X-Men ’97 takes you back to the good old days in the new trailer for the Disney+ animated series

Last Updated on February 21, 2024

It’s Saturday morning. You slept in just a tad, but you still get up early because the new episode of X-Men will be airing on Fox Kids. You get your bowl of cereal ready, turn on your tube television and hear that static as the screen fades in. Then, you hear that iconic theme song. Nostalgia is a hot commodity nowadays and, while many stars of the past are noticeably aging, with animation, the team behind X-Men ’97 has the advantage of emulating the classic look of the original 90s cartoon. This was demonstrated by the viral video of a Star Trek: The Next Generation segment being made into a cartoon in the style of the original 70s Star Trek animated series. Disney has just released the trailer for X-Men ’97 and they hit you hard and fast with the nostalgia. The beginning of the trailer and teaser poster convey images of a child’s room in the 90s as he collects X-Men toys and videotapes of the classic children’s program.

The synopsis reads, “X-Men ’97 revisits the iconic era of the 1990s as The X-Men, a band of mutants who use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them, are challenged like never before, forced to face a dangerous and unexpected new future.”

The voice cast includes Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Beau DeMayo serves as head writer; episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura. Featuring music by The Newton Brothers, the series is executive produced by Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and DeMayo.

The Fox Kids X-Men animated series ran from 1992 to 1997, and this new series will pick up where the original left off. The popularity of the cartoon kept Marvel Comics afloat during the company’s dark days when the brand was struggling to be profitable and was far from the juggernaut it is now. The cartoon would lend itself to the success of Bryan Singer’s 2000 film adaptation, X-Men, which modestly started the comic book movie boom before 2002’s Spider-Man had Hollywood clamoring for the same box office success. Hugh Jackman, the first (and so far only) big-screen Wolverine, is due to make his return in Deadpool & Wolverine.