X-Men ’97’s Forge is Native American? Yes! He’s voiced by Gil Birmingham!

As I was watching X-Men 97 episode number four, I thought to myself, the character Forge is Native American, and I hope Disney does this right

As I was watching X-Men 97 episode number four, I thought to myself, the character Forge is Native American, and I hope Disney does this right.

Not only did Disney do it right, but as I watched for the voice credits, it turns out Forge is voiced by none other than Gil Birmingham, who hails from Comanche ancestry! I must have circled the moon with excitement.

Here is the video!

At first, I was just excited about the character Forge in X-Men 97, and then I watched episodes 4 and 6. In the episodes, Storm and Forge battle a demon of sorts, and then in episode 6, Storm and Forge literally talk about in-depth themes surrounding colonization, fighting your demons and more. I was floored. 

This is the reason X-Men has always been my absolute favorite; they tackled the issues that so many don’t. I never could believe that I was reading a comic book that could be so great … I even realized this when I was a young Native kid reading the X-Men.

So here is a little bit about Gil Birmingham and the X-Men character known as Forge.

Gil Birmingham, who is of Comanche ancestry, has delivered a wide range of reputable performances alongside some high-profile actors throughout his career. These performances include Wind River with Jeremy Renner, Hell or High Water with Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges, and, of course, Yellowstone with Kevin Costner.

I have been fortunate to interview Gil Birmingham a number of times; he really is just an incredibly gracious and super great guy. 

So what about Forge? I have always loved this character, which writer Chris Claremont and artist John Romita Jr. created in August of 1984. Forge appeared in The Uncanny X-Men #184 comic. 

What I absolutely love about this character is that Forge, even back in 1984, stepped outside of the standard Native American trope where any Native character was a tracker, had an eagle as a pet, and could call upon the ancestors to enhance his powers. Okay, yes, Marvel did jump a bit into Forge’s medicine man-type powers, but I liken them more to Doctor Strange’s powers. 

Forge—whose name was Daniel Lone Eagle in the Marvel comics—was Cheyenne and a mutant who could do anything related to technology; if he could conceive of it, he could build it! When he lost his right hand and leg in Vietnam, he rebuilt them himself. Yes, I couldn’t believe it either. Sincerest hats off to Chris Claremont and John Romita Jr. 

Okay, though he trained as a medicine man, and his name was Daniel Lone Eagle and called upon demons in Vietnam to help defeat combatants, I didn’t write him off at the time because Claremont and Romita still ventured away from stereotypes. Marvel wasn’t perfect toward Native characters in the past, but I really do have to give it to Claremont, who really did try to represent all races.

As Forge’s involvement continued over the years, he seemed more and more to veer away from his use of Native mysticism and delved more into the use of his technological knowledge.

True to the comic, X-Men ‘97 shows that Forge does indeed have a love affair with Storm. He has another love affair with another character and eventually joins up with the X-Men for a short time, then another X-related team known as X-Force.  

As we continue moving forward into the Marvel X-Men Universe, in my view, we will continue to see more of the character by the name of Forge.

Ona Friends and neighbors! And in the words of Stan Lee, ‘Nuff said!’