. McCamus quit at the end of season 1 to continue his passion for theater. He would return for a few episodes in future seasons.

As for the mutants on the team, it’s revealed on the show that there are 4 types of mutants, Feral, Elemental, Molecular, and Psionic. So, each of the characters fell into each of those classifications. Jesse Kilmartin was played by Forbes March. March was a soap opera star and former model who, after the show ended, would quit acting to start his own business. Jesse was a molecular mutant that could control his density. So he could either become intangible or increase his mass to become invulnerable. He was the computer expert and probably the group’s most sensitive member, always willing to be there for his team members.

Victoria Pratt played Shalimar Fox. Pratt was also a model who transitioned into acting. Since the show ended, she has modeled a bit but mostly does small roles here and there. She also wrote a novel, a detective story. I haven’t read it, but it has some good reviews on Amazon. Shalimar was a Feral mutant with enhanced strength, speed, and senses. She also had a healing ability and would eventually develop a danger sense. She was very protective of the team members since she was rescued by Adam before she joined Mutant X.

Victor Webster played Brennan Mulwray, an electrical elemental mutant. Before joining the series, Webster was another soap opera actor. Since the show ended, he has become a pretty big star in the hallmark TV movie scene. Brennan was a former thief; he was the bad boy with a heart of gold in the group. These kinds of characters were quite common in the early 2000s, so there is not much to say about his character.

The last mutant of the team was Emma DeLauro played by Lauren Lee Smith. Smith was also a former model turned actress, I’m starting to see a pattern here, before the show she had done a few small projects and a tv movie. Smith has probably had the most impressive career since the show ended. She has had a steady role in TV and films. Check out her IMDB page. This woman is a machine, constantly booking work and giving solid performances. Emma was a psionic mutant with the ability to feel and manipulate emotions. She developed other mental powers at the end of the first season. In the episode, the character is used as the viewer’s introduction to mutants, their enemies, and the series’ setting. Emma was eventually killed off and replaced by Lexa Pierce, played by Karen Cliché. Lexa’s power was that she could manipulate light.

The show’s pilot is a perfect example of what to expect from this show in all the wrong ways. Emma is being chased by Geneomex thugs. She bumps into Brennan and shares a moment. Then runs off and gets cornered by them, only to be rescued by Jesse and Shalimar. This is when we see the first of many flaws in the series.

Oh man, my god, boy, did the producers love wire work on the show, and they never looked good. Maybe it could have worked had it been shot differently. The camera held the shot for too long, breaking the scene’s illusion. I wondered why they even bothered to hide the wires. It was pretty clear that the pilot’s director had never shot action scenes because many bloopers made it into the finished cut. This is a shame because the stunt coordinator and actors seemed to be very dedicated to their action scenes. The show’s fight coordinator, Paul Rapovski, worked in Hong Kong cinema and even appeared in some Kung Fu movies, one of which was with Jet Li. In the DVD extras, Rapovski was interviewed about the show, and you can see his dedication to presenting good action for Mutant X. Paul said he worked weekends and long hours to ensure the cast looked good while fighting bad guys.

It just seems like a waste of Rapovski and his team’s hard work because of bad directors. For every scene amazing fight scene, there were five more that were utter garbage.

The editing was horrible as well, who needs shaky cam to make you puke? Just constantly do back-to-back scene transitions and zoom in and out of a shot every 30 seconds. Anyway, Emma is rescued by Mutant X and transported to their secret base. She meets the rest of the team, acts like a brat, and runs away. During all this Eckhart learns the Genomex founder Dr.Paul Breedlove has decided to write a statement exposing what he and his company have done. Many of you may recognize the actor who played Breedlove and his connections to the X-Men universe. It was Cedric Smith, the voice of Professor X from X-Men: The Animated Series. Pretty cool, huh? Well, anyway, Eckhart has him killed. It sucks, I know, but at least his death was hilarious. He was killed by flying records from a jukebox.

