X-Men '97

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Suspect kids of a certain age will watch this on Saturdays with a bowl of Cinnamon Cheerios...

 

Thoughts:

Spoiler

• The updated computer cel animation style is noticeably cleaner but not too obtrusive...
• ...unless you liked/miss the weird mouth movements of the original?
• I'm not quite sure who they've got in as Wolvie and Magneto, but neither feel quite up to the OG voices...
• ...or their movie equivalents. Stewart/McKellen and later McAvoy/Fassbender were inspired casting choices, and it's gotta be rough measuring vocal performances against that.

 

[Glacier Peak]

1 hour ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Suspect kids of a certain age will watch this on Saturdays with a bowl of Cinnamon Cheerios...

 

Thoughts:

  Hide contents

• The updated computer cel animation style is noticeably cleaner but not too obtrusive...
• ...unless you liked/miss the weird mouth movements of the original?
• I'm not quite sure who they've got in as Wolvie and Magneto, but neither feel quite up to the OG voices...
• ...or their movie equivalents. Stewart/McKellen and later McAvoy/Fassbender were inspired casting choices, and it's gotta be rough measuring vocal performances against that.

 

 

Nice! Voice casting hot take from the linked trailer:

 

Professor Xavier: Really rough, can't tell if that's upsampled audio of original or new actor. 

 

Cyclops: Good, similar but distinct.

 

Wolverine: No.... If that was a one off clip or there was a bad take used that would make more sense. If that's really how the voice actor chose to do it, I'll be disappointed. 

 

Rogue: Good

 

Magneto: No no no no terrible!! 

[El D]

They have a surprising amount of returning voice actors for this series. Wolverine, Rogue, Beast, Storm, and Mister Sinister are all played by the original actors from TAS, albeit with different levels of 'affected by 30 years of time.' The original voices for Jean Grey, Jubilee, Gambit, Cable, and Morph are all also in the show, but as new characters. Time will tell if adjusting the casting for some characters and not others was the right call, but still - respect to them being willing to bring back as many as they could.

 

Definitely planning on giving it a watch. Maybe if it does well enough, they'll do a continuation of the Spider-Man TAS too (at least, that's what the inner child-nerd in me hopes for).

Edited February 16 by El D

[Techwright]

Wolverine voice actor, as @El D states, is the same voice actor as before.  No idea why it sounds so different, unless that was an early effort.  I realize there might be age to the actor's voice, it's been nearly 30 years after all, but I'd have thought the voice director would have made more effort.  I also realized watching the clip that I've grown used to hearing Steve Blum as the voice of Wolverine.

 

Magneto voice actor, as well as Cyclops voice actor had to be replaced due to death in both cases.

 

On 2/15/2024 at 11:41 AM, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

Suspect kids of a certain age will watch this on Saturdays with a bowl of Cinnamon Cheerios...

 

 

Not just kids!  I was only a few years out of college when this premiered, and I'd have much preferred eggs and peanut buttered toast while watching

 

If the trailer is anything to go on, this looks great.  It will take a bit to get used to the different voices, but I understand 3 decades necessitate the difference.  Hopefully, in the future Respeecher and similar tools will change that.

 

I don't think I'm spoiling anything 27 years later by saying with Charles out of the picture (the end back in '96) this might lead to a parallel to the comic version of The Age of Apocalypse, where Magneto leads the X-men and others in a charge against the world takeover by Apocalypse.  It's possibly my favorite X-men arc, though if done, I'm sure it will be much less violent than the comics.

 

 

Edited February 16 by Techwright

[Glacier Peak]

8 hours ago, Techwright said:

Wolverine voice actor, as @El D states, is the same voice actor as before.  No idea why it sounds so different, unless that was an early effort.  I realize there might be age to the actor's voice, it's been nearly 30 years after all, but I'd have thought the voice director would have made more effort.  I also realized watching the clip that I've grown used to hearing Steve Blum as the voice of Wolverine.

 

Magneto voice actor, as well as Cyclops voice actor had to be replaced due to death in both cases.

 

 

Not just kids!  I was only a few years out of college when this premiered, and I'd have much preferred eggs and peanut buttered toast.

 

If the trailer is anything to go on, this looks great.  It will take a bit to get used to the different voices, but I understand 3 decades necessitate the difference.  Hopefully, in the future Respeecher and similar tools will change that.

 

I don't think I'm spoiling anything 27 years later by saying with Charles out of the picture (the end back in '97) this might lead to a parallel to the comic version of The Age of Apocalypse, where Magneto leads the X-men and others in a charge against the world takeover by Apocalypse.  It's possibly my favorite X-men arc, though if done, I'm sure it will be much less violent than the comics.

