The first season of the American animated television series X-Men '97 is based on the Marvel Comics superhero team X-Men. The series is a revival of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997), continuing the story of the X-Men following the loss of their leader, Professor X. In the season, the X-Men face the threat of a new Sentinel program created by Mister Sinister and Bastion. It was produced by Marvel Studios Animation, with Beau DeMayo as head writer and Jake Castorena as supervising director.
Ray Chase, Jennifer Hale, Alison Sealy-Smith, Cal Dodd, J. P. Karliak, Lenore Zann, George Buza, A. J. LoCascio, Holly Chou, Isaac Robinson-Smith, Matthew Waterson, Ross Marquand, and Adrian Hough star as members of the X-Men. Sealy-Smith, Dodd, Zann, Buza, and Hough reprised their roles from the original series. The revival was announced in November 2021, with DeMayo and Castorena attached. DeMayo wanted to continue the original series' melodrama and character relationships while updating its social commentary to match contemporary society. The season adapts several comic book storylines, including 2001's "E Is for Extinction" by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely as part of developing the X-Men for a post-9/11 audience. Voice recording and animation work began by the official announcement; the animation was provided by Studio Mir and Tiger Animation.
The season premiered on the streaming service Disney+ on March 20, 2024, with its first two episodes. The other eight episodes were released weekly until May 15. It received critical acclaim and various accolades, including a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award nomination. A second season was confirmed in July 2022. __TOC__
Episodes
Cast and characters
Main
Ray Chase as Scott Summers / Cyclops Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey and Madelyne Pryor / Goblin Queen Alison Sealy-Smith as Ororo Munroe / Storm and the Adversary Cal Dodd as Logan / Wolverine J. P. Karliak as Morph Lenore Zann as Rogue George Buza as Dr. Henry "Hank" McCoy / Beast A. J. LoCascio as Remy LeBeau / Gambit Holly Chou as Jubilation Lee / Jubilee Isaac Robinson-Smith as Lucas Bishop Matthew Waterson as Erik "Magnus" Lehnsherr / Magneto Ross Marquand as Professor Charles Xavier Adrian Hough as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
Recurring
Gui Agustini as Roberto da Costa / Sunspot Catherine Disher as Dr. Valerie Cooper Gavin Hammon as Dr. Bolivar Trask Eric Bauza as Master Mold and the Sentinels Donna Jay Fulks as Trish Tilby Christopher Britton as Dr. Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister Gil Birmingham as Forge Christine Uhebe as Nina da Costa Chris Potter as Nathan Summers / Cable Theo James as Bastion Ron Rubin as President Robert Kelly
Notable guests
Lawrence Bayne as Carl Denti / X-Cutioner Todd Haberkorn as Henry Peter Gyrich and Ronan the Accuser David Errigo Jr. as Leech, Mojo, and Sean Cassidy / Banshee Courtenay Taylor as Callisto Alyson Court as Abscissa Martha Marion as Emma Frost and Dr. Moira MacTaggert Travis Willingham as Sebastian Shaw Morla Gorrondonna as Empress Lilandra Neramani Josh Keaton as Steve Rogers / Captain America Michael Patrick McGill as Thunderbolt Ross Rama Vallury as Baron Zemo
Production Development X-Men '97, a revival and continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992–1997), was announced by Marvel Studios Animation in November 2021. Beau DeMayo was set as head writer and executive producer, with Jake Castorena as supervising director and Charley Feldman as supervising producer. The Animated Series producer and director Larry Houston and showrunners Eric and Julia Lewald were consulting on the revival. Castorena, Chase Conley, and Emi Yonemura directed episodes of the first season. Marvel Studios's Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D'Esposito, and Victoria Alonso also served as executive producers.
Writing The season begins a year after the loss of Professor Charles Xavier during the original series' finale. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Beast, Gambit, and Jubilee return as members of the X-Men, now led by their former adversary Magneto. Joining the team are Bishop, a time-traveling ally of the X-Men; Morph, who rejoins after their death and resurrection in the original series; and Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler. Winderbaum said fans remembered these three characters as being more important in the original series than they actually were, and the creatives wanted to make up for that by elevating them in the revival. The X-Men question their future after Xavier's loss and a subsequent increase in sympathy towards mutants. Cyclops and Storm want to continue Xavier's dream but others, such as Jean Grey, want to build new lives. Magneto is moved by the growing mutant sympathy and wants to follow in Xavier's footsteps as the team's leader. The main antagonists for the season are the returning Mister Sinister and the Sentinels, along with new villain Bastion. Deadpool does not appear in the season because Marvel was saving him for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), though Winderbaum said they could have used him if there was an "insanely compelling reason".
By April 2022, the Lewalds had seen premises for all 10 episodes and several completed scripts as well as the series' bible. DeMayo hoped to retain the original series' earnestness, emotional sincerity, and focus on found family while updating the social commentary to reflect contemporary society; he felt issues of social acceptance had become more complicated since the 1990s. DeMayo said the original series' melodrama and exploration of character relationships was key to its success and set it apart from other animated series at the time, which Marvel executives felt was a compelling approach to the material. X-Men '97 also retains the campiness of the original series in its writing, such as Storm announcing her attacks and Rogue using "syrupy" Southern metaphors and analogies. DeMayo found it particularly difficult to write for Rogue, who developed in ways that he did not initially plan for throughout the season; and for Jubilee, who was introduced as a representative for younger audiences in the 1990s and needed to remain relevant for younger audiences in the modern day. DeMayo was more comfortable writing for Beast, whose scientific terms are similar to the writer's work on the series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022–present).
