Previously, on Lost in Translation…

The 1992 X-Men: The Animated Series brought the comic to the small screen, introducing the team to a wider audience. The series can act as an introduction to the X-Men under Chris Claremont, covering his sixteen year run as the writer of Uncanny X-Men. The animation stayed true for the bulk of the run, running into issues as Marvel slid into bankruptcy. While not 100% accurate, the series did give an idea of the storylines that had appeared in the comic prior to the cartoon’s first airing. The series was successful enough to have reached not only the needed 65 episodes required for syndication – reruns five days a week for thirteen weeks before restarting – but with an extra ten episode.

In recent years, there has been a trend to revisit older works and continuing them. Among the titles is Batman ’66, a comic continuation of the Adam West Batman series. Anything that has a strong fanbase and isn’t yet a franchise itself is open to a revisit. Such is the case with X-Men ’97, a continuation of the 1992 series.

X-Men ’97 picks up a year after the end of the 1992 series. There have been changes. Scott and Jean are married and are expecting their first child. Professor Xavier is dead as far as the world knows, with Henry Peter Gyrich, one of the men behind the creation of the mutant-hunting Sentinels, in prison for the death. Genosha is a haven for mutants with Magneto ruling. The Friends of Humanity are still around, but the X-Men stand ready.

A good thing, too, as the status quo can’t remain in a superhero cartoon. Genosha gets admitted to the UN. During celebrations, the unthinkable happens. Allegiances change, the future is once more at risk. Villains from the original series and the comics make their return, and a new one with links to the prior villains appears.

Starting with the obvious, the animation matches with the 1992 series. The new series looks cleaner, but that may be a combination of the age of the original cartoon’s storage medium and modern animation techniques. X-Men ’97 also has Disney money behind it, while the original came out during an era where Marvel declared chapter 11 bankruptcy. Compare the opening sequences above; both have had time and money put into them, but X-Men ’97 is crisper. There is also an anime influence, though it doesn’t take over the animation. X-Men ’97 is a Marvel Animation production, and fits with the look of other series.

The new series also has the benefit of being on a streaming service, Disney+. When X-Men: The Animated Series first aired, it was syndicated on broadcast channels, so kept to the Y-7 rating, aimed at older children. X-Men ’97 doesn’t have to get past Broadcast Standards and Practices and is rated TV-14, Parents Strongly Cautioned.

The writers of X-Men ’97 took full advantage of new rating. The series starts three episodes to set up the series and explore the Summers family drama, laying down the threads for later in the series. The fourth episode brings back Mojo, alien TV executive delving into videogames. The fifth episode, “Remember It”, raises the stakes. The episode also makes good use of the 1992 Ace of Base song, “Happy Nation“, to foreshadow events. After that episode, the series builds up to the final episode as the X-Men fight for the future of humanity and mutantdom.

The writing is strong, weaving several plot threads together much like the earlier seasons of X-Men: The Animated Series. The characters are true to their counterparts in the comic and in the the original cartoon. The events build naturally, coming out of the characters, heroic and villainous alike. No one steps out of character for the sake of the plot. This makes the gut punch of the fifth episode work.

Casting is also strong. There are few voice actors returning, including Alison Seely-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, and Christopher Britton as Mister Sinister. Given that it’s been about thirty years since X-Men: The Animated Series first aired, it’s likely that many of the original VAs weren’t available, either busy elsewhere, retired, or passed away. The replacement VAs do a good job matching the original’s work. The strength of the acting means that when a character hurts, the audience feels it.

One advantage that X-Men ’97 has over the original cartoon is the availability of characters. In the 90s, Marvel licensed many of their popular heroes to other companies to raise cash to keep existing, meaning that there were hoops to jump through and fees to pay to have a non-mutant character appear. In an episode where the events would mean all heroes on deck in New York City, all that’s seen is a thwip of a red-gloved wrist shooting webs and an off-model Iron Man. In a similar situation during the climax of X-Men ’97, the appropriate characters show up, with Spider-Man, Daredevil, Cloak & Dagger in New York, Captain America advising President Kelly in Washington, the Silver Samurai in Japan, and the Black Panther in Wakanda. Likewise, when the season’s big bad is in talks to license his tech, among the bidders are Doctor Doom and Baron Zemo.

The opening credits to X-Men ’97 change by episode, including the list of active X-Men. There’s hints of what’s to come in the episode without giving away the entire plot. Another change is to replace Jubilee when she runs from the mob with Roberto da Costa in the same situation, who is the new audiences’ stand-in, Jubilee herself is treated as an experienced member of the team. Among the X-Men who get a shout-out over the course of the series are Nightcrawler, Bishop, and Forge.

X-Men ’97 continues the 1992 series, wrapping up several plotlines left dangling and introduces a new one to keep the action moving. The characters are still recognizable, and with the series being streamed, the action can be more intense where the original had to abide by Broadcast Standards and Practices. The result is a series that keeps the audiences watching through highs and lows through to the end.