X-Men ‘97 Morph actor reveals the scope of the shapeshifter’s powers and talks romance

The thing everyone loves about X-Men ‘97 is that it feels just like the X-Men: The Animated Series did in the 1990s. The art looks similar (but better), the storylines pick up straight from the original show (and then go to some wild new places fueled by three decades of comic book storytelling), and a lot of the same actors play the characters they did decades ago. There is, however, a glaring exception to all of this in Morph, who looks, feels, and sounds totally different in the Disney Plus show.

In the ’90s cartoon, Morph was an original character taking inspiration from the shapeshifter Changeling in the X-Men comics. Voiced by Ron Rubin, the black-haired character clad in classic X-Men blue and yellow dies in the pilot, though he later returns seeking revenge on his old allies and ultimately rejoins the team in the very last episode. Although Morph was memorable for his jokey personality and snarky laugh, he’s most remembered because he died so early in the show’s run, so his character was never fleshed out all that much.

So when X-Men ‘97 came along, the character was almost completely reimagined to make them more multidimensional. First, Morph became nonbinary as a natural representation of their shapeshifting power. Morph’s appearance also changed, as they now have a bald head and a blank white face, inspired by the character’s appearance in The Exiles comic books from the 2000s. (After the cartoon, Morph did become a comic book character.) The nasally voice is also gone. Instead, actor JP Karliak plays Morph with his natural voice, though he tells Polygon that nailing the distinctive Morph laugh was a requirement in the audition.

“That was in the casting breakdown,” Karliak says. “I didn’t have to do a soundalike for Ron specifically, but they did want the laugh or an homage to the laugh to still be in there.”

Here, Karliak addresses some of our biggest questions about Morph, touching on the mutant’s expanding power set and their feelings for Wolverine.

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What are the limits of Morph’s powers?

In the original series, Morph’s power seemed identical to Mystique’s. He was a shapeshifter who merely transformed to look like other characters. In X-Men ‘97, however, Morph is seen changing into characters like the Incredible Hulk, Colossus, and Doctor Octopus, seemingly gaining their unique powers as well, which has confused some fans online.

“I was also curious about that during interviews during season 1,” says Karliak. “When I talked to [producer] Jake Castorena, the explanation that I got is that Morph has the ability to replicate powers that are physical in nature, because Morph has the ability to change their density and the force behind it — very physics-based stuff. So if it’s strength like Hulk or Colossus, or speed like Quicksilver, or flight like Angel, [they can replicate it]. No telepathy, no weather manipulation, no psionic abilities or anything like that.”

Karliak did speculate, though, that this could evolve. It could be theoretically possible for Morph to undergo a “secondary mutation.”

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What was the meaning of Morph’s “I love you” to Wolverine?

In the penultimate episode of season 1, Wolverine’s adamantium is torn away from his skeleton by Magneto, putting Wolverine through excruciating pain. In the next episode, as an unconscious Wolverine is recovering, Morph transforms into Jean and tells Wolverine, “I love you.”

The scene could be read two different ways. One is that it’s a simple gesture of comfort by Morph; the other is that Morph was confessing romantic feelings for Wolverine. Former showrunner Beau DeMayo has said it was the latter, but Karliak shares how he understood the line.

“I always took it as the former,” says Karliak, meaning that he interpreted the moment as a comforting gesture, not a confession of love. “The person that my buddy would receive the most comfort from is the person that he’s in love with. I think delivering that message from Jean was an act of supreme comfort.”

As for Morph’s feelings for Wolverine, Karliak says, “I do think that Morph has some feelings for Wolverine, but I also think that Morph is emotionally competent enough to know that Wolverine is a lost cause romantically. Regardless of what people speculate Logan’s sexuality to be — like, ‘Oh, but he was with Hercules that one time!’ Yes, sure, but regardless — straight, bi, or pan — Logan is in love with Jean Grey and always will be. I think Morph is processing those emotions.”

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Who’s the better shapeshifter, Morph or Mystique?

Image: Marvel Studios Animation

Of course, Morph isn’t the only shapeshifter in the X-Men universe, with the evil Mystique playing a prominent role in almost every take on the characters. That’s why we had to get Karliak’s take on which one is superior.

“Morph,” Karliak says without hesitation.

However, he also points out one way Morph is the better shapeshifter.

“I think it’s actually very equally matched,” Karliak says, “but I do think Morph is much more, especially in this series, attuned to using their shapeshifting abilities to harness certain power sets or vary up their fighting styles. Rarely does Morph use their powers in this series for deception, whereas that’s Mystique’s whole thing. [They do] every once in a while, but it’s mostly for power sets — or for a joke.”