Saturday, February 17, 2024

X-Men '97 (2024) Trailer - Review

x men 97 marvel animation disney+ logo poster image picture

In the age where studios are remaking 70s/80s movie franchises (that do not need one), here comes some delightful news: the critically acclaimed fan favorite series featuring our favorite mutants is getting its share of the spotlight. Instead of getting remade, the series is being continued with several of the voice actors returning. Marvel Studios already indicated this in the brief Illuminati scene in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
 
I enjoyed the original X-Men: The Animated series for the excellent voice work, characterizations and specifically for portraying Cykes as the leader of the X-Men. This was before Bryan Singer (with adequate support from Hugh Jackman) positioned Wolverine as the most important X-Men figure.
 
Check out the trailer below:


Cykes is front and center in the series, if the trailer is a fair representation. Yes, Wolverine still gets his one liners and brandish his claws menacingly. Still refreshing to see the true leader finally retaining his top spot.

Scott Summers is one of my favorite X-Men - a great leader and inspiring figure. The series is set to further his story line with Jean Grey, who is pregnant (with presumably Rachel Summers). I expect Mr Sinister to make his appearance shortly.

Some of my other favorites also appear - Storm, Rogue and the Master of Magnetism himself. The returning voice actors include Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Cal Dodd (Wolverine), and Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler).

Magneto and Cykes get new voice actors (Matthew Waterson and Ray Chase respectively). I loved the performances of both Norm Spencer and David Hemblen. Both brought such gravitas to their performances.


I got the same chills after hearing Cykes' line: “To me, my X-Men”. And Magneto's appearance at the end was the icing on the cake.
 
As expected, they are retaining the original style of the animated series. Already, we have got a preview of the Sentinels. We also get a quick look at Daily Bugle headline: Is Spiderman a mutant?”. This is a reference to the crossover episodes on another classic Marvel animation show Spiderman: The Animated SeriesChapter IV: The Mutant Agenda and Chapter V: Mutants' Revenge”.
 
The only thing about the trailer that struck me as odd is Magneto's face. He looks almost cartoonishly evil. Hopefully, his character will be as fleshed out as the classic series did.

The series premeries on Disney+ streaming service on Mar 20 2024.

Fingers crossed that this will be even better than the original series.
 
Image Sources: Disney+, Marvel Animation