Mutant X (TV series)

Mutant X
Mutant X title card
Genre	Science fiction Action adventure
Created by	Avi Arad
Starring	Victoria Pratt Victor Webster Forbes March Lauren Lee Smith Karen Cliche and John Shea
Country of origin	Canada United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	66 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	approx. 44 minutes
Production companies	Fireworks Entertainment Tribune Entertainment Marvel Studios
Original release
Network	Syndicated
Release	October 6, 2001 – May 17, 2004

Mutant X is a science-fiction television series that debuted on October 6, 2001. The show was created by Marvel Studios, and it centers around Mutant X, a team of "New Mutants" who possess extraordinary powers as a result of genetic engineering. The members of Mutant X were used as test subjects in a series of covert government experiments. The mission of Mutant X is to seek out and protect their fellow New Mutants. The series was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Even though the series had high ratings and was renewed for a fourth season, it was abruptly canceled in 2004 after the dismantling of Fireworks Entertainment, one of the show's production companies.

Mutant X Team

Adam Kane (John Shea), is the intelligent strategist and moral center of Mutant X. His experimentation inadvertently caused the creation of the New Mutants, leading Adam to become the leader of the group.

Shalimar Fox (Victoria Pratt), is a 20-something fiery beautiful woman completely in touch with her primal self. She has a recombination of human and animal DNA, causing her to have great strength, speed, and cunning.

Jesse Kilmartin (Forbes March), is a naive and good-natured guy in his early 20s, who can alter the density of his body at will. Jesse is the only known New Mutant to have surpassed his "New Mutant Expiration Date."

Brennan Mulwray (Victor Webster), is a tough, yet vulnerable guy in his late 20s with the ability to generate enough electricity through his body to power a small city.

Emma DeLauro (Lauren Lee Smith), is an amiable Tele-Empath who can communicate her feelings, and receive the feelings of others. She dies in the explosion at Naxcon Corporation Industries (Nicholas Fox's company).

Lexa Pierce (Karen Cliche) is a Chromatic Molecular being, she can bend light to make herself and those she is touching invisible to the naked eye. Also, she can shoot penetrating lasers to wound or kill her enemies, and she can create blinding light with her hands to blind her enemies.

New Mutant Classifications

New Mutants are categorized into four different groups, depending on their abilities: Elementals, Ferals, Moleculars, and Psionics.

• Elementals are New Mutants with the ability to channel, project, and control different types of energies through their bodies. Different types of Elementals include:
  • Electricals, who can absorb and channel electricity;
  • Thermals, who can absorb and control fire or cold;
  • Sonics, who can control sound waves;
  • Chemicals, who can project chemical substances, such as acids, from their bodies;
  • Botanicals, who can control and manipulate plants;
  • and the extremely rare Geologicals, who can control earth.
• Ferals are New Mutants with a combination of animal and human DNA, allowing them to use the abilities of the animal DNA within them. Different types of Ferals include:
  • Feline, who possess cat, tiger, lion, puma, leopard, lynx, cougar, or cheetah DNA;
  • Ursines, who possess bear DNA;
  • Canines, who possess dog, wolf, coyote, jackal, or fox DNA;
  • Reptuses, who possess lizard, snake, alligator, crocodile, or turtle DNA;
  • Porcines, who possess pig, boar, or hog DNA;
  • Bovines, who possess cattle, buffalo, bison, or yak DNA;
  • Cervines, who possess deer DNA;
  • Amphibians, who possess frog, toad, salamander, or newt DNA;
  • Piscis, who possess fish DNA;
  • Insectums, who possess insect or arachnid DNA; this subclass is rare
  • and Aves, who possess bird DNA.
• Moleculars are New Mutants who manipulate their body structure and molecular density in various ways. Some Moleculars possess more than one ability. Moleculars' abilities include:
  • Intangibility, the ability to pass through solid objects;
  • Impervious, the ability to increase their mass so they are invulnerable to projectile weapons;
  • Invisibility, the ability to project an aura that renders them invisible;
  • Propulsive, the ability to move at high speeds;
  • Gravitative, the ability to manipulate gravity;
  • Chromatics, the ability to change color, light and shades like a chameleon;
  • Stasis Suspension, the ability to slow down time;
  • Replication, the ability to duplicate solid objects;
  • Elasticity, the ability to change their shape or size;
  • Teleportation, the ability to teleport anywhere they desire;
  • and Regeneration, the ability to heal and repair tissues and limbs.
• Psionics are New Mutants who have heightened mental abilities. Different types of Psionics include:
  • Telepaths, who can read other peoples thoughts;
  • Telekinetics, who can move solid objects with their minds;
  • Tele-Empaths, who can feel and, to various degrees, manipulate the emotions of others;
  • Tele-Cybers, who can mentally connect with machines and control them;
  • Precognitives, who are able to receive visions;
  • Illusionists, who can create and project illusions to other people;
  • Astrals, who can project their consciousness elsewhere;
  • Pain Synthesizers, who can project pain into others;
  • and Multi-Dimensionals, who can create dimensions.

Lawsuits

In 2001, 20th Century Fox sued Marvel, Tribute Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment for breach of their licensing agreement and false advertisement. Fox stated it had exclusive rights from Marvel to develop the X-Men property, and anything similar was an infringement. Fox claimed that Mutant X was too similar to X-Men, and Mutant X was being advertised as an "X-Men replacement."

Marvel countersued Fox, saying that the two were dissimilar and asking the courts to allow Mutant X production to go forward. Production was allowed, as long as X-Men material was not used in the promotion of Mutant X. Apparently the title "Mutant X" itself was deemed too close to "X-Men" to be effectively leveraged.

In 2003, Fox and Marvel resolved their differences in a confidential settlement of their suits, while Fox continued to pursue their case against Tribune and Fireworks. Tribune sued Marvel for fraud and breach of contract, stating Marvel encouraged Tribune to connect Mutant X to the X-Men, misrepresented what they were getting in their license and caused millions in losses due to the need to alter story lines and characters to ensure distance between Mutant X and X-Men as well as fighting Fox's litigation.

Cast

Main cast

• Victoria Pratt as Shalimar Fox
• Victor Webster as Brennan Mulwray
• Forbes March as Jesse Kilmartin
• Lauren Lee Smith as Emma deLauro (Seasons 1–2)
• John Shea as Adam Kane (Seasons 1–2; recurring Season 3)
• Karen Cliche as Lexa Pierce (Season 3)

Recurring cast

• Tom McCamus as Mason Eckhart (Seasons 1–3)
• Andrew Gillies as Dr. Kenneth Harrison (Seasons 1, 3)
• Michael Easton as Gabriel Ashlocke (Seasons 1–2)
• George Buza as Lexa's Dominion Contact (Season 3)

Episodes

See List of Mutant X episodes

DVD

All three seasons have been released on DVD in season box sets, but are currently out of print. In late 2008, a complete series collection was scheduled to be released by ADV Films, but it was later cancelled.

External links

• Mutant X at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com