Hey guys what’s up I hope you are all doing great. Welcome to the Geekymarvel where we talk about anything related to comic books if you clicked this article you are probably another X-Men fan like me who used to watch the ’90s Animated Series. But just in case you didn’t know them and Click the article out of curiosity. The series follows the adventures of a team of superhumans born with genetic mutations.
The X-Men led by professor Charles Xavier, a man constantly fighting for human and mutant equality as most of you may know this popular show is getting a revival titled X-Men ’97 releasing in March 20. It will feature all the characters from the original series and will continue its story. But since it’s been a long time since I last watched the original series. I figured it was time for a rewatch
X-MEN ANIMATED SERIES
recreation after rewatching
First of all, Can i just say how nostalgic that felt like I’ll have to be honest I wasn’t even born when it first aired. But as a kid I did used to watch this show, thanks to the returns along with others like Spider-Man, Avengers and all this stuff and I believe it’s been about 10 years give or take since.
I last watched this like apart from a few Clips. I see now and then this was the first time I have actually rewatched the series after all this time. And might I say it hits a lot different now because as a kid you mostly care about the action and the fights and basically anything involving punching bad guys. But as you grow up, you start seeing all the deeper messages that the sole tries to convey. And You also appreciate all the work they put into the series, in the stories. The dialogues, the designs and everything. But growing up you are also able to spot some things that could have been done in a better way.
retrospect: the good stuff
Firstly let’s just start with all the things I love in this series. One of the them being The team lineup you got Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Gambit, Rogue, Jeangrey, Beast and Jubilee. This theme is definitely inspired by the X-Men Comics published during the ’90s. Especially that Jim Lee Era. So the reason, I love this theme is that it is really balanced. Like you got the responsible ones, The Savage ones, The intellectuals, The sympathetic ones and the innocent ones. Not to mention that the dialogues are so well written that they feel genuine and realistic. Like they came straight out of comic Pages.
Something else that was really cool was how each character had his own chance to sign with many episodes revolving around a certain X-Men so that we could see their back stories learn more about them and their personality. And see them fight on their own without the help of the rest of the team. And since I mentioned personalities. I think that all the characters were perfectly adapted in the series.
They acted exactly like the comic book counterparts even featuring Storm’s claustrophobia which is something only a true fan would know meaning the creators actually did their homework. This series is probably the best X-Men adaptation we have ever seen. Now as far as the designs are concerned. They killed it it’s absolute perfection and I love how alternate costumes are used throughout the show. Like the original X-Men uniforms or these space suits from the sanctuary episode.
social messages
And I almost forgot how awesome it was to see some of the best X-Men stories in that show. Like the Phoenix Saga, Days of Future Past which is my personal favorite. Like they are all there and something great about how the stories are adapted is that they try to keep the main plot the same. While changing other aspects of the story so that even those who’ve read the comics won’t know exactly what will happen.
Last but definitely not least are all the social messages in the show. It’s supposed to be a kid show. But it delves into so many social issues. Like Racism, Xenophobia, Religion, Domestic violence and Many more. All these messages are Timeless because even though racism for example isn’t that usual a phenomenon anymore. There will always be discriminations and Charles Xavier’s lectures about human and mutant equality are of course allegories for the fights of equality between different Races, Sexes or anything so it’s important that kids learn from this show so that that they become better people.
the not so good stuff
Now about the not so good stuff and I’m saying not so good because I don’t think they’re actually bad. They could have just been improved. For example The biggest problem I found was the overuse of Wolverine. Even though characters like Gambit, Jubilee or Jean grey. May sometimes be absent in certain episodes. Wolverine is always there with only very few exceptions and I get that he’s the most popular X-Men. But still after some time I got bored of his face. And started missing Gambit and the rest.
Maybe it wasn’t just the overuse of certain characters but also how rarely we saw others. Another thing that got a bit boring after some time was the lineup as I said I love this lineup. But the inclusion of more mutants in the team wouldn’t hurt nightcrawler, Colossus or Kitty Pride. For example were some of the mutants. I hoped would join the X-Men at least the first two appeared in the show compared to Kitty Pride. Who we never saw at all so yeah in general sometimes the show would get really dull because of the lack of variety.
Animation was not good
Another thing that could have been improved is probably Magneto’s character development. He is supposed to be a classic X-Men villain. But he only acted as such in one or two episodes. After that he was basically a hero and they don’t mind that at all. But they could at least delay that a bit more so that his character gradually develops. Instead of just suddenly being a nice guy.
Lastly the animation I’ll have to be honest no matter how brilliant I find this series The Animation just lacked. It does improve over the seasons though so it’s not that big a deal. Yet in the last six episodes. They decided for some reason to completely change the animation & the designs. And the result was horrible. I don’t think think. They intended for this to happen because there were some problems with the funding and all this stuff. But still it happened and it was terrible and I take back that lastly. I said earlier because now that I mentioned the last episodes. I expected the series finale to be longer and more meaningful because the way it ended was really sudden. It’s not completely their fault to though since. It wasn’t supposed to end then but I guess that’s why they’re bringing it back now.
final thought
Look, considering how few problems this show had compared to things done right, X-Men The Animated Series was and still is a great superhero show with better writing than most of the things we see nowadays that can still keep kids and adults alike entertained. It is literally timeless, as all the messages, stories, and basically everything in it could actually happen in today’s world. If you’ve only watched it once as a child, I strongly recommend rewatching it, especially now if you want to be prepared for the revival. It’s a solid 8 out of 10.
well guys this was today’s article on x men animated series I hope you enjoyed it and Please tell me what you think about the show in the comments and if you’ll be watching X-Men ’97 show, give you feedback.
