Credit on “X-Males” are sadly incomplete (after season 1, the top credit would solely listing the primary voice solid), so sources differ on when the recasting occurred. By my ear, although, Colicos voiced Apocalypse in 4 episodes: “The Remedy” and “Come The Apocalypse” in season 1, and the two-parter “Time Fugitives” in season 2. Even together with his restricted time, Colicos acquired to ship some unforgettable traces:
“I do know extra of this world than you’ve even dreamed! That’s the reason I need to destroy it!”
“The previous world passes away. Collectively, we will forge a brand new one in hearth and blood! From the ashes of this world, I’ll construct a greater one!”
“Go forth my Horsemen, and let chaos cleanse the world!”
My private favourite is in “Time Fugitives,” when a person seems at Apocalypse in worry and exclaims, “A mutant!” A steel-eyed Apocalypse scowls and declares: “I’m as far past mutants as they’re past you!”
When “X-Males” premiered, Apocalypse had solely debuted within the comics six years prior; Louise Simonson and Jackson Guice created him in 1986 as a villain for his or her comedian “X-Issue.” Tellingly, Apocalypse’s first look on “X-Males” adapts the one and solely factor he was identified for on the time: Turning the X-Males character Angel into one among his 4 Horsemen, with new wings of metal.
As the primary actor to ever play Apocalypse, when the character was nonetheless fairly younger, Colicos’ voice set the usual — for Blendick, after all, but additionally for future Apocalypse actors like David Kaye and Oscar Isaac. That voice turned a key a part of why younger “X-Males” followers (and even some future “X-Males” writers) remembered Apocalypse, together with his dominance within the animated sequence making certain a continued A-list position within the comics.
Apocalypse’s true title, En Sabah Nur, supposedly means “the primary one” in Marvel Comics. (In actuality, the three phrases are Arabic for “The Seven Lights,” i.e. daybreak.) Simply as Apocalypse marked the daybreak of the race of mutants, each future Apocalypse actor attracts on John Colicos’ exemplary work as they maintain the character alive.