How X-men '97 Solved a 30 Year Old Problem

X-men 97 is the incredible 2024 Marvel sequel show, continuing the legacy of the 90s X-men the animated series. This critically acclaimed show has dominated the animation scene, being a strong contender for best Marvel project of all time! Today we review this show to see how they were able to rise to greatness!
#xmen #marvel #film
#mcu

[@azuresaiyan9005]

Look, episodic material isn’t inherently a problem or something that holds a show back, it’s just a different means of telling a story. Heck the Superhero back then most consider the true gold standard of superhero animation Batman TAS, was primarily episodic yet still gave us many classic and expertly written material. I consider it a real skill to craft a story in what is 20 minutes of material. The best stuff comes from working with what you have rather than total freedom.

[@kermitgotthesickkicks4265]

exactly

[@jasonhearn5818]

Considering Batman TAS and Xmen TAS were successful and still iconic and had limitations being on a kids network

[@BleafCinema]

You bring up a great point! Episodic TV isn't inherently bad, but there is also no secret that many used episode isolation as a crutch to avoid significant storytelling instead of as an opportunity to give interesting character interpretations such as Batman TAS. Like with season 5 of X-men TAS, its episodic nature wasn't inherently the issue, but lead to overall more unstructured stories as they used it as too much of a crutch. I also thought it was vital to bring up the importance of X-men's serialization, as not only was it revolutionary but modern media has completely flipped in favor of it. With 6 to 12, tight and consistent episodes almost being the standard for the biggest shows out now, animated or not.

[@aidanscorner847]

I’ve been trying to read as many Xmen comics as possible and have finally made it to dark Phoenix saga. Completely worth trudging through the first years of Claremont’s writing. To see him really find his footing with this arc is a very rewarding moment.

[@BleafCinema]

Like you said, seeing the evolution of his writing into literally being era defining is for sure a special moment. It is 1000% worth it!

[@jayeshjaiswal5631]

cannot wait for you to absolutely get lost post 2000 lolol

[@tysonboy82]

Extremely well made! I did get a kick out of trying to catch your one frame commentary on Rogue/Magneto lol

[@BleafCinema]

Ayyye, I was wondering if anyone would try to catch that loll

[@finnanbreathnach4729]

This was so concise and well put together, it amazed me that you only have 1k subscribers. Genuinely no difference in quality between you and those with 100k-a million.

[@BleafCinema]

Thank you! This means a lot, and I know my channel will reach that level some day!

[@russellharrell2747]

Batman: TAS spliced with X-men equals Gargoyles. With a little TMNT thrown in for the third season

[@CyclopsWasRight]

They put respect on my boys name. That's all I can ask for.

[@ga4667]

Took me several tries to pause it at the 6:40 mark to see what you wrote but I got it!

[@TrueNomadSkies]

Great writing/video is great!

[@BleafCinema]

Thank you so much!

[@neMgieTV]

Nice vid

[@buddah1221]

Batman TAS was the best show of the era as far as comics but X-Men was like a half step behind because it was absolutely amazing. It not only introduced me to these characters but, is also the reason Cyclops is my favorite member of the team. the only other show remotely close to them was mid 90s Spiderman.

[@unluckydreamer]

great video

[@BleafCinema]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@54raynor]

Great video, and I agree with most everything you said…but what was the 30-year old problem that was solved?

[@BleafCinema]

I was coming from the angle that almost every problem that hindered the original series, especially that season 5, had been meticulously corrected to make this show better than what it ever was before.

[@Subninja2012]

By making it a soap opera about interpersonal relationships?

[@user-js5dx5yy1p]

I hate what they did to Toad’s design. He’s not some ugly scrawny knock off of Nightcrawler. His old design, from his exaggerated facial features, some skin bumps and the fleshy body, were only meant to suggest the amphibian he’s named after, and to also suggest a degree of ugliness, which plays into his backstory a lot. He was always human passing, people just thought he was ugly. In fact, Toad was named by Magneto, not for his looks but because he was a toady; someone who worships the ground another person walks on. Some comic artists played with his design to have more toad-like qualities, but he still looked like Mortimer Toynbee; recognizable as Toad, a mostly human passing mutant. He always had his bowl cut, the Kermit the frog collar on his costume so you knew it was him. Now he looks like a dirty homeless gang banging lizard. They fused his toes and fingers together, and all I see is a terrible looking cheap redesign of Nightcrawler. They removed every recognizable design element Toad had. I couldn’t even tell he was Toad until I was told. They ruined his iconic design. It wasn’t really depicted in the show, but in the comics where this abomination shows up, there was some self awareness from the artist, however, the solution was to put a red T tattoo on his arm, as if that solves the issue with identification. If they wanted a green Toad, they should have looked at the example from Wolverine and the X-Men comic, the one where Toad was the janitor at the school. You could still tell it was him despite the skin colour change because the artist kept elements from his original design; fleshy square body, short status, iconic bowl cut and even the cuffs from his original costume, etc. He was really stylized, but it was him. Can you imagine if they made such poor artistic choices with Wolverine, where they screwed with his look so much he looked like a completely new character? They did my boy dirty.

[@Kattlarv]

Tbh... I found the entire show very... clunky and unfocused. Like, it kept missing the point over and over. Though, at least they didn't give Jubilee the "suck" treatment again at least... even if she was a bit off. It has its moments, but overall, a lot of it felt very... "off" as a whole.

[@jasonhearn5818]

Xmen 97 is good but the continuation of the of the 92 series wasn't necessary 97 could've easily been a standalone series. 1992 was and still is a masterpiece i admit season 5 was bad but that aside 97 cant improve on what is already successful. Larry Houston the shows original director did a brilliant job and had the restrictions of being a Saturday morning cartoon. The shows overall chemistry of the original voice actors, production team and the music that can never be recaptured especially if you have no one originally apart of the 92 series but a portion of the original voicecast and none of the original writers or show director. 1997 series is good but better than its predecessor no

[@theumbrellaroom5394]

X-Men 97 is garbage compared to the original.

[@INFERNO95]

Xmen 97 is a mess.

[@allisonjae3152]

This is true. Setting up situations and and then almost immediately dropping them. Character assassinations and downright creepy love triangles. I hope next season is better and not so rushed and all over the place.