As with the original series, various comic book storylines were adapted for the season. The Animated Series was primarily influenced by Chris Claremont's run on the comics from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, and X-Men '97 continues to adapt stories from that era as well as elements from later in the 1990s and into Grant Morrison's early 2000s run. "The Trial of Magneto" from Uncanny X-Men #200 (1985), by Claremont and John Romita Jr., is adapted in the second episode. The third episode is a condensed version of the comic book crossover event "Inferno" (1989). The "Lifedeath" storyline from Uncanny X-Men #186 (1984), by Claremont and Barry Windsor-Smith, is adapted in the fourth and sixth episodes; the fourth episode contains two mini-episodes, the first part of "Lifedeath" and also "Motendo" which is an homage to the 1992 X-Men arcade game. Castorena was excited to include storylines that the original series had been forbidden to tell by Fox Kids, the programming block where X-Men: The Animated Series originally aired, such as the birth of Nathan Summers / Cable.
Central to DeMayo's pitch for the revival was the idea that the original series was made in a "simple [time] of right and wrong, where questions about identity and social justice had relatively clear cut answers", but the people who grew-up watching the original had since experienced 9/11, a rise in populist movements, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other traumatic events. DeMayo particularly highlighted the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting which had personally impacted him as a gay man who had partied at that club. He wanted the X-Men to go through a similarly traumatic event and face "the realities of an adult and unsafe world" just like the audience of the original series had, which led to the attack on the mutant nation of Genosha in the fifth episode. This is based on the "E Is for Extinction" storyline from New X-Men #115 (2001) by Morrison and Frank Quitely, though the attack is not perpetrated by Cassandra Nova as in that comic. Following the fifth episode, the X-Men have to decide how they will change in response to the attack and whether social healing or social justice is needed. The reveal that Bastion is responsible for the Genosha attack leads to the season's three-part finale, which includes elements from the crossover event "Operation: Zero Tolerance" (1997). The final episodes see the X-Men split into two teams, Blue and Gold, as was done in the 1990s comics. Magneto ripping the adamantium metal from Wolverine's skeleton at the end of the ninth episode was adapted from the crossover event "Fatal Attractions" (1993).
Casting and voice recording
With the revival's announcement, several voice actors were revealed to be returning from the original series: Cal Dodd (Logan / Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Henry "Hank" McCoy / Beast), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Chris Potter (Remy LeBeau / Gambit), Alison Sealy-Smith (Ororo Munroe / Storm), Adrian Hough (Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler), Christopher Britton (Nathaniel Essex / Mister Sinister), and Alyson Court (Jubilation Lee / Jubilee). Lawrence Bayne (Nathan Summers / Cable) and Ron Rubin (Morph) also returned. Dodd, Zann, Buza, Sealy-Smith, Hough, and Britton all reprised their roles from the original series, while the others voice new roles: Disher voices Dr. Valerie Cooper, Potter voices Nathan Summers / Cable, Court voices Abscissa, Bayne voices Carl Denti / X-Cutioner, and Rubin voices President Robert Edward Kelly.
Ray Chase takes on the role of Scott Summers / Cyclops following the death of original voice actor Norm Spencer; Jennifer Hale replaces Disher as the voice of Jean Grey; Holly Chou replaces Court as Jubilation Lee / Jubilee, with Court previously stating that she would not return to the role and hoped an Asian-American actor would voice the character instead; A. J. LoCascio replaces Potter as Remy LeBeau / Gambit; Matthew Waterson voices Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, following the death of David Hemblen; Gui Agustini voices Roberto da Costa / Sunspot; J. P. Karliak replaces Rubin as Morph; Isaac Robinson-Smith voices Lucas Bishop, replacing Philip Akin; Ross Marquand voices Professor Charles Xavier, replacing Cedric Smith; Gil Birmingham voices Forge following the death of Marc Strange; and Eric Bauza voices the Sentinels after the death of David Fox.
Meredith Layne was the casting and voice director for the series. New cast members were hired for instances where the original voice actor was not available or their voice was no longer appropriate for the character, and were intended to match the original performances. Recasting was also done to have more authentic representation, as with Court and Jubilee; because of specific vocal intonations, as with Cable to better highlight the "weird" father-son relationship with Cyclops; or for symbolic reasons, as with Disher now voicing Cooper. DeMayo explained that Cooper delivers the series' thesis and he wanted Disher to be the one to present that since he felt "she was such the heart of the original series" and her original role as Jean Grey was "the epitome of empathy". Voice recording for the season began by November 2021, primarily taking place remotely over Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chase and Hale recorded scenes for the third episode together in-person because of how much dialogue they share in that episode, but they said this was a rare occasion for the series.