Meanwhile, Brennan and his accomplices rob a bank. While he and one of his partners are breaking into the vault. When they meet their contact his team is shocked to learn that they could have sold the contents of a safe deposit box for three times what they were paid by their client.

As expected, Brennan is backstabbed by his partners, who report him to Geneomex, and he is captured while trying to run away with Emma. Emma and Mutant X then break into Geneomex and free Brennan and the other mutants from their clutches. He joins the team, and the Mutant X team is complete.

The show’s first season dealt with the team thwarting Geneomex and helping fellow mutants. At the end of the season, though, Eckhart was captured by Gabriel Ashlocke, who was played by Michael Easton. Gabriel was patient zero, the first mutant that Geneomex ever made. Gabriel has all of the mutant’s powers, and he leads a cult of mutants when he is introduced. Like all cult leaders, Gabriel was a narcissist who had a god complex. He’s also a bad kisser and looks like he just bit into a lemon. So, at the beginning of the second season, Gabriel is one of the main antagonists, but that ended toward the first half of season 2.

However, at the end of season 2, Emma is killed abruptly. Fans had wondered for years why she left the show so suddenly. She eventually explained why at the London L Word convention in March 2008. Lauren Lee Smith’ said she was unhappy with the show for various reasons. She said the show started great, with the producers wanting to focus on more interesting topics. But halfway through the first season, the budget began shrinking, and the scripts worsened. It was hard work, and then she kept being asked to wear less and less clothing. The lowest moment was when a producer said, “Maybe if you start to wear a bikini throughout the whole thing, we can get more people watching”. So Lauren asked to be let go, and she was. According to Smith John Shea was also unhappy with the show’s quality and decided to quit as well. But, he was contracted to appear for a certain number of episodes. So in the beginning of season 3 his character is presumed dead but he eventually returns toward the end of the season.

Season 3 had another X-Men alum, George Buzza, as the voice of the mysterious contact, the shadow organization called The Dominion. Whose goal was to control technology, and genetics was one of their highest priorities. So, they wanted to control the mutants.

In my opinion, the show had crappy directing, editing, dialogue, and uninspired plots. But it was a hit. The ratings were great, and they had a devoted fan base. So you can imagine the fan’s frustration when they canceled the show. Not only that but it was the worst way a show could be cancelled. It was a cliffhanger!

As someone who watches a lot of TV, I can tell you that the worst thing a series can do is end on a cliffhanger. It’s horrible to become invested in a show, and poof, it’s gone, leaving you with so many unanswered questions. Being so confident that you will come back to clear up that hook feels a little egotistical. Sometimes, it’s not the showrunner’s fault the network may be gaslighting them when they know the show won’t return. Other times, it’s done out of desperation to prove to the bigwigs that they will have guaranteed viewership for the next season. I still can’t believe that this is still a thing today. I recently saw this great show called Fakes on Netflix, and it ended on one of the most intense cliffhangers I have seen in years.

So, the fans campaigned for the show to return. But what they didn’t know was that Mutant X was not canceled because of bad ratings. The ratings were great! It was even renewed for a fourth season. The real reason for the cancellation was that the show’s production company, Fireworks Entertainment, was sold off for parts. It’s a complicated story about mergers, promotions, and people getting caned. It’s boring, and trust me, you are not missing anything by me not talking about it.

So, should Mutant X come back? Well. I don’t know… you see, rewatching the series made me want to drill a hole in my head. I could barely get through one episode. But people loved the show, and I always say if you love a show and you want it to come back, then it should. If those have potential, though, the idea of eugenics and all the baggage it brings is something that sci-fi does well. But if you’re interested in checking out the show and telling me, I am dead wrong and dumb. Which let’s face it I probably am, then you can watch it on the free streaming service Tubi.

So sit back and watch a thinly masked X-Men show, then pick up your remote, tune into the secret signal for the underground, and enjoy the ride. Just try to avoid talking to an albino version of Jeremy Irons.