Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men

[https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/X494-1024x733.png]https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/X494.png In which the X-Men zealously protect their trademarks; Cable can have as many moms as he wants to; not everyone should have to be a superhero; Lady Deathstrike knows how to handle unauthorized emails; and somehow there are still more gun arms. X-PLAINED: * Lady Deathstrike * X-Men Unlimited #27-28 * X-Men Annual 2000 * One reason to recycle code names * Thunderbird III (Neal Shaara) * Sanjit Shaara and his electronic diary * Karima Shapandar * Bastion and the Prime Sentinels (again) (briefly) * Omega Prime Sentinels * Rebirth Island and what lurks there * Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna) * Unusual disturbances * Whether Gambit sleeps * The Black Death * Internet security training with Bastion * The genealogy of Nora Ephron romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail * Fashion * Stryfe (again) (briefly) * Psylocke’s telekinetic katana * Interactions between Madelyne Pryor and her large adult son * Spiral’s Body Shop NEXT EPISODE: The Brotherhood targets Senator Kelly… again. ---------------------------------------- Check out the visual companion to this episode here [https://www.xplainthexmen.com/2025/07/as-mentioned-in-episode-494-youve-got-evil-mail]! Find us on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay-miles-x-plain-the-x-men/id862258051] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3dB4KyeOeylfiIVImshFY2?si=ee5e912a53114820]! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here [https://www.patreon.com/xplainthexmen]! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop [https://xplainthexmen.dashery.com/]!

[https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/X493-1024x435.jpg]https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/X493.jpg In which the first X-Men film turns 25 (and holds up remarkably well). X-PLAINED: * A startling absence * The X-Men’s big-screen debut * An X-film that might have been * X-Men (2000), in general; and related publications * Some very casting * What makes a good adaptation * Wolverine’s hair * Those costumes * The cinematic X-Men * The cinematic Brotherhood * Sabretooth’s eyebrows * Condensed backstories * The movie magic of magnetism * The worst toy of all time * Going to school with superheroes * Things we’d like to have seen in the movie NEXT EPISODE: The origin of Thunderbird! (Not that one.) (Or that one.) ---------------------------------------- The visual companion to this episode is the film X-Men (2000). Find us on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay-miles-x-plain-the-x-men/id862258051] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3dB4KyeOeylfiIVImshFY2?si=ee5e912a53114820]! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here [https://www.patreon.com/xplainthexmen]! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop [https://xplainthexmen.dashery.com/]!

[https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/X492-1024x419.png]https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/X492.png In which the Shockwave Riders are exceptionally silly; we are deeply impressed by brain sharks; and chrome plating and gun arms are among the lesser explored recurring Claremont motifs. X-PLAINED: * The fate of Sara Grey * Revolution Claremont X-book disambiguation * Uncanny X-Men #381-383 * The Neo (again) * An unmarked anniversary * A secret treasure trove * Vagaries of telekinesis and telepathy * The Shockwave Riders * Brain sharks that eat memories * The stuff of legend * The Lost Souls * Dirges and non-dirges * One way to start a conversation * Simyon Kurasov * Colonel Alexi Vazhin (again) * The Slash * How to dress to go clubbing * Blinkers, somewhat * Ransom Sole * Big Casino * Sketch * Revenant * Major Debra Levin * Bludgeon, Cudgel, and Manacle * Houndification * The best 21st century X-characters NEXT EPISODE: The first X-Men movie turns 25! ---------------------------------------- Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog [https://www.xplainthexmen.com/2025/07/as-mentioned-in-episode-492/]! Find us on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay-miles-x-plain-the-x-men/id862258051] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3dB4KyeOeylfiIVImshFY2?si=ee5e912a53114820]! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here [https://www.patreon.com/xplainthexmen]! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop [https://xplainthexmen.dashery.com/]!

[https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/X491-1024x768.jpeg]https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/X491-scaled.jpeg In which we record live from the Library of Congress; time travel complicates everything; X-Men is a fundamentally queer narrative; we attempt to summarize a lot of history very fast; and when identities are politicized, claiming them becomes a political act. X-PLAINED: * LC-GLOBE * The first openly queer X-Man * Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men * Why we do what we do * Why the X-Men are worth studying * Returning nuance to critical discussion of media * A brief(ish) history of X-Men and queerness in X-Men * Iceman Watch * Retroactive foreshadowing * The mutant metaphor * Found family * Subtext * Text * Facets of mutant activism * Coming-out stories * Various vectors of diversity * Some comics Jay wrote * Comics in libraries * Where to start with Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men * X-Men for horror fans * Our favorite X-Men lineups * Identity politics * The T-O virus vs. the Legacy Virus NEXT EPISODE: Brain Sharks! ---------------------------------------- This episode doesn’t exactly have a traditional visual companion, but you can click through the entire slide deck from the live show–and find links to the essays we mentioned–on our blog [https://www.xplainthexmen.com/2025/06/as-mentioned-in-episode-491/]. Jay has some additional thoughts on identity politics, which you can read here [https://www.xplainthexmen.com/2025/06/an-open-letter/]. Find us on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay-miles-x-plain-the-x-men/id862258051] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3dB4KyeOeylfiIVImshFY2?si=ee5e912a53114820]! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here [https://www.patreon.com/xplainthexmen]! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop [https://xplainthexmen.dashery.com/]!

[https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/X490.jpg]https://www.xplainthexmen.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/X490.jpg In which Chris Claremont tries to make the Neo happen; Cecilia Reyes continues to have no time for this bullshit; Rogue gets some action; Shadowcat flees the comic; and Tessa returns. X-PLAINED: * The Evolutionaries * X-Men #100-102 * The current X-Men rosters * Thunderbird (Neal Shaara) * Claremont vs. continuity * Dove crimes * The Neo * Domina * Jaeger * Rax * Fancy space suits * What to do with someone else’s bone claws * Some guy named Seth * The High Evolutionary’s love nest * A Phoenix-saga callback * Rave * Warren Kenneth Worthington III’s weird fantasies * Whether unstable molecules are self-cleaning * Seventeen deaths of Mister Sinister * Salvo the Living Gun * How to keep track of X-Men * Time travel problems * X-Men LEGO sets we’d like to see NEXT EPISODE: Live from Washington, D.C.! ---------------------------------------- Check out the visual companion to this episode on our blog [https://www.xplainthexmen.com/2025/06/as-mentioned-in-episode-490/]. Find us on Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jay-miles-x-plain-the-x-men/id862258051] or Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/3dB4KyeOeylfiIVImshFY2?si=ee5e912a53114820]! Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men is 100% ad-free and listener supported. If you want to help support the podcast–and unlock more cool stuff–you can do that right here [https://www.patreon.com/xplainthexmen]! Buy rad swag at our Dashery shop [https://xplainthexmen.dashery.com/]!