The 1997 MEN IN BLACK Animated Series Was a Pretty Badass Show!
In 1997 Columbia TriStar Television teamed up with Amblin Television to produce an animated series based on the film franchise Men In Black titled Men In Black: The Series. The series was created by Duane Capizzi, and it had a pretty successful run from October 11th, 1997 to June 30th, 2001. It ran for four seasons, and it wasn’t expected to get renewed after Season 3, but it did!
This was actually a really great show, and in all honesty, I think it’s the best thing to come out of the franchise. I enjoyed the show more than any of the films that were made. The animation, art style, and character designs were also super slick. Those character designs came from comic book artist Miguelanxo Prado. It had kind of an Americanized anime style to it.
The story for the series was set in an alternate timeline to the Men in Black film universe, and the secret organization is dealing with extraterrestrial immigration and keeping the general public from knowing that aliens have arrived on Earth. The most significant differences in the series are that Agent K did not retire, and Agent J is still regarded as a rookie. Agent L is, however, a part of the organization, as she was following the events of the first film.
While the series offered some internal continuity and extended story arcs, it mostly consists of standalone episodes. Some recurring themes include the exploration of K's origins, as well as J encountering individuals from his life prior to joining MIB. Some episodes also incorporated aspects of the film franchise.
The series was filled with all kinds of fun and wild concepts, which is one of the reasons why I enjoyed it so much. For reasons unknown, the entire run of Men in Black: The Series has yet to get a DVD or Blu-ray release, but you can watch it on the Crackle streaming service.
Check out the intro to Men In Black: The Series below, and let us know if you watched the show and what you thought of it.
I also wanted to include this video from SyFy Wire that breaks down several things that you might not have known about the show.