Watcher Episode 7

[Rocki Eibl]

Iam instituting a new policy: You can watch only one episode each week. And in between episodes, you will obsess and theorize and stew and vent and wonder why the hell you even bother watching this show before inevitably returning next week. Just like we did when I was your age.

Supervising producer Jake Castorena speaks out on The Watcher's supposed cameo in X-Men '97, and what this may mean for this version of the Marvel universe. For longtime viewers of X-Men: The Animated Series, the franchise went through a massive game-changer with the Disney+ show's episode 5 that will carry on for the rest of the season. However, the Genosha genocide wasn't the only big talking point to come out of the episode, as Marvel's The Watcher seemingly made his way back into the sequel series.

In an interview with Screen Rant, Castorena, who works as the head director and supervision producer on X-Men '97 season 1, chimed in on whether or not that was really a cameo by The Watcher, who fans saw in the sky. Castorena remained a bit ambiguous on the exact nature of the Marvel character's role in the episode, though did acknowledge that the Marvel Cinematic Universe served as a template for them figuring out how to do that, and for what to do with future cameos in the show. See what Castorena explained below:

JAKE CASTORENA: What I can say is, to that point of everything is connected, everything in the MCU is absolutely connected. Everybody on that side of the pond, as I like to say, they work really hard to make sure that happens. The cool thing about our sandbox with the '90s X-Men, a cartoon of it all. This was the MCU, before the MCU was really ever the MCU. This is where we learned about cameos and at least, for fans like myself, this introduced me to a lot of the characters that I later on went to the comics for.

So, in that vein, we really have our own sandbox to play in and don't really have to worry about the intertwining of it all. You get to have all of the candy, you don't have to pick with one side and to that point, what I will say is, any fan of the OG show will have noticed The Watcher cameo in the series. So it is not out of canon for the OG X-Men '90-97, to have The Watcher, watching or looking on.

What I will say is, is it necessarily The Watcher looking out for the X-Men or is it The Watcher looking on at events that need to occur for the sake of a timeline or ripple effect? I would hesitate to say The Watcher is looking out for the X-Men or for mutants, because [he's] not doing a great job in that moment. [laughs] Right. But that was definitely - and this escapes me right now because it's been almost two-three years working on this stuff - I don't remember if that wasn't in the script, per se, but it definitely came up early on in the rooms and in the conversations, like, "Oh, can we put The Watcher in there?"

Because it is a significant moment, genocide is about to happen, and we're introducing, the mutant massacre, [similar to] E for Extinction, inspiring storylines into the episode. How could The Watcher not be there to witness this? But it's pretty great. Shout out to our paint team and production designer Anthony, who worked really hard to get it just right to where if you blink, you'll miss it. So it's been really fun to see the reactions of fans catching The Watcher on the rewatch. So that's been really fun.

Even though the original series debuted a long time before the MCU came to life, Marvel Studios is cleverly finding ways to build bridges between X-Men '97 and their live-action franchise. Having someone like The Watcher, a player who is integral to the MCU's ongoing multiverse storytelling, makes sense more than ever. It is far more organic to have The Watcher, even if he is simply observing events that are about to happen, make an appearance as opposed to major Avengers characters, just for the sake of having big names in the show.

The Watcher may have been one of Marvel's more obscure characters before What If...?, but thanks to the Disney+ animated series, he is now becoming more recognizable every time he gets used in a Marvel property. While it is unlikely that X-Men '97 will have anything to do with The Multiverse Saga as Marvel Studios gets closer to the arc's end, the option at least exists now, with The Watcher serving as a bridge between those worlds. Whether or not The Watcher will factor into the rest of the season remains to be seen, but based on Castorena's hint, it is possible that he will in some capacity.

Knowing that the creative team is this devoted to tapping into bigger connections and ties to the larger Marvel canon speaks a lot of volumes about the great potential that could be executed in future seasons. If anything, the upcoming season finale could potentially be where The Watcher makes his next appearance. But for now, time will tell if The Watcher's little cameo on X-Men '97 is foreshadowing crucial arcs to come in upcoming episodes.

