For many, X-Men: Animated Series was the introduction to not just superheroes, but Marvel in general. For that generation, X-Men ‘97 has big shoes to fill. The show, a combination of elevated nostalgia and great ideas with sometimes shaky execution doesn’t always hit the right beats, but it tries mightily and succeeds more often than not.
It does so because everyone involved seems to remember what is at the heart of the X-Men and the heart of so many people’s fascination with their story: family. A family that will take you in, even if you are different. A family that will love you, because of who you are, not in spite of it. And yes, sometimes this family is messy, but deep down, they love each other.
New fans might not be convinced as easily, but anyone coming into this with a healthy dose of love for the original might just be so swept away by the joy of being back with familiar characters that they allow X-Men ‘97 some time to grow into what it can be. Even if – to the shock of old and new fans alike, it seems the show is going to attempt that growth without Professor X.
The biggest surprise of the new series comes when, despite the X-Men: Animated Series ending the way it did, X-Men ’97 opens with Professor X actually dead, and the team trying to pick up the pieces a year later. Charles Xavier was always a larger-than-life figure in the X-Men universe, and comic-book characters never really stay dead, so you can forgive fans for thinking they would handwave this away. But no, the founder of the X-Men is dead and as you can imagine, there’s chaos at the mansion.
Regular chaos as Cyclops tries to figure out how to lead the X-Men without Professor X, however, is a piece of cake compared to the revelation that Professor X, in his infinite …eh, not sure if we should call it wisdom, left the X-Men to his bestie Magneto. It’s not actually surprising, per se, but it is rather chaotic, to say the least. To say the Professor has had better ideas would be an understatement.
Magneto turns out to be the most compelling character of the first two episodes, though there is setup for what can be a very interesting arc for both Gambit and Rogue in the season to come. There’s always been promise with Erik, but X-Men ’97 promises to take it even further and explore his relationships beyond Charles Xavier.
The series even plays off the Magneto/Rogue/Gambit dynamics a bit like a romantic love triangle, but it’s deeper than that. Rogue isn’t truly looking for romance from Magneto, and she has always felt more for Gambit. Reality is just what it is for her and she cannot change that.
Cyclops and Jane Grey (and of course Wolverine, by default) get a lot of their usual drama, with a baby thrown in, but that’s way less compelling. It might just be because we’ve seen it so much it’s lost some of its luster, but I’ll take Storm’s storyline and new addition Roberto over more of this eternal love triangle that was only ever going to end one way.
Overall, though, X-Men ‘97’s first three episodes give a tantalizing glimpse of what this show can deliver if given enough time. For people who found in the original X-Men: Animated Series a reason to love not just this team, but comic book characters in general, this is a fresh new beginning. For new fans, this feels like a good place to start – you don’t really need the background, even if, at some point, you might want it. Disney+ does have X-Men: The Animated Series right there for you. I just re-watched it in its entirety.
And with Marvel ready to reboot the X-Men in live action sooner rather than later, there’s no better time to get people excited about the most popular members of the team. The problem is, of course, the more we love these people, the harder these shoes will be to fill. But that was probably already the case, and that’s a better problem than the alternative, which is that no one cares about the X-Men. Marvel cannot afford that.
The first two episodes of X-Men ’97 are now available to stream on Disney+. New episodes will be available to stream weekly on Wednesdays.
