Marvel Studios has announced its first mutant project! While it’s not the highly-anticipated MCU debut of the X-Men in live-action, it’s the next best thing. The studio is reviving the popular animated show which aired from 1992-97.
Titled X-MEN ’97, the new Disney+ series will pick up where things left off. To ensure this is handled with respect, original series producers and showrunners Eric and Julia Lewald are returning as consultants, along with director Larry Houston. Beau DeMayo will serve as the new head writer and executive producer, with Jake Castorena as supervising director, and Charley Feldman as supervising producer.
Original voice talent Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, George Buza, Alison Sealy-Smith, Chris Potter, Catherine Disher, Adrian Hough, and Christopher Britton are returning, though some will voice entirely different characters. New voice actors include Jennifer Hale, Anniwaa Buachie, Ray Chase, Matthew Waterson, JP Karliak, Holly Chou, Jeff Bennett, and AJ LoCascio in undisclosed roles.
It’ll be interesting to see which popular stories are adapted for the show. ‘Weapon X,’ ‘Days of Future Past,’ and ‘The Dark Phoenix Saga’ are some of the more memorable episodes.
Keyart shows the main roster in familiar, yet updated, looks. Rogue, Gambit, Wolverine, Jubilee, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey (sans ponytail!), and Beast are all here and looking great.
“This is the first X-Men title produced by Marvel Studios,” said Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios to This Week in Marvel. “What an amazing first step to reintroduce audiences to the X-Men with a look at one of the most pinnacle eras of the X-Men comics, which was the ‘90s. That iconic style that has its roots in Chris Claremont, and is celebrated in Jim Lee, and then again in ‘The Animated Series.’”
The show is said to centered around the X-Men reuniting after an imapctful event.
“Everyone that is making X-Men ’97, top-down, is a fan, said Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, VP of Animation. “On this project, instinctually, we knew exactly what this is. To bring this series forward and pick up that baton, and not just keep running at the same pace, but to really elevate. That’s the responsibility.”
New episodes will stream in 2023, so we’ve got a bit of a wait ’til then. That said, it’s exciting to know the wheels are in motion to reintroduce mutants after a mostly successful 20-year run under 20th Century Fox.
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