X-Men ’97 Review

When I was a child, Saturday morning wasn’t complete without watching that week’s episode of X-Men. As someone who didn’t really follow comics growing up (my dad was a big DC fan, but I never got much into that lore – and back then, Marvel wasn’t anything like it is today). But I loved the X-Men animated series, the characters, the stories, and the fact that there was an incredibly powerful character who shared my name (there weren’t a ton of Jean’s out there on television and beyond who weren’t in their 80s). So, the announcement that Marvel was rebooting the series was a welcome one. And, after watching these first two episodes, the series is already living up to my high expectations and nostalgia-soaked memories.

First up, the quality of animation is much better than we had in the original series, but not perfect – keeping it in the same general aesthetic with greater quality. The details are crisper, the colors more effervescent, and it’s just nice to see minor improvements, like characters’ hair moving much more naturally. Many of original surviving voice cast is back as well, and while 30 years can change vocal inflections for people, it still felt nice to have these characters sounding the same (or close to it) even after all this time. Sure, the dialogue wasn’t always the best – yes, we needed some exposition, but some of that was pretty clunky – but it was absolutely in line with the original series’ penchant for spelling things out pretty clearly (after all, it’s a show for kids, so the writing had to keep things at a level that wouldn’t get too far ahead of them – even if I suspect a wide swath of the audience for X-Men ’97 is adults who remember watching the original series as children).

As for the storylines being set-up, well that’s what interested me the most in these two initial episodes. Is Charles really dead? (I mean, it’s the X-Men, no one is ever really dead, but will he remain off the series for the duration of the season?) Which of the various “another Jean Grey arrives and throws things into chaos” storylines from the comics are we about to see unfold? Just what does Jean’s vision from episode one mean for the season arc? And how long will the series make us wait to see Storm return to the team – with or without her powers? (In this case, I’m just thrilled we’re going to get to see Storm go through this particular arc – considering how the Marvel films managed to bungle Storm as a character in every incarnation they tried out – finally getting to see how compelling and badass she can be when handled correctly will be a joy.) And hey, the animated series has already done a pretty solid version of the Dark Phoenix arc, so we don’t have to worry about that particular albatross coming up and wrecking a good thing.

The one corner of the MCU that remains untouched in live action has been the X-Men, and I appreciate that Kevin Feige and company opted to return to a tried and true form of their stories before really wading into using these characters in live action. As someone who still holds a great deal of love for this section of the Marvel universe, the mixed live action results while the property was at Fox have left me pretty wary as to just where they’ll fit into the wider MCU web (not to mention the wobbly MCU status at the moment). So, getting to see the versions of these characters that first ignited my interest in comics is pretty incredible. And to have the series be this strong right out of the gate? It’s more than I could have hoped for when this project was initially announced. I can’t wait to see where the season will take us and what surprises it has in store.

X-Men ’97 is currently airing on Disney+. New episodes will premiere every Wednesday.