Spyke: How the X-Men: Evolution Hero (Almost) Got Into the Marvel Universe – CBR – Comic Book Resources

Spyke's only real appearance has been in X-Men: Evolution, with the loose comic book adaptations of him straying heavily from the cartoon's teen hero.

The X-Men are no strangers to characters from cartoons making it into the comics, as it's actually a frequent occurrence for the franchise. Firestar from Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends would later be introduced into the mainstream Marvel comic books, as would X-23, Wolverine's clone daughter from the cartoon X-Men: Evolution. X-23, a.k.a. Laura would become a tremendously popular character, appearing in video games, movies, and briefly taking over her father's role as Wolverine.

The same success could not be obtained for Spyke, X-Men: Evolution's other major original mutant. Though the cartoon would be Spyke's only time in the limelight, there have several characters in other X-Men material that somewhat resemble him, albeit to incredibly varying degrees.

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Spyke first appeared in "Speed and Spyke," the fifth episode of X-Men: Evolution. His real name was Evan Daniels, and he was the American nephew of Storm. His appearance is initially that of a normal teenager, though his mutation would later change this dramatically. His mutant ability is the power to project bony spikes from his body, which he can use offensively as weapons and defensively to cover himself. He was introduced into the show as the creators felt the need for more diversity, while at the same time not wanting to de-age African-American X-Man Bishop to fit into the show's high school motif. Spyke's personality was somewhat ambivalent and non-chalant, blowing off Danger Room training in favor of skateboarding. Despite his sometimes lazy attitude, he deeply cherished being one of the X-Men and loved his aunt Storm.

His life would change for the worse when he was exposed to Power-8, an obvious Powerade stand-in. The drink was harmless to humans, but it made mutants lose control over their powers. Evan developed bony protrusions more severely than ever and was no longer able to retract them. Knowing that he would never fit into human society because of his appearance, he left the X-Men and joined the underground Morlocks. From there, his time as a main character in the series came to an end. He would reappear in a later episode to defend the Morlocks against hate crimes, with an even more mutated appearance and the power to ignite his spikes in flame. Though he remained a member of the Morlocks, he would join the X-Men in their battle against Apocalypse. The final group shot of the team, which has him wearing a version of his original costume, also suggests that he rejoins the X-Men in the future.

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Despite his prominence in Evolution, Spyke never quite made the transition to the comic books. Several characters with similarities to him did appear, however. One was Storm's theretofore unknown cousin David Evan Munroe, Jr., who attended Storm and Black Panther's wedding. It's unknown if he is a mutant with the same powerset as Evan on the cartoon. There was also Spike, aka Darian Elliott, who was introduced in X-Force while Evolution was still on the air. His powers and ethnicity are the same as Spyke, but the similarities stop there. He is older than Evan was on the show, and generally far more antagonistic toward his teammates in the group X-Statix. He would later be killed by a doppelganger, who would then die himself.

Another mutant named Spike would appear in Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's New X-Men. His real name was Gary Walsh, and his spiky protrusions were far more subdued compared to the offensive weapons of Spyke. He was also Caucasian and had no relationship whatsoever to Storm. Walsh was depowered during M-Day, though this has likely been reversed in the current events of Johnathan Hickman's X-Men comics. There's also Spike in X-Men: The Last Stand, who was an adaptation of the Darian Elliott version of the character. He threw his bony protrusions at anyone threatening the Brotherhood of Mutants. X-Men: Days of Futures Past also had a black mutant named Daniel in the cast list who small spiky protrusions similar to the Gary Walsh version. Though there are several similarities, none of these characters have truly adapted the cartoon's hero, making Spyke something of a one-hit-wonder.

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Spyke: How the X-Men: Evolution Hero (Almost) Got Into the Marvel Universe - CBR - Comic Book Resources

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