X-Men ‘97 has successfully captivated what an animated series should look like. The film has captured the classic and iconic X-Men team in ways the movies produced by FOX have always failed to do. This show is by far the best MCU show to date, with thrilling action sequences, amazing writing and dialogue, flawless animations, and tons more.
The show is a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series and how the X-Men are dealing after the death of their beloved mutant leader and teacher, Charles Xavier; though his death was never confirmed, it has always been implied by fans.
The dialogue alone is remarkable. Every quote will leave you in awe or despair, particularly, those from the iconic Storm, voiced by the original actress Alison Sealy-Smith. In the first episode, as the team is first introduced to the audience and Storm comes in, she announces herself with “I am Storm, mistress of the elements,” a beyond chilling entrance.
Speaking of Storm, she, along with Cyclops, voiced by Ray Chase, have amazing characterization. After the death of Professor X, Cyclops takes it upon himself to take over his position as team leader and has a hard time keeping things afloat. This is made especially hard with his wife Jean, voiced by Jennifer Hale, insisting they leave the team to create a life for their unborn baby. In the movies, Cyclops has always been more of a side character and a character for Jean Grey to toy with, however, fans finally get the chance to see who he truly is.
Storm, who was also failed by the movies, is finally getting her chance to be redeemed as a great character once again. From her entrance, to her heartbreaking moment in episode two, to her latest refurbished appearance in episode six, the weather goddess has gone through a wider character arc than she ever has in her six live-action movies. She has always been underutilized in the films, and never had the chance to fit into her comic character. But thankfully, the new show has fixed that.
Another great character we see is Magneto, voiced by Matthew Waterson. Instead of him being portrayed as a villain, he is now more of an anti-hero who still has his own dreams of mutant-kind being the dominant species. On the other hand, he also wishes to fulfill his late best friend, Charles Xavier’s, dream of the mutants and humankind coexisting. He also has a greater character arc in this show than he did in the movies he’s appeared in.
The action scenes in X-Men ‘97 are exhilarating, especially with the usage of Storm and Cyclops’ powers in the first two episodes where they fight a sentinel, a machine created to destroy mutants. Storm demonstrates her power by literally weaponizing sand, turning it into glass with lightning strikes.
While it’s a great show as of now, the pacing seems a little off, but that’s only because the directors and writers are confined to the new episodes and series lengths. That is something that a lot of Hollywood films are doing, which is not the best idea they’ve had. This has resulted in 40-minute episodes and 20-episode-long seasons shifting into 25-minute episodes and 8-10-episode seasons.
The X-Men are a loved team and have many iconic characters. With X-Men ‘97 being a sequel and continuation of the nostalgic film, X-Men: The Animated Series, and Marvel having many films that haven’t been up to par as of late, the stakes and expectations of this show were high. Fortunately, all of them have been met.