The American Buffalo premieres on PBS stations starting Monday, Oct. 16 at 8 pm ET. Television broadcast air dates will appear below if an episode of The American Buffalo is airing on your PBS station within the next two weeks.

Both episodes of The American Buffalo will be available to stream starting October 16 at 8pm ET. Watch the full documentary here or on your favorite streaming device: Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, iOS device, or Samsung Smart TV using the PBS App.

Corporate funding for The American Buffalo was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and by The Better Angels Society and its following members: The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation fund at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation; Diane and Hal Brierley; The Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment; John and Catherine Debs; Kissick Family Foundation; Fred and Donna Seigel; Jacqueline Mars; John and Leslie McQuown; and Mr. and Mrs. Paul Tudor Jones. Funding was also provided by The Volgenau Foundation.

Fifteen years after the brutal murder that changed each of their lives, a scarred police officer, the head of his unit, and a lawyer come together. They work to dig into the case, leaving no corner unturned, and in the process, uncover many dark secrets.

This show was very well acted. I believed every bit of the characters. That being said I believe @saya that your assessment is correct. Chi-Gwang needs his own watcher and Young Goon is perfect for that. Of the 4, he is the only one that didn't "betray" the team. He wanted to find the truth. So Young Goon is the watcher for the watchers and will hopefully keep them on the straight and narrow.

i still dont understand this show and i am not sure if it was well written or not. i am leaning towards no and think that everyone involved is smart but too smart and it fails in what it presents. it's a shame and i would love to hear more critique and reviews of it since i think i oppose so much of what was done and found it polarizing. it's interesting to me that people loved it and found it an amazing thriller but fewer the opposite.

that being said, the director is talented. everyone was good in this show and i would rewatch it and need to finish it because it's interesting at the least (at worst, way too confusing and pedantic almost) but the way it was filmed and edited is beautiful. one of the most visually well done dramas i have seen. even more so than 'stranger' which the director did. i want to know what they filmed on. the blue tone wasn't too blue but fit the theme, the violence was grotesque and beautiful, and the blocking was insane. and honestly that alone would help me understand people drawn to the show.

on top of that while i think the writing fails, the acting succeeds. i'm really shocked at seo kang-joon--i just assumed he wasn't great. and maybe he wasn't outstanding but he was natural in this role and that's something i felt. everyone did a great job. han seok kyu and kim hyun joo are immensely capable. given that i literally cannot watch some scenes because i want to STRANGLE his character (the interrogation scenes where he's chewing gum oh my god it was so overwhelming and i hated it which means it was well done.) the noise of the gum and the irritations omfg! so lots to critique and criticize but plenty to praise.

also i, personally, would challenge this morally grey idea. i know i'm coming from the perspective of someone who supports abolition of a police state but what crimes are true crimes and what is crime? so what would make a murderer or someone corrupt and what is okay? i don't believe that being an officer exists in an ethical system therefor does chi-kwang need to be ethical in this particular system himself? is that corruption? i can never tell what is and isn't intentional with this show which is part of the issue i have with it but i think it's a valuable question to ask that they have presented. thanks for the writeup and would love to see more thoughts!

What this show did for you is make you think and ask questions. You can't ask for a better drama than that.

What is good? What is evil? What is black? What is white? These are the same questions Lan Zhan asked in Untamed.

When we're children we're taught good vs evil, black vs white. It's all well defined. As we grow and mature, we realize there are grey areas and some people can grow. Some states don't want us to question anything. Some people never grow.

i agree to an extent. i think this particular question was intentional (obviously) and they didn't need to answer it because it isn't an answerable question. can i say i think these people grew? maybe not completely.

i struggle with black and white thinking but as i learn more about the world, i understand the complexities. what i mean is that in an inherently oppressive structure, what would be the grey area? but this brings up a lot more sociopolitical questions which i feel like they are interested in but didn't get enough to truly delve deep. for me, the question is more of who defines morality and benefits from this obviously skewed definition and to get out of it, to survive, there will be no straight path but does that, then, make the person 'bad' or as harmful as others? much to think about.

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