X-Men ‘97 Ties To The Darkest Comic Storyline Too Controversial For TV

So far, X-Men ‘97 has only given us a few glimpses of Mr. Sinister’s evil, and his own schemes mostly take a back seat to the global villainy of Bastion. But in comics like Excalibur (vol. 3) #7, we get more details about how Sinister was straight-up a Nazi assistant in Auschwitz in 1944. To this day, fans debate whether Sinister should be considered a Nazi-like Red Skull (more on this later), but Sinister himself seemed less interested in Nazi ideology than he was with the chance to experiment on children, giving them candy in exchange for their blood.

Another factoid about those bad old days that we’re unlikely to see in X-Men ‘97 is that Mr. Sinister did unthinkable things to the prisoners during these experiments. This is something Magneto discovered during his own time at Auschwitz: the mutant escaped the experiments by becoming a Sonderkommando, meaning it was his job to clear the gas chambers of their dead bodies. This job was obviously very horrific for young Magneto on the best of days, and on the worst of days, he discovered the twisted bodies of those Sinister had experimented on.

If the show is ever willing to put this storyline on TV (I’m not holding my breath), it would give X-Men ‘97 a chance to bring back a fan-favorite cameo to help fight Mr. Sinister. Earlier this season, we saw Rogue briefly chat with Captain America–in the comics, that legendary hero and his team The Invaders attacked Sinister’s base, forcing the mutant to flee the area. Sinister was mostly able to escape because he had previously gotten a sample of Namor’s blood and had created a clone that temporarily held its own against the invading heroes.  

Weirdly enough, Sinister is connected to even more famous Marvel heroes thanks to his time with the Nazis. Eventually, his base is cleared out by Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos. This allowed Professor Andre Thorton to retrieve Sinister’s journal where the mutant recorded his experiments, and this journal helped Thorton to further the same Weapon Plus program that gave Wolverine his unbreakable adamantium skeleton.

Part of why I’m so confident that X-Men ‘97 won’t show us the full extent of Mr. Sinister’s work with the Nazis is that it will kick off the old debate about whether the character should be considered a Nazi the same as villains like Red Skull. Some fans think the answer is “no” because Sinister never actually cared about Nazi ideology, something hinted at in the cartoon with his contempt for Mengele. 

Other fans point out that he helped the Nazi cause, worked with a famous Nazi, and did Nazi-style horrific experiments in the name of science, so the simple fact that he wasn’t down with the cause doesn’t mean he doesn’t share in the guilt of the Holocaust. And he’s probably closer to the cause than he realizes. Sinister may have different end goals, but experimenting on people he sees as lesser than himself in pursuit of genetic perfection is ideologically a lot closer to Hitler’s beliefs than the mutant will ever admit.

If nothing else, this throwaway line from X-Men ‘97 serves as a reminder that if you want to learn more about Mr. Sinister or other characters, the comics are just a click away. I hate to sound like a shill by bringing it up, but my Marvel Unlimited app has been my best friend this season as I return to the various classic storylines that X-Men ‘97 is referencing and remixing. Considering how restrictive Disney can be with certain content, getting this app or tracking down some back issues might be your best way to dive further into Sinister’s Nazi past.