Marvel fans were delighted when it was announced that the iconic X-Men animated series will be rebooted on Disney+ as X-Men ’97. The series was always a fan favorite but Marvel Studios didn’t have a chance to bring it back until Disney merged with Fox back in 2019. Now the studio has the rights to make X-Men content.
While there’s been little clarity as to what will happen with the X-Men in live-action form, fans will be getting new content in the animated world. However, the show isn’t scheduled to come out until 2023 so it’s still going to be a while. There’s a lot to be excited about for fans of the original series as multiple people who worked on it are returning, but the studio is making sure that the series is approachable for new fans.
Head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel Brad Winderbaum joined the This Week In Marvel podcast and offered some exciting insight into the series.
“It was all our instincts early on to reach out to Eric and Julia Lewald, who had produced the original series,” Winderbaum said. “And we did, and they were so magnanimous and so gracious. Frankly, it was like a very tear-filled, happy, kind of emotional phone call when they heard Bo’s pitch and, I think, they understood what we were aiming for, which was to pay homage and also take it into the future and to do things that the technology of today really allows us to do that they were limited by.
He also discussed how Eric and Julia Lewald would be coming on as consultants, along with another name fans should recognize from the original animated series.
“We’re bringing them on as consultants of the show and we’re also bringing on Larry Houston, who was a director who directed more episodes than anybody else on the original series, including the iconic opening title sequence.
“So there is a lot of DNA from that original show, even though we are building it for new audiences, as well. If you know the original series, it’s a treasure chest of rewards for knowing the original material but it also, if you’re a newcomer to X-Men, it’s a great first step for reintroducing people into this world.”
Based on these comments, it’s clear that Marvel is committed to recapturing the spirit of the original series. X-Men has been one of the few Marvel properties to have a lot of success while not being part of the MCU. That’s all about to change and it will be fascinating to see how the studio integrates so many iconic characters into their well-established universe. It remains to be seen if X-Men ’97 will be part of the MCU as we know it. If so, there could be a lot of opportunities for fun storylines on the series.