Why X-Men ‘97 is winning at streaming 

If you’re a fan of Marvel’s X-Men you’re probably very happy right now. Not only are your favourite mutants taking tentative steps into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (see recent MCU movies for details), but X-Men ‘97 is back on Disney+, bringing weekly adventures and plenty of action in the process.

The first season of the show delivered a devastating attack on the island of Genosha, resulting in a mutant massacre, while the second season has offered up time-travel hijinks as well as a brush with Apocalypse. An increasing number of mutants are also being incorporated into the show, allowing X-Men ‘97 to almost mirror the peak popularity of the X-Men comics during the 1990s, when countless fan-favourite heroes popped up in the books on a regular basis.

But here’s the thing which is even better than all that: X-Men ‘97 is winning at streaming. I’m not necessarily talking numbers, I’m talking about the way in which the show is delivering more than just a few episodes of entertainment to keep viewers occupied.

If you grew up during the 1990s then you’ll know how much fun it was watching episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series. Whether you watched the show on a Saturday morning, or it aired after school, there was lots of fun to be had following along on a weekly basis.

Sure, the wait between episodes might have felt like an eternity when we were kids, but the weekly episode delivery model (which was standard at the time) was invaluable. Waiting seven days to view the next episode gave us the opportunity to a.) reflect on the episode, b.) anticipate what would come next, and c.) rewatch each episode multiple times after we recorded it on the family VRC. 

This not only gave us a deeper connection to the show, as we poured over our favourite episodes again and again (and again), but the anticipation for the next instalment gave us a human experience which is largely missing from today’s streaming model of binge watching an entire season in a day. Having episodes sit with us for seven days, allowed our mind to go into overdrive, as we imagined where the story would go next or which of our favourite characters might guest star in the future. 

We became excited, inspired, and deeply motivated to come back for more. We didn’t just watch a season in a day, then move on with our lives, we let the season occupy our headspace for 13 weeks at a time, where it filled our thoughts and fired up our imaginations.

And the great thing is, X-Men ‘97 follows the same pattern. OK, so there are a few less episodes, and Disney+ tend to give us two or three instalments in one go at the beginning of the season, but X-Men ‘97 is mostly a weekly thing and it gives us the opportunity to tap back into that shared human experience we all had back in the ‘90s.

However, things don’t just stop there. One of the great things about watching X-Men back in the ‘90s was how the show didn’t exist as an island.

Us ‘90s kids didn’t just watch the series, we read the comics, we bought the VHS tapes, and we played with the Toy Biz action figures. Heck, we even went to Pizza Hut for the tie-in meal.

This wasn’t just a show and nothing more. X-Men was a brand we could dip in and out of.

And now, with the release of X-Men ‘97, we can have a similar experience. X-Men ‘97 action figures line the toy shelves, an X-Men ‘97 comic pops up in comic book stores, and if you want a tie-in meal Dave’s Hot Chicken is on hand.

Unlike so many modern TV shows, which get dropped onto streaming as a single entity, with nothing else to back them up, X-Men ‘97 is out here offering so much more. As such, we aren’t just watching a new episode each week and getting excited about the next, we’re also filling the time in between with comic book stories, or us big kids are on the hunt for fast food collectibles.

Can you really say we are doing the same thing for most of the other streaming shows these days? How many times have you binged a show in a day, and then forgotten all about it in a month’s time because it only took up eight hours of a single day?

It’s probably more than you think, because you’ve forgotten about half the shows you’ve watched on Netflix. The connection between viewer and show just isn’t there. 

Think back to when you were a kid, and focus on when you used to watch X-Men: The Animated Series. Alongside memories of Morph’s death, Jean’s transformation into the Phoenix, or that episode where Rogue absorbed Ms. Marvel’s powers, I bet you recall that slice of pizza you had at the Hut or you remember the excitement of going to Toys R Us and finding a Gambit figure.

You also remember when you swapped X-Men trading cards in the school yard, or that time you thumbed through a Wolverine comic while riding the bus home. And you’ll certainly remember the Christmas your parents got you the X-Men video game, which you spent all morning playing, desperately trying to get through the Savage Land level without being killed by some annoying bugs.

The point is we have lost so much of this fun, excitement, and shared experience in recent years. Too many shows come and go without any major fanfare, and this is because the suits who run the streaming services think all we need is just a few episodes of something and we will be happy – but they are wrong (and often clueless).

Giving us a season to binge on a wet Wednesday isn’t the key to happiness, we need more than that. We need ways for our interest levels, our appreciation for quality storytelling, and our vast imaginations to grow. 

X-Men ‘97 is doing this, and killing it on Disney+. Why isn’t every show following suit?

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Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about X-Men ‘97. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.