X-Men’s Dramatic Finale Resolves 30-Year Storm Debate Once and for All

Storm makes a new costume for herself in X-Men ’97, with the suit being based on her original 1975 debut and whose color scheme ends a 30 year debate.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for X-Men ’97 episode 6.

Storm’s story continues in X-Men ’97, with her latest episode ending a 30-year debate about one of her most famous costumes from Marvel’s comics. X-Men ’97, like the original X-Men: The Animated Series, honors the rich history of the X-Men comics, though they initially took most of their visual cues – fittingly – from the X-Men comics of the 90s. Storm has undergone a major character arc, losing her powers and grappling with the demonic entity known as the Adversary, as well as adopting two famous looks from the comics, with the second ending a decades-long debate.

At the end of X-Men ‘97’s second episode, “Mutant Liberation Begins,” X-Cutioner blasts Storm with an energy weapon based on the infamous mutant inhibitor collars, seemingly removing her powers permanently. The now powerless Storm left the X-Men and worked with Forge to restore her abilities in an adaptation of the “Lifedeath.” Throughout Storm’s appearances in the original X-Men Animated Series, her superhero costume was her famous white 90s outfit. At the start of X-Men ’97, Storm adopted her mohawk look, but with the Lifedeath adaptation now concluded, Storm has adopted perhaps her most famous superhero costume.

X-Men ’97 Gives Storm An Incredible Costume Upgrade

In “Lifedeath – Part 2,” Storm struggles to acquire a cure for Forge, who is dying from the Adversary’s lethal bite. As she overcomes her fears and anxieties while traversing a cramped cavern to find a rare cactus with magic properties, Storm finally regains her mutant powers, using them to fend off the pursuing Adversary and get Forge the life-saving cactus. In a spectacular display of her powers, Storm creates a massive thunderstorm and flies through the air, unveiling a new costume based on her original X-Men comic outfit.

Storm’s new suit is based on her 1975 debut in the first issue of Giant-Size X-Men by Len Wein and Dave Cockrum. This classic costume, like her 90s suit made famous by the original X-Men Animated Series, is a dramatic look, with a cape and even a crown (referencing her royal heritage). The new costume is a fitting look for the revitalized Storm in X-Men ’97, but it also addresses – and settles – a debate regarding the suit’s color scheme, which has been seemingly unclear for decades.

Jim Lee’s Storm Costume Debate Explained

Storm has had several costumes in the 90s, with the white suit being adapted by the X-Men Animated Series and X-Men ’97. Jim Lee, whose famous X-Men comics from the 1990s are a major source of inspiration for both shows, gave Storm a costume that blended elements of her original 1975 debut costume and the white 90s suit. For decades, Marvel readers were unsure if the costume was black, grey, or silver, as it seemed to have a metallic sheen.

This is similar to Spider-Man’s original costume, which was initially envisioned as a red and black suit, but whose blue highlights confused readers for years and led to the suit being retroactively established as having always been red and blue. In Storm’s case, the original suit is black and her original outfit in the X-Men Animated Series and X-Men ’97 is white, the Jim Lee suit is definitively black. Like Spider-Man’s suit, the confusion surrounding Storm’s Jim Lee costume comes from highlights that give it a seemingly white or silver hue when the suit was always envisioned as black.

Spider-Man’s original red and black looks was cleverly referenced and canonized by the MCU’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Unlike Spider-Man’s costume, Storm’s Jim Lee suit did not get a definitive retcon. Instead, the suit would be portrayed somewhat inconsistently, with some depictions appearing more clearly black while others were more white or silver. This inconsistency even influenced Storm’s main suit in the X-Men Animated Series itself. With the introduction of Storm’s black 70s suit in X-Men ’97, however, the debate may finally be over.

Storm’s X-Men ’97 Costume Is Her Best Yet On Screen

Although Storm is no longer wearing a suit based on Jim Lee’s X-Men work in X-Men ’97, the unveiling of her new costume further settles the debate. Storm’s 70s-style costume is black and its highlights are clearly defined in a series that still takes its visual cues from the 90s X-Men comics, preventing any further confusion regarding the suit’s color scheme. Storm’s 70s costume is a fittingly regal and triumphant new look for her in X-Men ’97, signaling the return of one of the X-Men’s greatest members at a time when she is perhaps needed most.