X-Men '97

X-Men ’97 is an animated Marvel Studios television series created for Disney+ as a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, which aired from 1992 to 1997. Its first season, consisting of ten episodes, premiered on March 20, 2024. The new series resumes immediately after the older program’s final episode: Professor Charles Xavier, gravely injured in an assassination attempt, has left Earth with Lilandra and the Shi’ar. The X-Men must operate without their founder while Magneto presents Xavier’s will, naming him leader of the team.

The opening episodes establish the practical and ideological strain of that inheritance. Cyclops and Jean Grey are expecting a child, Rogue remains angry over Magneto’s past, and Storm confronts a loss of her powers. The season adapts and reworks several comic-book storylines, notably “The Trial of Magneto,” “Lifedeath,” and “E Is for Extinction.” It also brings Cable, Bishop, Forge, Mister Sinister, Bolivar Trask, Bastion, and the anti-mutant Sentinel threat into its central narrative. Genosha, depicted as a mutant homeland, becomes the setting for a devastating Sentinel attack whose consequences drive the season’s later conflict.

Ray Chase voices Cyclops, Jennifer Hale plays Jean Grey, and Alison Sealy-Smith returns as Storm. Cal Dodd again voices Wolverine, while Lenore Zann reprises Rogue. George Buza returns as Beast, Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler, and Chris Potter as Gambit. JP Karliak plays Morph, a character whose identity and appearance were expanded from the earlier show. Ross Marquand voices both Professor X and Magneto, taking over roles previously associated with Cedric Smith and David Hemblen. Marquand also voices Doctor Doom. The cast includes Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Gil Birmingham as Forge, and Matthew Waterson as Mister Sinister.

Beau DeMayo served as head writer for the first season and wrote episodes including the premiere. Jake Castorena directed several episodes, and Emi Yonemura directed others. The production retained the 1990s series’ visual vocabulary while using contemporary digital animation; its opening titles deliberately echo the earlier program’s familiar character roll call and theme. Haim Saban and Shuki Levy’s original theme is used alongside a score by the Newton Brothers. The series was announced in November 2021 as part of Marvel Studios’ animation slate. A second season was in development before its debut, and Marvel has said work on a third season is underway. The season finale, “Tolerance Is Extinction – Part 3,” leaves several X-Men scattered through time after Asteroid M falls dangerously toward Earth.