X-Men’97 – To Me, My X-Men review S1 E1
To Me, My X-Men shows X-Men’97 doesn’t have to rely on a dense fog of ruby quartz glasses nostalgia. The competition is slim, but this debut episode of the old meets new take on the X-Men animated series is the best X-Men-focused property since Days of Future Past. That was just about a decade ago. And the X-Men animated series that started in 1992 had its last episode in…1997.
The since fired or departed over creative differences showrunner Beau DeMayo really had an excellent approach for the new series. Going too retro and staying within the lines of the old show would have been fine. But as that same audience who watched the show have matured, so too does the series.
Professor Xavier is assassinated leaving Cyclops to run the team and the school in his absence. Previously just the team’s field leader, Cyclops is feeling the brunt of this new responsibility. Along with Jean Grey being well into her pregnancy with their son. The other X-Men — Storm, Beast, Bishop, Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, Morph and Wolverine — are all somewhat on edge. They just are better at blowing off steam than Cyclops.
In the wake of Xavier’s death, mutant/human relations have improved. Course there’s the fringe militia group, the Friends of Humanity, who don’t want any peaceful co-existence with mutants. X-Men’97 feels more adult by having the FOH call mutants the far more pejorative term of muties.
Naturally the X-Men try to take the FOH down and save as many mutants on their radar as possible. The latest is Roberto DaCosta (Gui Agustini), a trust fund teen reluctant to use his powers.
That’s not a problem for the X-Men. To Me, My X-Men does not shortchange on the action sequences, which are spectacularly done. The level of detail in presenting the character’s powers is fantastic. There’s such creativity to the power use that it’s likely the MCU films are going to attempt some of these for the big screen.
Animation is largely smooth through the fight scenes and character movements are thankfully more polished than their 90s counterparts.
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Most of the surviving original voice cast returns. To Me, My X-Men definitely hits that homecoming feel with Cal Dodd, Alison Sealy-Smith, George Buza and Lenore Zann returning as Wolverine, Storm, Beast and Rogue respectively. Catherine Disher, the former Jean Grey voice actress, does return to voice another character.
Ray Chase, Jennifer Hale, JP Karliak, A.J. LoCascio, Holly Chou and Isaac Robinson-Smith step up just fine as the new voices of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Morph, Gambit, Jubilee and Bishop respectively.
A major benefit of not being on standard network TV is quickly apparent. To Me, My X-Men can devote 28+ minutes to the episode instead of making commercial break cuts. Those extra four to six minutes mean a lot in terms of additional character development and screen time.
There’s some fun Easter Eggs strewn throughout the episode. They might just be fan service, but for a series like X-Men’97 there’s nothing wrong with that approach.
To Me, My X-Men was a fantastic reintroduction to a beloved cartoon series. This is exactly what Marvel Studios needed to whet the appetite of fans as they await the MCU debut of the X-Men.
Rating: 9 out of 10
Photo Credit: Disney