There’s a certain level of trepidation to be had when approaching Marvel Studios Animation’s X-Men ‘97. A revitalization of 1990’s widely beloved X-Men: The Animated Series, which laid the groundwork for many other shows and films based on the mutant superhero team, ’97 is the kind of revival fans have literally spent decades longing for. However, a lot has changed in pop culture since the final episode of the original show aired on Fox, meaning that this Disney+ original series is arriving with lots of questions in tow.
The style and methodology of animation since the ’90s have transformed so significantly that one has to wonder… what would a new animated X-Men show look like now? X-Men: The Animated Series is a terrific piece of superhero entertainment with deeply nerdy storytelling mined for its full potential and characters who feel like they are taken straight out of Marvel comics. The only animated effort from Marvel Studios that fans have to base their expectations on so far is the dismal What If…?, which showcases a truly ghastly art style and plot structure that combines all of the absolute worst impulses of superhero storytelling and modern animation into one project.
Marvel Studios has also managed to mine nostalgia from the X-Men several times already without even debuting its own original interpretation of the X-team. These examples include Patrick Stewart’s Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Evan Peters’ Quicksilver (or Ralph Boehner) in WandaVision, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in the forthcoming Deadpool and Wolverine, and the quick use of the classic X-Men: The Animated Series theme in Ms. Marvel. It all adds up to the notion that Marvel Studios knows that people love the X-Men and want to see more of them, but now that they have the rights to the mutant heroes, they have no clue how to utilize them yet.
After over 20 years of X-Men movies at 20th Century Fox, it would stand to reason that it might be a difficult property to reboot. However, the fan-favorite characters are now under the branch of the once infallible Marvel Cinematic Universe, which brought the Avengers to global superstardom and has just about run Hollywood for the better part of a decade. The inability to meaningfully reintroduce the X-Men up to this point speaks less to the team and more to a Hollywood studio that is severely out of step with its previously winning formula. Thankfully, with this first 10-episode season of X-Men ’97, the X-Men may have found their footing once more.
The runaway success of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 after a string of misses just shows that captivating comic book adaptations from talented storytellers can still move the needle in a post-superhero fatigue media landscape. Though X-Men ‘97 may not formally be a part of the MCU, it stands head and shoulders above many of its most recent projects thanks to a commitment to what makes superheroes so fun and inventive at their best. Here is a show less concerned with the dynamics of its own timeline and relation to the rest of superherodom than it is with telling a new story. But more importantly, X-Men ’97 tells its new story in its own way with the deliciously melodramatic and cosmically nerdy nonsense that never feels too dense thanks to a commitment to its characters and simply having a good time.
One of the coolest things about X-Men ‘97 is that it picks up immediately after the events of season 5 of X-Men: The Animated Series, with Charles Xavier (Ross Marquand) having said his goodbyes to the team and living off-planet with an illness preventing his leaving the care of the Shi’ar. Picking things back up as though no time has passed in the 30 years since the show’s finale makes for a style and tone that feels both nostalgic and fresh, never pointing to the real-life time that’s passed, but just living in that world as it was. After so many films in Fox’s X-Men universe, it’s exhilarating to be reintroduced to many of the classic character dynamics that have been less prominent, if not absent, in recent years.
Scott Summers/Cyclops (Ray Chase) is once again the reluctant leader, burdened with the responsibilities of leading our band of mutants now that Charles is gone as well as being a father alongside Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale), who’s pregnant with their first child. James “Logan” Howlett/Wolverine (Cal Dodd) carries his own complicated feelings about Jean’s pregnancy, creating rich and surprisingly nuanced character drama amidst the quips and carnage. And oh, is there plenty of that between Anna-Marie Raven/Rogue’s (Lenore Zann) southern charm and Henry McCoy/Beast’s (George Buza) bookish, brawny approach to conflicts. Newcomer Roberto da Costa/Sunspot (Gui Agustini) acts as a cipher for unacquainted audience members, trying to make sense of the many layers of interpersonal conflicts and villainy knocking at the X-Mansion door. Not to mention the return of Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Matthew Waterson), who’s rocking a suit that’s so wonderfully ’90s.
While so much has stayed the same since the original show, what has changed is the art style and animation that so beautifully, albeit cheaply, defined the 1990s era of Marvel television. The X-Men ‘97 team of artists and animators was tasked with the tricky balancing act of staying true to the visual identity of X-Men: The Animated Series while putting a fresh coat of paint on for modern audiences. The time, attention, and care shown to the material has resulted in some of the most gorgeous superhero animation this side of Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse with a stunning blend of 2D and 3D animation that actually serves to enhance the look of the original series. There’s something that is just frankly really rad about seeing these nostalgic ’90s designs brought into 2024 with colorful, splashy aplomb.
In the quieter moments of X-Men ’97 — when its characters are still, only moving to speak or trade glances with one another — it’s quite stunning to see just how much work has gone into each character model. The updated designs of heroes who haven’t been named yet, like Ororo Munroe/Storm (Alison Sealy-Smith), Jubilation Lee/Jubilee (Holly Chou), Remy LeBeau/Gambit (AJ LoCascio), Lucas Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith), and Morph (JP Karliak) deserve equal mention. Moreover, the show frames each member of the X-Men in a world with actual personality and aesthetics. This is only accentuated in the impressive action setpieces of X-Men ’97, which take advantage of the infinite possibilities of animation. Each character’s powers are manifested in visually distinctive ways that are not possible in live-action.
Also returning for X-Men ‘97 are many of the show’s original voice actors, stepping back into these roles with the kind of boisterous, uber-charismatic performances that made these voices synonymous with the characters for so many fans. The show proves that as fun as it can be to hear the voices of live-action superhero actors reprise their roles for animation (like in What If…?), it’s hard to beat voice actors who know exactly how to play within the medium. Each character is written in such a way that lasers in on their quirks as heroes and as people, nailing the balance of ’90s cartoon cheesiness and the sincerity of each of their individual journeys and what they mean on a larger thematic scale.
Boasting the timeless appeal of a Saturday morning cartoon done with attention to detail both in its character work and inventive animation, X-Men ‘97 will SNIKT! its way right into your heart.
New episodes of X-Men ’97 premiere every Wednesday on Disney+!
Release Date: March 20, 2024.
Created by Beau DeMayo.
Based on X-Men by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby.
Executive Produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, & Beau DeMayo.
Main Voice Cast: Ray Chase, Jennifer Hale, Alison Sealy-Smith, Cal Dodd, JP Karliak, Lenore Zann, George Buza, AJ LoCascio, Holly Chou, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Matthew Waterson, & Adrian Hough.
Theme Music Composers: Haim Saban & Shuki Levy.
Composers: The Newton Brothers.
Production Companies: Marvel Studios Animation.
Episode Count: 10.