In 1992, X-Men: The Animated Series (aka X-Men) made its television debut. The cartoon series, based on the hugely popular comic book characters from Marvel Comics, followed the lives of the titular X-Men – a super hero team comprised of mutants with super powers.
X-Men: The Animated Series featured fan-favourite characters including Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Rogue, Gambit, Jubilee, Jean Grey, Morph, and Beast. Together these heroes learned to control their mutant abilities under the guidance of Professor Charles Xavier, so they could use their gifts to benefit mankind.
When X-Men: The Animated Series first hit screens it was a huge success and a ratings winner. As a result, the series remained on air for five seasons, and a total of 76 episodes.
The first episode of the original show, ‘Night of the Sentinels – Part One’ aired on October 31st 1992. The final episode, ‘Graduation Day’, aired on September 20th 1997.
After the show wrapped, that was essentially it. The series concluded and new X-Men cartoons came and went (X-Men: Evolution, Wolverine and the X-Men, etc).
However, because X-Men: The Animated Series was a well-written show, and it attracted such a loyal and dedicated fanbase, the series remained popular long after it left the airwaves. Thanks to VHS and DVD releases, as well as re-runs and streaming platforms, fans were able to reconnect with the show for many years and it never really went away.
In light of this, and aware of how popular X-Men: The Animated Series was, Disney decided to revive the cartoon in 2024 via a sequel series titled X-Men ‘97. This series debuted with the episode ‘To Me, My X-Men‘ and would air on Disney+ as a direct continuation of the original show, and would feature all of the iconic characters (Storm, Morph, Wolverine, etc).
The sequel series was given the name X-Men ‘97, to make it clear to audiences this was a new series rather than just a re-run of the original show. But why exactly was the series titled X-Men ‘97?
The reason X-Men ‘97 is called X-Men ‘97 is because the show is set in 1997. The series picks up the X-Men story in real time following the conclusion of X-Men: The Animated Series (which ended in 1997) and follows the team’s story after the events of ‘Graduation Day’.
Rather than take a time jump, or set the sequel series in the present day, the creators of X-Men ‘97 decided it would be best to pick things up where the show last left off. Thanks to comics, trading cards, toys, and games, the X-Men were at the height of their popularity during the 1990s, so it made sense for the sequel series to X-Men: The Animated Series to also be set during this time.
The creators of X-Men ‘97 also understood how well-liked X-Men: The Animated Series was. Fans never wanted the original show to end, so by bringing it back and setting it during the same time period was a good way to hook in existing fans.
And now you know.
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