ANY sense of worry due to the first trailer of X-Men ‘97 has been washed away now that all 10 of Disney’s latest Marvel series is out. A sequel to the original X-Men: The Animated Series that aired from 1992 to 1997, X-Men ‘97 is the invigorated and updated sequel for the modern 21st century.
The series picks up directly where the original ended, with Charles Xavier’s “death”. Due to the loss of their leader, the X-Men’s team dynamic is thrown into disarray. Trained to lead the team, the line of succession temporarily falls on Scott Summers/Cyclops.
The first episode ends with Erik Lensherr/Magneto appearing with Xavier’s last will, which bequeaths the metal-controlling mutant with not only the mutant school but also leadership over the X-Men.
Elsewhere, a mysterious figure begins a mission to kickstart a global mutant genocide.
Spinning an expansive tale
Creator Beau DeMayo has constructed arguably the perfect follow-up to the 1997 series, and takes it to dark corners for such a brightly-coloured piece of animation.
Though the initial episodes are centred on the friction between the X-Men and them having to follow the orders of Lensherr, who was a major antagonist in the original cartoon, the story line naturally becomes much bigger than their inner squabble.
Viewers will go through a gauntlet of plot points, such as Jean Grey’s clone, the Rogue-Lensherr-Gambit love triangle, the reintroduction of the mutant-hunting Sentinel robots, Lensherr’s inner turmoil over how he thinks humans will never accept mutants versus embodying Xavier’s peaceful ideals and so on.
In 10 episodes, X-Men ‘97 sets up a lot of characters and story arcs, and for the most part, it succeeds, with the season ending in a three-parter, titled Tolerance is Extinction, that brings everything full circle, while setting up future seasons.
