The 7 Best And 7 Worst Episodes Of Wolverine And The X-Men

"Wolverine and the X-Men" only spans one season, but that's all it needs to make its mark. The show's impressive animation and high-quality writing skillfully bring beloved X-Men characters and storylines to the small screen, which has helped it build a cult following in the years following its 2009 debut. Notably, "Wolverine and the X-Men" shifts its focus from the X-Men ensemble to Wolverine, one of the team's most popular heroes. This helps the cartoon differentiate itself in a highly entertaining way.

That's not the only thing that sets "Wolverine and the X-Men" apart. This series takes place in the aftermath of a devastating psychic event that seemingly kills Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, and Jean Grey. This tragedy leads the X-Men to disband. But after a year goes by, Wolverine decides to reunite his former comrades-in-arms. The world still needs them — and so does Wolverine. What ensues is a thrilling series full of incredible high points ... but no show is perfect. Today, we're taking a look at those high highs and low lows. These are the 7 best and 7 worst episodes of "Wolverine and the X-Men."

As the show's very first episode, "Hindsight: Part 1" is responsible for setting up the overarching plotline's central mystery. After briefly introducing several members of the X-Men and their ongoing interpersonal conflicts, the story is interrupted by a large explosion at the X-Mansion, which causes Professor X and Jean Grey to go missing. They are eventually presumed dead. The episode then jumps forward a year, and finds the X-Men disbanded. What's worse, a group called the Mutant Response Division (MRD) is rounding up mutants and placing them in captivity.

While the mysterious explosion and Wolverine's mission to reunite the remaining X-Men against the MRD provide a lot of interesting material for the writers to work with, "Hindsight: Part 1" struggles to balance its exposition-heavy storyline with its characters. The story moves at breakneck speed, never slowing down to allow big moments to resonate before quickly jumping to the next plot beat. This episode definitely could have used an extra 10 minutes to let its narrative breathe a little.

"Rover," Episode 21, takes place in the future storyline. Unfortunately, it lacks the excitement of the arc's other episodes. Cyclops and Wolverine manage to send a message to Xavier through his comatose body, alerting him that Jean Grey and the Phoenix Force caused the explosion that tore apart the X-Men, and might also be responsible for the apocalyptic future Xavier is experiencing. Thus, Xavier's group reprograms a Sentinel, names it Rover, and decides to use it on a kamikaze run to get into the Master Mold's detention center.

Much of the episode's conflict revolves around Marrow, who has bonded with Rover and does not want to see it destroyed in the kamikaze run. While the rest of the group feels the move is necessary, Marrow protests, leading her to eventually turn against the team and give their location to the Sentinels. Unfortunately, this character arc makes no sense and the betrayal rings hollow: There's really nothing for Marrow to gain by turning the team over to the enemy. The plan itself is also incredibly convoluted, making the future storyline feel as though it's overstayed its welcome.

Episode 8, "Time Bomb," introduces yet another cataclysmic event. This time, it comes in the form of a mutant named Nitro, who Professor X learns will self-destruct and wipe out half of the mutant population. He gets the message back to Wolverine in the present, but not before the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Quicksilver, sets a plan in motion to use Nitro as a weapon against the X-Men and the MRD. They deploy Psylocke to keep Nitro under control, not knowing that their actions will eventually lead to the deaths of half the world's mutants.

There is nothing particularly wrong with "Time Bomb," but this otherwise forgettable filler episode is packed with missed opportunities. Psylocke, who is one of the X-Men's most interesting characters, is used as a one-off villain-of-the-week. This is especially disappointing, considering that Psylocke usually acts as a hero in the comics, something she never gets to do in the show. In addition, the decision to introduce another cataclysmic event — which gets solved in one episode — makes the show's other apocalypse-causing incidents redundant, and very nearly boring.

