Let the ‘X-Men ’97’ Trailer Give You All the Nostalgia
X-Men #X-Men
Professor Charles Xavier died in the 1997 series finale of “X-Men: The Animated Series.” As Jean Grey observed at the time, “Fate lies in our hands now.”
As fate would have it, Disney+ has revived the iconic Saturday morning cartoon — and its classic animation style — as a new series for 2024. The 10-episode “X-Men ’97” premieres March 20 on the streamer, and on Thursday, February 15, Disney+ treated us to the trailer.
Other than the addition of some new voice actors, not much has changed since the mid-90s. (The original “X-Men” ran from 1992-1997; “X-Men ’97” picks up shortly after the O.G. finale’s events.) The gang still travels in style via the X-Jet, AKA The Blackbird. Cyclops (now voiced by Ray Chase; he was previously voiced by Norm Spencer) is the mutant-team’s leader, and Wolverine (still Cal Dodd) is still getting under his skin. The torch from Professor X to Cyclops is passed via a dialogue bridge (“My X-Men.”) between the two series.
Oh wait, there is one other potentially consequential new thing: The fate of the X-Men may lie in Grey’s (now Jennifer Hale, formerly Catherine Disher) belly. Yep, she pregnant — presumably, its Cyclops’ baby. (At the very least, he is cool with it; a belated Happy Valentine’s Day to the couple.)
The “X-Men ’97” voice cast also includes Alison Sealy-Smith reprising her role of Storm, JP Karliak as Morph (formerly voiced by Ron Rubin), Lenore Zann is back as Rogue, George Buza returns as Beast, AJ LoCascio is the new Gambit (formerly voiced by Chris Potter), Holly Chou as Jubilee (formerly voiced by Alyson Court), Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop (formerly Philip Akin), Matthew Waterson as Magneto (formerly David Hemblen), and Adrian Hough is back as Nightcrawler.
Beau DeMayo is the show’s head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley, and Emi Yonemura. “X-Men ’97” features music by The Newton Brothers; the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, and DeMayo. None of them are credited on the original “X-Men” animated series.
Watch the trailer below.
X-MEN ’97, exclusively on Disney+. © 2024 MARVEL.Courtesy of Marvel Animation