What's The Song Jubilee Plays In X-Men '97 Season 2?

Spoilers for "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 2 to follow.

After a season premiere following the X-Men to the far future, "X-Men '97" Season 2, Episode 2, "A Force to be Reckoned With," returns to the present. In the X-Men's absence, government-sponsored mutant team X-Factor has been gathering up mutants, supposedly for their own protection. Jubilee (Holly Chou) and Sunspot (Gui Agustini), some of the only X-Men left in the 1990s, sign up with Cable's (Chris Potter) new team, X-Force, and butt heads with X-Factor.

After X-Factor captures Jubilee, she manages to sway the team's Polaris (Carolina Ravassa), a former X-Man. Polaris wants to protect mutants and, she realizes, X-Factor has strayed from that. Freed by Polaris, Jubilee goes to work liberating X-Factor's mutant prisoners — and selects just the right song for the occasion.

Jubilee, equipped with her headphones, roller skates, and bubblegum, fights X-Factor's armed guards while playing Veruca Salt's "Volcano Girls." Named after the spoiled rich girl from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," Veruca Salt is an alt rock band led by co-vocalists and guitarists Nina Gordon and Louise Post. "Volcano Girls" is a single off their second album, "Eight Arms to Hold You," released in 1997 and with an accompanying music video. (For some extra Marvelous fun, there's a track called "Spiderman '79" on that album.)

A refrain in "Volcano Girls," heard loudly in this scene, creates a lyrical loop: "Go I don't wanna go I don't wanna go." That defiant but upbeat and catchy sound shows why "Volcano Girls" is a perfect pick for this scene and "X-Men '97." The song — indeed, early Veruca Salt as a whole — fits Jubilee, the youngest and hippest of the X-Men. It doesn't hurt that it's literally from 1997, too.

Jubilee's big moment this episode feels like something you would see in a James Gunn superhero movie, especially the "No Sleep till Brooklyn" hallway fight in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."

As Jubilee walks solo down a hall, armed guards approaching, she puts on her headphones, brings her glasses down, blows some bubblegum, and the "Volcano Girls" light show begins. Jubilee's power to create sparks from her hands clash against the dark lighting and the guard's militaristic blue outfit; the scene literally explodes with color. Aided by both her propulsive powers and roller skates, Jubilee's fighting choreography is acrobatic, with dancer-like flips and leg attacks.

So, what is a "volcano girl"? The second verse, which plays a few times in the sequence, proclaims:

"Volcano girls, we really can't be beat,

Warm us up and watch us blow."

That sure sounds like Jubilee! But the verse continues:

"But now and then we fail and we admit defeat,

We're falling off, we are watered down and fully grown."

That does not ring true for Jubilee; this sequence ends with her diving off the helicarrier, sans parachute, and creating a fireworks show for the empty-handed X-Factor. Indeed, behind the shouty rhythm and instrumentals, "Volcano Girls" is more defeated than it sounds. The chorus shouts: "Leave me lying here, 'Cause I don't wanna go." Jubilee may be fully grown, but she isn't watered down.

Back in Season 1's "Motendo," Jubilee turned 18 years old. Offered a life of endless nostalgia in virtual reality by the interdimensional TV mogul Mojo, Jubilee instead decided to keep growing up. It's a powerful message since "X-Men '97" itself could've been empty nostalgia, but how does Season 2 rocking out to a '90s greatest hit fit in?

"X-Men '97" bringing out Veruca Salt reminded me of "Yellowjackets," another 1990s-set TV hit that stands out in part due to its killer soundtrack full of alt girl '90s hits. Yet, these shows strike different nostalgic chords. "X-Men '97" isn't recreating the real 1990s, it's a cartoon version of the decade. The simple fact that superheroes and mutants exist creates distance from the real period in this piece. 

That's why having Jubilee listen to "Volcano Girls" doesn't land as hollow '90s nostalgia. No, it brings verisimilitude to "X-Men '97" instead. That is absolutely the kind of song someone like Jubilee would be listening to in 1997. It also adds something new because the original "X-Men" never did needle drops like this. 

"Volcano Girls," on the other hand, seemingly cements a tradition of needle drops on "X-Men '97." The Season 1 episode "Remember It" used Ace of Base's "Happy Nation" during the celebration of mutant nation Genosha — which was just another domino to fall when Genosha was hit with a genocidal attack. Later, the villainous Bastion (Theo James) introduced himself to Magneto (Matthew Waterson) with novelty singer Sheb Wooley's silly "Flying Purple People Eater."

Looking ahead in "X-Men '97" Season 2, and future seasons, what other music could we expect to capture the '90s mood like "Volcano Girls"? Liz Phair? Nirvana? The Smashing Pumpkins? Hole? (Jubilee is in for a treat when their album "Celebrity Skin" drops in 1998.) Going back to Veruca Salt, there's a track on "Eight Arms to Hold You" that Season 2 big bad Apocalypse (Ross Marquand) might enjoy: "All Hail Me."

"X-Men '97" is streaming on Disney+, with new episodes releasing on Wednesdays.