Nostalgic First Look at X-MEN '97 Shared by Marvel at Comic-Con
During today’s Marvel Studios animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con, they showed off a first official look at the highlight anticipated series X-Men ‘97! The new show picks up where the original cartoon series left off, and it will also bring back the original voice cast! You can see a few photos here that were previewed and as you can see, it definitly has the same style as the original series!
The returning cast members include Cal Dodd (Wolverine), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm), Chris Potter (Gambit), Catherine Disher (Jean Grey), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler), and Christopher Britton (Minister Sinister). Some of the new cast members include Jennifer Hale, Anniwaa Buachie, Ray Chase, Matthew Waterson, JP Karliak, Holly Chou, Jeff Bennett, and AJ LoCascio.
It was revealed that the series picks up with Magneto and the X-Men after Professor X left for Shi'ar space in the original show's series finale. The preview also confirmed some other characters that will show up including Bishop, Cable, Forge, Morph, Nightcrawler, Sunspot, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, and Callisto.
When previously talking about the series, consulting producers Eric and Julia Lewald, who worked on the original series as writers and producers, said: "They want it to be an extension [of X-Men: The Animated Series]. Whoever it is doing this new show is going to make it their own, no matter who is involved in it. There is great love and affection and respect from an entire group of people that are doing this show, starting at the top with Beau DeMayo, who's the showrunner."
Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios previously shared: "This is the first X-Men title produced by Marvel Studios," says Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios told the This Week in Marvel podcast following the Disney+ Day announcement last year. "What an amazing first step to reintroduce audiences to the X-Men with a look at one of the most pinnacle eras of the X-Men comics, which was the '90s. That iconic style that has its roots in Chris Claremont, and is celebrated in Jim Lee, and then again in The Animated Series. Over the years, as we've met with so many filmmakers who have come in to pitch on various projects, the touchstone that we hear over and over again is X-Men: The Animated Series."
Dana Vasquez-Eberhardt, VP of Animation at Marvel Studios added: "As an animated show, the original X-Men was the forerunner to some amazing action series. Everyone that is making X-Men '97, top-down, is a fan. On this project, instinctually, we knew exactly what this is. To bring this series forward and pick up that baton, and not just keep running at the same pace, but to really elevate. That's the responsibility."
Beau DeMayo is the head writer and executive producer of X-Men '97. Jake Castorena is the supervising director and Charley Feldman is the supervising producer. X-Men '97 will debut on Disney+ in fall 2023.
This isn't the only animated project Marvel has in the works, either. There's also What If…? Season 2, Marvel Zombies, and Spider-Man: Freshman Year on the way.
