Before Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine ushered in a live-action “X-Men” franchise on the big screen, a generation grew up watching “X-Men: The Animated Series,” which aired on Fox Kids from 1992 to 1997. It was a special time when superheroes were finally becoming cool compared to the comparatively niche “nerd culture” of previous decades.
Now, all of our favorite mutant superheroes and villains return — along with that awesome guitar-shredding theme song — for the nostalgic 10-episode animated reboot series “X-Men ’97,” which premiered its first two episodes this week on Disney+ and drops new episodes every Wednesday until May 15.
Based on the Marvel comic books created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, the new series opens with a twist on where the last series left off. In the 1997 finale “Graduation Day,” Professor Xavier was almost killed by Henry Peter Gyrich, who has now succeeded in assassinating him at the start of Episode 1 (“To Me, My X-Men”). Episode 2 (“Mutant Liberation Begins”) pulls from the Trial of Magneto storyline of the “Uncanny X-Men” No. 200 comic book.
The animated characters boast the same color schemes that we remember from our childhood with a few minor alterations. You’ll notice Storm still wears the same white cape and bodysuit with red “X” patches, but rather than flowing white hair, she now sports a mohawk with a darker skin tone. She is once again voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith, a welcome holdover from the original ’90s voice cast, once again able to fly and conjure stormy weather.
She appears in the opening scene with Black superhero Bishop (Isaac Robinson-Smith) — who finally gets his own title card in the opening credits after appearing in the comics for 33 years with the ability to absorb energy and project it back as concussive blasts. Together, Storm and Bishop save a young mutant, Roberto da Costa, from the Friends of Humanity, a gang that has obtained Sentinel technology created by military scientist Bolivar Trask.
We next meet Gambit (A.J. LoCascio) and Rogue (a returning Lenore Zann) acting cool as hell in the kitchen of the X-Men group home. It’s clear that the animators have chosen these two characters to jazz up with suave zingers, revealing clothes and playful innuendo. Gambit can charge objects with explosive energy, often throwing a glowing deck of cards, while Rogue can absorb the life force and attributes of others through physical touch.
Longtime lovers Cyclops (Ray Chase) and Jean Grey (Jennifer Hale) may have the most significant powers, him shooting beams from his eyes and her tapping into brains via telepathy, a dangerous mental power that threatens to consume her as the fiery Phoenix. This time, however, they’re involved in a subplot of Jean being pregnant, contemplating settling down by lovingly telling Cyclops, “Maybe it’s time to think of a life beyond the X-Men.”
This comes to the chagrin of the aggressive Wolverine (voiced by a returning Cal Dodd), who’s always had a thing for Jean Grey despite retractable metal claws protruding from his forearms. Fans will love seeing him back in his yellow, black and blue suit, which Jackman will wear this summer in the third “Deadpool” film as he returns to the role after dying in “Logan” (2017). Here’s hoping for another epic Wolverine-Sabretooth battle in a future episode.
Rounding out the X-Men crew are Morph (J. P. Karliak), who can sneakily transform into the appearance of other characters for a real surprising fake-out moment in the first episode; Beast (George Buza returning to voice his character again), who has genius intellect and superhuman strength; and Jubilee (Holly Chou), the cool teen who can generate pyrotechnic energy plasmoids from her hands and sadly never got her due in the live-action movies.
As for the villain, the main baddie is no longer Magneto (Matthew Waterson), who is becoming a more positive leader, though the X-Men remain skeptical. The new foe is Gyrich (Todd Haberkorn), who gives an anti-woke speech: “Under all that fashionable sympathy, normal people know the more we make room for your kind, the less we leave for ours. We might wear tolerance on our sleeves, but we know the naked truth: tolerance is extinction.”
At end of this bigoted speech, you’ll notice that Storm’s brown face appears reflected in the lenses of Gyrich’s glasses, a clever visual touch by creator Beau DeMayo. Don’t forget, “X-Men” has always been an allegory for racial injustice, created during the Civil Rights Movement in 1963, the year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Even the “X” recalls Malcolm X with the mutants symbolizing people of color facing prejudice.
Granted, most folks aren’t here for the larger social commentary, they just want to see the X-Men kick butt. You’ll get plenty of that as the iconic theme music kicks in during the climatic battle against a giant robot Sentinel at the end of the first episode. It’s here that nostalgic goosebumps will come rushing to the surface in full force.
Don’t worry if you missed the ’90s animated series; the end credits show the character bios, listing each of their superpowers as the action figures rotate on a pedestal. Or, you can always go back and watch the original series, which became a part of the Disney+ video library when Disney bought Fox in 2019. You won’t be disappointed.
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