One of the many, many great things about X-Men ’97 is how faithful and authentic it is to the original X-Men: The Animated Series, with many of the same voice actors returning to their roles — and recapturing the characters so effortlessly it’s easy to forget 30 years have passed since they last played them.
That said, there are some welcome new additions to the cast too, for various reasons — for instance, Holly Chou has taken over as Jubilee, in order to better reflect the heroine’s Asian-American heritage. Meanwhile, Matthew Waterson is voicing Magneto, following original actor David Hemblen passing away in 2020.
It’s not known why Cedric Smith was not invited back to reprise Professor X, however, but in his stead Marvel has decided to turn to one of its most reliable performers, who is quickly racking up a surprising number of iconic comic book characters.
Who is the voice of Charles Xavier in X-Men ’97?
With X-Men ’97 following on directly from the series finale of X:TAS, which sees Charles having to leave Earth after almost dying so that he can be healed by advanced Shi’ar technology, the mutant mentor is not a big part of the first half of the season. However, episode 6 promises that this could change going forward, which might mean that we’ll be hearing more of his familiar voice actor.
Stepping into the recording booth to play Charles is Ross Marquand, Marvel’s go-to “hey, we can’t get this person back, can you do it?” guy. Marquand, recognizable as Aaron on The Walking Dead, is known for his incredible impressions and vocal dexterity, and that’s something the MCU has already used to great effect. He previously played Red Skull, replacing Hugo Weaving, in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame and then he portrayed Ultron, in place of James Spader, in What If…? season 1. He also provided the background vocals of the Ultron sentries in Doctor Strange 2.
Now he’s finally getting the chance to play a good guy in Professor X. It’s about time!
