Retrospective Look At 'X-Men: The Animated Series'

Marvel

Aug 23

X-Men poster — Image Source: *TV Insider*

With the second season of X-Men ‘97 coming up, and a third season confirmed to be in development, we’ve been thinking a lot about what conflicts and relationships might be in the mutant team’s future. We’ve seen the X-Men popping up on the big screen lately, with Wolverine and a few guests showing up in Deadpool & Wolverine. It would be a treat to see Deadpool continue his time with a role in the second or third season of X-Men ‘97.

Let’s rewind to the first X-Men comics adaptation, X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1997). The five-season series aired in tandem with The Uncanny X-Men comics, and they both bounced ideas off of each other. X-Men: The Animated Series has arcs for all your favorite X-Men villains, including Magneto, Apocalypse, and Mystique, as well as some who make even more of a name for themselves in later shows, like Zebediah Killgrave.

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The X-Men were introduced on television in 1992. By the second episode of X-Men: The Animated Series, the group includes Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Beast, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, and Jubilee. Professor Xavier and his ongoing conflict with Magneto is the focus point for season one. The other main villains are the Sentinels, Sabretooth, Juggernaut, and Apocalypse in this opening season. Most of the episodes are centered on the backstory of the X-Men core members and it serves for some fantastic character development.

The second season of X-Men: The Animated Series continues the storylines for the starring X-Men. It opens with Cyclops and Jean’s wedding, but then Morph and Mr. Sinister get in the way before they can enjoy their honeymoon. There’s a lot more time travel in this season too, with both Cable and Bishop succeeding in saving their futures. Apocalypse continues his tirade to become the big bad in addition to Mystique, Sabretooth, Omega Red, and Mojo causing mayhem within this season.

Lilandra and X-Men — Image Source: *IGN*

X-Men: The Animated Series grew a lot in its third year. Several now-familiar storylines came into play, like the Phoenix Saga, the intergalactic Shi’ar conflict with Lilandra, and the Dark Phoenix Saga. There are a couple of low notes in the season, like the few lizard/roach/dinosaur episodes (yes, that’s one category, stay with us here) and another Mojo episode. The wildly successful episodes are definitely the Phoenix Saga, episodes 3-7. Overall, though, this season could be considered the show’s best, maybe only to be outshined by the next.

Season four of X-Men: The Animated Series was originally planned to be its final season, however, its ratings did so well that it got renewed for a fifth. The beginning of this season brings back Magneto really coming into his stride as the anti-hero, who was pretty much completely absent from season three. There’s recurring time with the Sentinels and Bolivar Trask, Mystique, Apocalypse, and Mr. Sinister during this season, too. Several characters that aren’t members of Professor X’s team in this version - Morph, Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch, among others - have arcs that last at least one episode in the show’s fourth season.

Gambit, NIghtcrawler and Rogue — Image Source: *mxdwn Television*

So much happened in season five of X-Men: The Animated Series, but ultimately it was more memorable for the decline in quality, especially after episode four. The final season was put together in a rush and, honestly, it shows. One of the only noteworthy episodes in this last season was “Old Soldiers” where Wolverine and Captain America team up against Red Skull during World War II. In the finale, Professor X is taken off-world by Lilandra and the Shi’ar to be brought back to health.

Then, almost thirty years later, X-Men ‘97 was finally released. Continuing the legacy from its predecessor, X-Men ‘97 starts only a year following the events of X-Men: The Animated Series’ final episode, with Professor X still out in the galaxy. Throughout the first season of the newest show, most of the plot lines have been sourced from The Uncanny X-Men as well as minor stories from X-Factor (1986), Wolverine (1988), X-Men: Inferno (1989), Zero Tolerance (1997), New X-Men (2001), and X-Force (2008).

Some reports have said that the comic series Wolverine from 1988, Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix from 1994, Rise of Apocalypse from 1996, and Blood of Apocalypse from 2006 will have major influences on the upcoming second season of X-Men ‘97. We know that New X-Men by Grant Morrison will continue to have direct ties, including the team’s new suits, although Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix will bring in quite a few conflicts for our band of heroes.

Jake Castorena will return to direct X-Men ‘97 for the next two seasons. Matthew Chauncey is writing the third season, with Beau DeMayo’s scripts and ideas still being used for season two. Larry Houston, Eric Lewald, and Julia Lewald will continue in their roles as consulting producers, following their stint executive producing X-Men: The Animated Series. No release date has been set yet, but we’re estimating late 2025.