Ask any millennial comic book fan, and they’ll tell you the 90s and early 2000s were a golden era of superhero cartoons. So many of us cut our geek teeth on legendary series like Batman: The Animated Series or Spider-Man, and their enduring impact can still be seen to this day from influences in merch, memes, and references in other films and TV shows. It should come as no surprise then that the announcement of a sequel series to the classic X-Men cartoon was met with joyous enthusiasm.
Picking up where the original X-Men: The Animated Series (which ran from 1992 to 1997) left off, X-Men ’97finds the eponymous team of mutants contending with both a society that distrusts and fears them and with the death of their beloved leader, Charles Xavier. The team, consisting of fan favorites like Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey, must battle to save the planet and prove their right to exist. Recent reboots of older cartoons like Teen Titans Go! and ThunderCats Roar opted to target younger audiences, trading out grit and edginess for more comedy, goofiness, and a softer animation style and found varying levels of success and acceptance. Thankfully, X-Men ’97 eschews this trend.
From the outset, the show stunningly recaptures the retro 90s aesthetic. X-Men ’97 leans heavily into its audience’s nostalgia by recreating the iconic title sequence and even the in-world inclusion of era-appropriate technology like cassette tapes. Even though we’re now almost 30 years into the future, it feels exactly like we’re kids again on a Saturday morning.
The animation is also just stunning to watch, and the return to a more lifelike, meticulously detailed style and crisper lines of 90s cartoons, as opposed to the goofy, fantastical aesthetic and softer lines of modern cartoons, is welcome and refreshing. Technological advances only make the show more impressive, making lines crisper and colors more dynamic than the flat graininess that older cartoons tend to have.
The action scenes are fluid, convincing, and tense, and once again, much better than the live-action battles Marvel has recently showcased in that they are more satisfying, easy to follow, and not reliant on shaky cameras and rapid jump cuts. The impact of each clash also carries through the series, thus raising the stakes and making the action more compelling than flashy sequences of explosions and energy bolts.
Each of the three episodes provided for review had its sporadic moments of superpowered mayhem and at least one big battle scene. Most of the fighting so far is done against humans welding laser cannons rather than mutant vs. mutant combat, and I wished there was more of it. Part of the draw of the X-Men is seeing them use their powers; I would have liked to see even more action.
Don’t get me wrong, the X-Men ’97 story is excellent. At once, it pays homage to the original series and welcomes new viewers who may have little more than a passing familiarity with X-Men. The world feels gritty and lived-in, and the X-Men universe continues its legacy as an allegory for discrimination. It reflects current political and human rights struggles in the mutants’ fight for their right to exist peacefully. Much of the first three episodes’ overarching plot centers around Cyclops’ internal struggles as a team leader in the wake of Xaviers’ death, balanced against the desire to do right by his growing family.
The team’s relationships, dialogue, and journey undergo a profoundly relatable and human story, and each episode so far has ended on a cliffhanger that drew me in deeper. Questions of love, loyalty, redemption, identity, and trust are delicately and expertly interwoven into the tapestry of the team’s dynamics, making the show’s quieter moments just as enthralling as the fighting. Some moments can be (unintentionally?) goofy, like when Rogue absorbs a doctor’s medical knowledge to deliver a baby, but for the most part, the show is earnest about the serious story it wants to tell, but not in the excessively dark and brooding fashion that has often plagued the productions of rival company DC.
One of the draws and highlights of X-Men ’97 is its stellar vocal cast, many of whom have returned to the series to either reprise their roles or take on new ones, reportedly one of Kevin Feige’s conditions for making the series (the other being that the production secures the rights to the iconic theme song.) Cal Dodd is back as Wolverine, giving everyone’s favorite adamantium-clawed Canadian the gruffness and edge that have made the character so iconic.
At the same time, Alison Sealy-Smith delivers her lines with the booming gravitas and authority befitting of Storm’s godlike might. Lenore Zann delights with her delicate and charming return as the southern belle Rogue. George Buza’s elevated, intellectual delivery as Beast is the perfect counterpoint to his character’s, well…beastly exterior.
The new cast is no slouches, either. Veteran voice actors Ray Chase and Jennifer Hale have taken up Cyclops and Jean Grey roles and do superb jobs serving as the emotional centers of the team and the show. Their conflict in wanting to be good team leaders as two of the original X-Men clashes with their desire to have a quiet life to raise their son, and that distress is palpable in every line reading as every decision in favor of one side of that dilemma puts the other in jeopardy.
Jubilee and Morph have been recast with Holly Chou and JP Karliak and bring much-needed vibrancy and humor to counterbalance the show’s darker moments. (Alyson Court fans need not worry; she will voice an alternate version of Jubilee.) Also, it is encouraging to note that Chour and Karliak mirror their real-life characters, with Chou being Asian like Jubilee and Karliak being a member of the LGBTQ+ community like Morph, who is nonbinary in the show. Matthew Waterson takes the reins of Magneto from actor David Hemblen, who died in 2020 and delivers his grandiose speeches with such fury and conviction that it’s easy to see why other mutants would choose to follow him despite his acts of extreme violence.
With X-Men ’97, Disney and Marvel have another animated superhero hit on their hands, following the spectacular What If…? series. The show deftly flexes its 90s nostalgia and legacy of the original animated series while remaining accessible and welcoming for newer audiences. Dazzling action sequences and compelling storytelling bolstered by expertly voiced cast members, new and old, bring back all the excitement of Saturday mornings in front of the TV.
The age of the mutants is now, and I am here for it.
Rating: 9/10