Ah I didn't know this! Definitely agree on your Wolverine comment though. Need to see if I still have my X-Men gummies...

 

Edited February 16 by Glacier Peak

[Techwright]

Well this doesn't sound good...

 

https://www.superherohype.com/tv/570241-x-men-97-creator-fired-ahead-of-disney-series-premiere

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

It's certainly odd. I know Marvel/Disney are cutting back on D+ projects, so they might be only doing two seasons and then out, and just not telling the creatives still working on it to make sure they complete to time and deadline.

 

Or DeMayo may have been actively fired-for-cause, but someone might come forward with the tea on that.

[Ghost]

4 hours ago, ThaOGDreamWeaver said:

It's certainly odd. I know Marvel/Disney are cutting back on D+ projects, so they might be only doing two seasons and then out, and just not telling the creatives still working on it to make sure they complete to time and deadline.

 

Or DeMayo may have been actively fired-for-cause, but someone might come forward with the tea on that.

It appears as if he immediately deleted his instagram after being fired/let go - which doesn’t sound good at all.

[Techwright]

9 hours ago, Ghost said:

It appears as if he immediately deleted his instagram after being fired/let go - which doesn’t sound good at all.

 

Why does that sound like James Gunn vs. Marvel-Disney all over again?

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

There was a very odd rumour on the socials that the guy also had an OnlyFans. It’s been wiped along with the Insta, and X reduced to a single post. There is also a web address that now goes to a parking domain.
 

Now I don’t know why a comic writer would have one of those, because [googles] they don’t… [image search] usually… look… oh.
 

Okay. That was unexpected. 

 

Suffice to say that even operating a private social, regardless of content, can be career-limiting, especially working for the Mouse.

[starro]

old guy here.... I uh... never saw the originals until i binge watched them in February... . they were ok.  Dark Phoenix was better as a cartoon than two sh*tty Sony movies.

 

Watched the X-men 97 first episode.....

.....

.....

 

damn, that was really quite good.  Storm is beautiful.  

[El D]

As someone who grew up watching the original X-Men TAS (and playing the side-scroller X-Men beat 'em up arcade game and Marvel vs Capcom)... This is fantastic. This is exactly what I wanted and more. It's not just continuing where the original left off plot-wise, but honoring the spirit and style of it as well - with a fresh coat of paint and awesome fight choreography. This is what happens when a franchise is worked on by folks who aren't ashamed of 'what it used to be' but rather know how much better it could have been sans budget limitations, juggling TV ratings, and the tech of the time. The modernizations in the dialogue and character choices work excellently, and so far all of the returning and new voice cast have been great.

 

Fully on-board with seeing where this goes given the storylines they seem to be adapting. More stuff like this, please and thank you.

[Techwright]

I was already grown, playing the 1992 Konami arcade game X-men, and had started collecting X-men comics when the animated X-men show appeared.  While I thought it a little over the top at times, I really did enjoy it.  I don't think I got to the final season, though.

 

One of the first things I noticed was X-men '97 is edgier than the original. It also says or does a few minor things that wouldn't have been consistent to 1997.  I'm not sure they could have gotten away with things like talk of dismemberment on the original show due to it being part of the Fox kid's programming.  Overall, I like it.  The writing feels tighter than the original, at least the early seasons.  I can already see they're going to be doing adaptations of at least 3 story arcs from the 1990s comics, and I'm hoping my all-time favorite arc is a result.

[BrandX]

Still not keen on replacing the voices that are still around.  Alyson Court couldn't do the Jubilee voice work anymore?  What about Catherine Disher as Jean?  She can do Valerie Cooper but can't do Jean?  Lots of needless VA changes when they're still using them in the show.

 

That said, I have to say, I loved all the action scenes with Cyclops.  Honestly, he very much felt like the X-Men's Captain America with that action.

 

Meh on Magneto, but it's really to early to judge what they're going to do.  They look like they want to take the X-Men 97 to more current storylines, so I hope they give us Emma Frost with a better look than the opening sequence.

[Techwright]

Episode 3 dropped and, wow, this definitely wasn't for the 1997 cereal-eating Fox Kids crowd.  This would have been nightmare fuel for kids back then, and there definitely were things that would not have passed the censors of the time.

 

While I liked the episode overall, I couldn't shake the feeling they were rushing it, especially when...

Spoiler

...clone Jean just up and announced she was now the Goblin Queen.  Wait, what now?  Yes, I know she had that nom de guerre in the comics, but there was nothing in the episode to justify that title.  Not one goblin was about.  It's like she randomly grabbed two word from a pile in a hat.  She did it again at the end of the episode announcing she was to be called Madelyn Pryor.  Again, a name from the comics, but out-of-the-blue in the animation.  Why that name?  Why not Madelyn Grey?  Again, it felt rushed.

