Marvel has unveiled a first-look preview trailer for X-Men ‘97. The series will be a continuation of the beloved animated from the 90s available on Disney+ on March 20th. The series will be using much of the original’s director leads, actors, and writers including co-creators of Eric and Julia Lewald, director Larry Houston, and head writer Beau DeMayo.
The series takes place after the original series finale that ended with the ‘death’ of Charles Xavier by Henry Peter Gyrich. The finale saw Xavier leave with Lilandra and the Shi’ar Empire in an event that put the X-Men in the positive global spotlight. Much of the show will be a look at what happened afterward. Magneto now leads the X-Men who sees it as a force for good for all mutantkind. Reports earlier last year also alluded to Mr. Sinister playing a major antagonist to the X-Men for this series.
“It’s always interesting to take Xavier’s dream and turn it on its head,” said showrunner Beau DeMayo in a first look by Entertainment Weekly. “When I first came to this, I was thinking about what the world of the ‘90s was like, even issues of social acceptance and what does it mean to be different? It was so much more simplistic than it is today. [The X-Men] spent years telling humanity to embrace the future, walk into the future together. What happens when they get hit with a future they didn’t see coming? What does it feel like to be on the other end when you feel like that future is leaving you behind?”
Each character will be back in their original legacy costumes, meant to channel nostalgia and serve as a callback to Pryde of the X-Men and the original pilot. Other details revealed earlier this year were issues such as Jean Grey, Gambit, and Rogue questioning whether it’s time to call it quits as X-Men. It’s also been confirmed that Morph and Bishop will eventually join the team.
Confirmed to be returning amongst the voice cast are Cal Dodd (Wolverine/Logan), Alison Sealy-Smith (Storm/Ororo Munroe), Lenore Zann (Rogue), George Buza (Beast/Henry “Hank” McCoy), Adrian Hough (Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner), and Chris Britton (Mister Sinister/Nathaniel Essex). Other original voice cast members returning are Catherine Disher, the original Jean Grey, now playing Dr. Valerie Cooper. Chris Potter, the original Gambit, now Cable/Nathan Summers. Alyson Court, the original Jubilee, now playing Abscissa. Lawrence Bayne, the original Cable, now Carl Dentil/X-Cutioner. And Ron Rubin, the original Morph, now playing President Robert Edward Kelly. The reasons for the role changes are to be more sensitive to cultural depictions of the characters.
Joining the cast for X-Men ’97 will be a slew of legendary voice actors from the past twenty years. Ray Chase will now voice Cyclops/Scott Summers, Jennifer Hale will voice Jean Grey, AJ LoCascio will voice Gambit/Remy LeBeau, Holly Chou will voice Jubilee/Jubilation Lee, JP Karliak will voice Morph, Isaac Robinson-Smith will voice Bishop/Lucan Bishop, Matthew Waterson will voice Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr, Ross Marquand will voice Professor Charles Xavier, Gui Augustini will voice Sunspot/Roberto Da Costa, Gil Birmingham will voice Forge/Daniel Lone Eagle, Eric Bauza the Sentinels, and Theo James, who’ll play a surprising new secret character.
