The X-Men have been the center of rampant speculation, fan casting, and overall intrigue ever since the MCU scooped up the rights from Fox. Who’ll be on the team? What villain will they take on first? Who’s going to play Wolverine? Even Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige said that “we’re getting close” to the re-introduction of Marvel’s favorite mutants. We’ve become so entrenched in the live-action that we forgot all about X-Men ‘97, an upcoming reboot/continuation of the classic ’90s X-Men: The Animated Series.
The X-Men series came during the golden age of cartoons that brought us The Simpsons, Batman: The Animated Series, Ren and Stimpy, and all the classics we still quote to this day. And most importantly, X-Men still holds up thirty years later as pure entertainment as well as with its ambitious message of tolerance and harmony. The tone is heavy for grade school kids to lounge out and wolf down Lucky Charms on a Saturday morning.
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But the series effectively served both purposes; the message might not have resonated with such young minds, but we cheered on Wolverine’s swipes at Sabretooth. As adults, we know what they were getting at with the undertones of acceptance. Will the continuation of the series live up to what makes the original great? Here’s what X-factors are needed to match or top X-Men: The Animated Series.
X-Men: The Animated Series’ Action
20th Television
X-Men: The Animated Series was among the elite Saturday morning animated fare we rocketed out of bed for. The concept of super-powered mutants made for some excellent fights against intolerant goons, stories-high-talking robots, and fellow Homo sapiens superior. No matter who the X-Men fought, we ate up every minute of it. The use of mutant powers and surroundings in the action sequences was creative and engaging, from Rogue beating Sentinels with their own torn-off appendages right down to the gritty hand-to-hand combat of Wolverine.
Action in movies and series has only gotten more innovative in the intervening three decades, so it’s a safe bet that a rebooted X-Men series will have all the thrills of the original. Even just picking up the formula where they left off works. The show had its own unique brand of spectacle, so there’s no need to do anything but dust it off and bring it back into the mix as it was in the ’90s.
Characters and Voice Performances
The most remarkable aspects of X-Men: The Animated Series are the characters and the voice actors who brought them to life. From the commanding, cool pipes of Cyclops to the caustic growl of Wolverine and the soothing monotone of Professor X, every member of the cast nailed it. When we read the comics, the voices from the series still sound out the words in the dialogue bubbles. The characters are fully fleshed out and vivid, with their own unique quirks, backstories, and demons. Every viewer wanted to be one of the X-Men, thanks partly to these incredible performances.
Most of the original voice cast will return to Xavier’s School for this round, including Cal Dodd as James Howlett/Wolverine, Chris Potter as Remy LeBeau/Gambit, Catherine Disher as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Ororo Munroe/Storm, and others. Sadly, the actors behind Cyclops, Professor X and Magneto (Norm Spencer, Cedric Smith, and David Hemblen, respectively), have passed away in the interim.
Writing and Themes
Professor X’s dream of peace between mutants and humans is the dominant theme of X-Men: The Animated Series, one of many metaphors and prescient warnings packed into its scripts. This code simply translates to “it’s being ok to be different” and “don’t be a jerk to people who are different.” These are pretty solid messages to introduce to young minds. Though a bit sophisticated for pre-teens, the series also throws in a healthy dose of distrust and forewarning about authoritarian strongmen with its sometimes apocalyptic, dystopian stories.
Beyond the gospel of treating everyone with dignity and beware the despot, the series offers excellent dialogue tailor-made for each respective character. Lead writers Mark Edward Edens and Julia Lewald gave us takes on these heroes that rival the best comic scribes of our time. Even some of the best animated series give us characters that are one-dimensional and, at times, even interchangeable. Not this one. Each X-Man is their own person with a past and present struggle and unique voice.
X-Men: The Animated Series’ Animation
Like Batman: The Animated Series, the animation in X-Men is a living comic book. Remarkable for its time, the then hand-drawn frames brought the characters and their world to colorful and detailed life. It beats today’s sterile and all-too-clean computer-generated animation; the old-school effort gets it extra points. It’s likely that X-Men ‘97 will adopt the new ways, but hopefully, it will be in the same style and spirit as its ancestor.
The revival that is X-Men ‘97 has been handed off to writer Beau DeMayo, whose credits include The Witcher and Moon Knight. Will DeMayo be able to replicate the spot-on character creation of the ’90s writers’ room? We’ll find out in 2023 when X-Men ‘97 debuts on Disney+. The entire ’90s series is also available on the streaming platform. Despite the writer being a relative unknown, Marvel typically brings the right talent to its series and films, so we have faith in this evolution of the X-Men.