 

[ThaOGDreamWeaver]

Spoiler

4 hours ago, Techwright said:

Jean just up and announced she was now the Goblin Queen. 

I used to have mornings like that, which is why I don't drink tequila any more. Get her two cups of coffee and a cruller and she'll be fine.

 

[Mr. Vee]

Those points granted, it was still much better than the comic version

[BrandX]

Episode 3 did rush it.   Makes me wonder if they'll rush to Scott and Jean travelling to the future to raise Nathan or just ignore that storyline.

[Techwright]

49 minutes ago, BrandX said:

Episode 3 did rush it.   Makes me wonder if they'll rush to Scott and Jean travelling to the future to raise Nathan or just ignore that storyline.

If IMDB.com has the right of it, this series has but 10 episodes to season 1.  The lowest any season of the previous show had was 13, and some had 17 and 19.  They've definitely not left themselves much room to tell a major story.

[Ghost]

8 hours ago, Techwright said:

 

  Hide contents

...clone Jean just up and announced she was now the Goblin Queen.  Wait, what now?  Yes, I know she had that nom de guerre in the comics, but there was nothing in the episode to justify that title.  Not one goblin was about.  It's like she randomly grabbed two word from a pile in a hat.  She did it again at the 

 

Its because all the good names had already been taken

😎

[Snokle]

5 hours ago, Techwright said:

If IMDB.com has the right of it, this series has but 10 episodes to season 1.  The lowest any season of the previous show had was 13, and some had 17 and 19.  They've definitely not left themselves much room to tell a major story.

 

Well that is the usual amount of episodes now on streaming services. While it has already been planned for a third season with season two almost done.

 

Also season 5 the original series finale had 10 episodes. Honestly five hours is enough to make a major story, especially if it is continuing into other seasons.

 

Personally for me I want a more tight scripted series and avoiding a lot of fat or delays. Was it a quick turn around on 3, probably but to say it was rushed not sure on that. I will wait till the season ends before I make final judgement.

[BrandX]

22 hours ago, Snokle said:

 

Well that is the usual amount of episodes now on streaming services. While it has already been planned for a third season with season two almost done.

 

Also season 5 the original series finale had 10 episodes. Honestly five hours is enough to make a major story, especially if it is continuing into other seasons.

 

Personally for me I want a more tight scripted series and avoiding a lot of fat or delays. Was it a quick turn around on 3, probably but to say it was rushed not sure on that. I will wait till the season ends before I make final judgement.

 

It did seem a bit rushed to go Inferno/Goblin Queen.  However, they're also not following the comic anyways.  I don't recall her having any powers when she was with Scott and if I recall she didn't know she was a clone either.

 

 

[Snokle]

6 hours ago, BrandX said:

 

It did seem a bit rushed to go Inferno/Goblin Queen.  However, they're also not following the comic anyways.  I don't recall her having any powers when she was with Scott and if I recall she didn't know she was a clone either.

 

 

I did look over her Wiki page, so they took some notes and changed it as she had no idea about being a clone.

 

But that seemed like a very large arc for a secondary character, which is not really needed. I felt this setup Sinister, and the conflict there which is more integral for the story.

 

Also, I am one who is not bothered when stuff is altered or edited when transferring from one media to another.

[BrandX]

12 hours ago, Snokle said:

I did look over her Wiki page, so they took some notes and changed it as she had no idea about being a clone.

 

But that seemed like a very large arc for a secondary character, which is not really needed. I felt this setup Sinister, and the conflict there which is more integral for the story.

 

Also, I am one who is not bothered when stuff is altered or edited when transferring from one media to another.

 

Depends on if I like the changes myself, however, I was hoping Jean would turn out to be Cable's real mother this time around.

[InvaderStych]

Got caught up here. They might be tapping some story lines that I don't remember and/or occurred after I had stop reading X-Men due to no longer being geographically located near the friends who's comics I read in the late 80s.

 

Into it though, mostly ...

 

... some of the voices aren't quite right as other have mentioned, though I might get used to it.

... I know this borders on blasphemy, but I never really got into Gambit or Jubilee as characters way back when ... but for the moment I'm neutral enough on them to let it slide.

... Needs Moar Rogue. 😉

 

I know I watched some amount of the original cartoon, but memory is hazy there too. What do you want from me, I was 19 in 1992 and had ... other ... interests to pursue. 😉

 

... not to mention rent to pay and classes to attend. 😛

Edited April 3 by InvaderStych