X-MEN '97 Footage Premieres at Comic-Con!
The first footage from Marvel Animation’s highly anticipated series X-Men ‘97 recently premiered at Comic-Con. This show has been in development for two years so far and now fans have finally seen some footage!
The series starts with Magneto and the X-Men after Professor X left for Shi'ar space in the original show's series finale. The series brings back the original voice cast including 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).
The official synopsis reads: "Storm and Wolverine try to continue the X-Men. Magneto comes in and wants to step up for Charles Xavier. Sinister comes in to try to end the X-Men once and for all."
Head writer and producer Beau DeMayo explained that the animation clips were unfinished and the intention of them was to offer executives a tease of what to expect from the show in terms of tone. Thanks to The Popverse, we have a description of the footage that was shown. This was exclusive to Comic-Con, so don’t expect it to pop up online anytime soon.
The sequence was part of a larger narrative, as Cyclops and Storm interrogated Henry Gyrich over what appeared to be the shooting of Charles Xavier. (It was left unclear if Xavier was still alive as a result of the attempt on his life.) Gyrich was unrepentant for his actions, suggesting that humanity had to fight back or else be eradicated by mutants, but bravado was pointless — after he attempted to out-macho Cyclops, the latter simply asked, “have you met my wife?” before the audience saw Jean Grey using the Cerebro helmet, enter Gyrich’s mind… where something happened to wrest control back from her, so that she ended up in a dreamscape that was a hellish red, interrupted by the appearance of a giant robotic head that announced, “I am death. I am Master Mold.”
The action then shifted to the Blackbird, as the X-Men sped to the Sahara Desert, where they believed they would find both Master Mold and his creator, Bolivar Trask — and they were probably right, in that they were immediately attacked by a Sentinel that destroyed their craft and sent them plummeting to the ground. Of course, they’re the X-Men, so they survived (not least of all because Morph transformed into Angel, complete with his 1990s metal wings), with the teaser ending with a fun sequence where Cyclops used his optic beams to slow his fall until he landed safely, before staring into the camera and saying, “To me, my X-Men.”
DeMayo shared that work on the series is “deep in post on season one” and that they are “writing season two.” The first season is expected to debut on Disney+ late in 2023.