Episode 7, "Wolverine vs. the Hulk" reintroduces the age-old rivalry between the two titular characters. Comic book enthusiasts will remember that Wolverine made his debut in 1974's "Incredible Hulk" #180, where he serves as an antagonist to the popular Avenger. This episode pays homage to that electric issue, and also sees Nick Fury recruit Wolverine to help stop the Hulk, who has supposedly been causing chaos in the Canadian Rockies.

Wolverine and Hulk have their fight, but like most hero-versus-hero stories, it turns out that the destruction is actually caused by a separate villain — in this case, Wendigo. Wolverine teams up with Hulk's alter-ego, Bruce Banner, in order to create a cure for Wendigo and stop his rampage. Unlike the comparable "X-Men: Evolution" episode "Operation: Rebirth," which features Captain America, Hulk is handled pretty well. However, the set-up to their fight feels like a major stretch, and there's very little meaningful story or character development. All in all, "Wolverine vs. the Hulk" feels very disposable.

In Episode 11, "Past Discretions," Wolverine's time in the Weapon X program comes to light. Logan seeks to uncover his past, which is shrouded in mystery, thanks to his memory loss. He meets up with the daughter of a former Weapon X colleague, Maverik, but this powerful mutant takes Wolverine captive. Wolverine learns he may have been responsible for killing her father, but before he can recall his memories, he is attacked by Sabretooth, who's been sent by the Weapon X program.

While this episode could have been a great set-up for an emotional story about Wolverine coming to terms with his past mistakes, it squanders this opportunity by spending nearly half its runtime on a single fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth. While the match-up is a classic rivalry in the comics, it's become a tired trend in X-Men cartoons, having happened countless times in both "X-Men: The Animated Series" and "X-Men: Evolution." This fight brings nothing new to the table, and "Past Discretions" ultimately feels like a filler episode, indistinguishable from the many similar installments that came before it.

As many fans likely guess by the title, Episode 5, "Thieves' Gambit," introduces popular mutant Gambit into the world of "Wolverine and the X-Men." But while the hero is a staple member of the team in "X-Men: The Animated Series" and has an interesting arc in the latter seasons of "X-Men: Evolution," "Wolverine and the X-Men" completely wastes the character by pitting him against Wolverine as a hired goon for Senator Kelly.

After saving Magma, a young mutant with difficulty controlling her powers, from the MRD, Wolverine has Forge build a collar for her that inhibits her abilities. Unfortunately, Senator Kelly becomes aware of the collar and has Dr. Zane hire Gambit to retrieve it. The rest of the episode involves a battle between Wolverine and Gambit, which ends when Wolverine offers Gambit double the money to let him keep the collar. "Thieves' Gambit" strips away Gambit's unique and complicated relationship with the X-Men and his reluctant heroics, turning him into a rogue who only cares about money. This leaves a sour taste in the mouths of Gambit's biggest fans and bores everyone else in the audience.

Surprisingly, many of the lowest-rated episodes of "Wolverine and the X-Men" are the ones that deal with Wolverine's past. He may be compelling as the reluctant leader of the X-Men, but something about the show's handling of his backstory just doesn't seem to resonate with audiences. Though "Code of Conduct" may not be rated all that poorly, it does fall below every other episode in IMDb's rankings. Perhaps this is due to the fact that his overcomplicated past in Japan is stuffed into a single episode. There's definitely enough going on here to merit a multi-episode arc.

"Code of Conduct" starts with the Yakuza, who invade the X-Mansion and capture several members of the X-Men. Their leader, the Silver Samurai, wants to regain his honor by dueling Wolverine, and will only return the captured mutants if Wolverine agrees to fight him. Having no other choice, Wolverine assents. But things are complicated by the appearance of his old love interest, Mariko, who is now married to the Silver Samurai. This tale has promise, but the rushed nature of the episode makes it difficult to really get a handle on Wolverine's relationship with Mariko and the Silver Samurai. A better set-up might have let their duel feel more satisfying — but sadly, such a set-up is nowhere to be found.