While Michael Jackson loved Batman (and he even had a statue of himself in the costume), an old Simulchat video from 1995 is doing the rounds on the internet shows the pop star being asked, “If you could be any superhero (like Batman, Superman), whom would you choose to be and why?” While he first answers “Batman”, Michael quickly changes his answer to a very surprising X-Men character.
“I like Morph from the X-Men. Because he constantly transforms himself. He could become anything. And when you’re not expecting it, he’s there. And he’s very mysterious,” says Michael, who we know is a bit of a shapeshifter himself. There are plenty of pictures of the King of Pop over the years showing him in different disguises he wore out in public to avoid crowds. During his young adult life, he was constantly spotted with wigs, moustaches, masks and make-up made to hide him from fans.
Of course, sometimes people recognized him instantly. But other times they didn’t. And, honestly, that probably thrilled him. But hiding became survival.
While Morph can essentially change into just about any mutant he pleases, comic book writers and even the X-Men ’97 animated series showrunners tend to limit his powers. In the book X-Men ’97: The Art and Making of the Animated Series, series director and producer John Castorena revealed that they had a rule regarding the character’s powers: “The definitive rule we came up with is that Morph [who is voiced by JP Karliak] can adhere to any physical attributes of anyone that they morph into. But what Morph cannot do is mimic any sort of mutant power ability, like laser fire, anything like that. That isn’t the physical attribute of the character.”
That means he couldn’t use Professor X’s telekinetic powers, for example. But that wasn’t always the case. While the original comic version could only shapeshift, the original version of the show had him mimicking the powers of other mutants, including teleportation abilities when transforming into characters like Magik or Nightcrawler.
Michael Jackson must have seen that version of the character, as he loved that aspect of Morph too. “I think he can even teleport, which is exciting to me. To be in one place at one moment… in another place in another moment,” he continued to answer in the interview.
“He can be all things. Become all things. That’s exciting to me. So I think I like Morph. He’s not as popular as the others, but that’s why he’s exciting,” Jackson continued.
And it’s easy to see why he’s drawn to the character and his powers. As a shy, quiet person himself, Jackson would’ve used those powers to essentially become a normal, everyday person – free from the fame and the attention he got when going out in public. He blends in and becomes whoever the moment requires.
In fact, there are a lot of similarities in their personalities too. They’re both kind of lonely. Morph often masks pain behind humor and performance. The same could probably be said about Jackson. On stage, he looked untouchable, but off stage, he came across shy, withdrawn, almost uncomfortable inside. Morph’s constant shape-shifting feels symbolic of someone searching for a place where they finally fit.
Michael Jackson never saw himself as Superman or Batman. He saw himself as the most powerful but strange and mysterious X-Men character, Morph.
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