J.P. Karliak, the actor who voices Morph on Disney+’s X-Men ’97, is opening up about the backlash the show received after Marvel Animation described the character as non-binary.

X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo, who has since exited the show, confirmed to Empire for their April 2024 issue that Morph was non-binary, which sent some fans into a tailspin.

The reaction from a certain sector of fans didn’t surprise Karliak, telling Cbr in an interview, “I’m a queer activist. I run a nonprofit that advocates for queer representation. I also co-founded a voter registration organization. I know what’s going on in the world, especially politically, so no, it didn’t surprise me at all.”

“I think what I appreciated was how much counter-backlash there was, with people like ‘Have you watched the X-Men? Are you familiar with why they were created and what they’re about? Did you forget that?...