Disney+ is finally ready to reintroduce the X-Men to a new generation. And we are not talking about the highly-anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe debut, but a revival of the 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series, appropriately named X-Men ’97. Which, dare we say, may be even better!
Developed by Eric Lewald, Sidney Iwanter, and Mark Edens, X-Men: The Animated Series ran on the Fox Kids channel for five seasons and 76 episodes, from 1992 to 1997. As the first successful production featuring the Mutants, X-Men: The Animated Series helped present the heroes to a broader public and cemented the X-Men as one of Marvel’s most popular franchises. The animated series is also remembered for adapting some of the main arcs in comic books, such as “Days of a Future Past," “Dark Phoenix," and even “Age of Apocalypse." Of course, all these stories would also inspire live-action films in the 2000s, but the film franchise would not even exist if X-Men: The Animated Series had not made Mutants popular first.
The series originated a comic-book spin-off, X-Men Adventures, video games, and is still remembered as one of the main productions that led to the superhero boom in Hollywood at the end of the 1990s. So, it’s fair to say a revival is long due, and with Disney+ as the Mutant’s new home, the X-Men get closer to becoming a part of the MCU soon.
The revival will pick up where we last left our dear Mutants, with several cast members returning to their part. Disney+ already confirmed the return of Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler, Christopher Britton as Mr. Sinister, Catherine Disher as Jean Grey, Chris Potter, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, and Alyson Court as Jubilee. It seems like most of the old gang is ready to return, with new voice cast members including Jennifer Hale, Anniwaa Buachie, Ray Chase, Matthew Waterson, JP Karliak, Holly Chou, Jeff Bennett, AJ LoCascio.
X-Men ’97 will also bring back writers Eric and Julia Lewald, and director Larry Houston back as consultants to make sure the revival brings the same energy X-Men: The Animated Series is dearly remembered for. Beau DeMayo (The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf) serves as head writer and executive producer on the revival series, with Jake Castorena (Batman: The Killing Joke) as supervising director, and Charley Feldman (Teen Titans Go!) as supervising producer.
X-Men ’97 will be coming to Disney+ in 2023. However, if you need to refresh your memory or watch X-Men: The Animated Series for the first time (shame on you!), all the episodes are available right now at Disney+. Check out the announcement tweet below.