Make no mistake, “X-Men ‘97” is not a complete restart. It’s a continuation of the storylines and characters that were developed through the children’s animated series. Many of the original voice actors have returned to reprise their roles. And don’t worry, that famous theme song is intact, ready to introduce new episodes in the X-Men saga. While the entryway for this new series is steep, with the many X-Men theatrical releases over the last twenty years redefining these characters, it’s not impossible to be able to fill in the blanks. For everyone else, this is like being thrown into the deep end of mutant history. It’s a problem that’s worth overcoming given the relative strengths of this animated series—it certainly reaches the bar set by the original.
Disney had a “parting of ways” with “X-Men ‘97” showrunner Beau DeMayo a week before the premiere of the new series, but it’s hard to talk about the show without mentioning his contributions. He came to the project with his background as a gay Black man who grew up within an adopted family—it’s easy to imagine that he saw himself in the outsider characters created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee. The mutants of the X-Men are seen as a metaphor for the struggle of LGBTQ+ people—mutants have “come out” to their parents, while afraid of being disowned. They also must face countless hate groups including the Friends of Humanity, that will do anything to eradicate the mutants. These themes are reflected in the core cast of “X-Men ‘97” including Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, Morph, Beast, and Storm as they all have their backstories of feeling unwanted in a world uninterested in their plight and frightened by their existence.
DeMayo uses the pilot of “X-Men ‘97” as a homage to the ‘92 premiere in many ways, most notably bringing another young mutant into the fold, Brazilian teenager Roberto de Costa. Through his eyes, Professor Xavier’s school and training facility are re-introduced, and he witnesses how the mutants are holding up one year after the death of Xavier. Cyclops and Jean Grey are expecting their first child together, holding on as the custodians of Xavier’s grand vision of coexistence, simultaneously wishing to leave and start their own life away from the X-Men. Elsewhere, Rogue and Gambit continue their romantic interludes and Wolverine pines away for a future with Jean Grey that will never be. The original animation played a lot with soap opera tropes and those continue here. While the motivations for these characters remain familiar, this animated series has evolved, catering primarily to audiences who grew up with these characters.