What is your review of X-Men '97 season 1?
10.06.2025 10:01
SPOILERS & a note: If you are looking for clever analysis, you won’t get it. I am not a critic; I am just a humble fan who does animation and loves good comedic writing.
even though the doctor is a racist jerk, he still has a point.
The humans. It seems to me that every single human in this show ranges from complete a**holes,
Why am I sweating so much when I try to do anything?
Not every female character has to be drawn like an MS-DOS Lara Croft for you to jack off to.
Not one single human is redeemable in this show. The only one who was good was Moira McTaggart, but she was killed minutes later.
In one simple word?
Who is the most dangerous or evilest person of all time?
If they want to make the original hopeful but the new one dark and gritty, that’s fine. But have at least one human or two who is genuinely good and supportive of the mutant cause. Show some mutants who are as bigoted and extremist as the humans. Because it makes no sense that all humans are bad while all mutants are victims. What the original show differs from this one is that Professor Xavier’s belief rang true and was the main drive to most plots—that both humans and mutants can live together in harmony without hatred. Here, it’s the opposite. Magneto’s vision of the world is the one proven true. No human is good, and no human cares if mutants die. Even when some human complaints are perfectly justified, the show still makes it look like every single human is inherently bad.
to good guys who later turn their backs on you,
First of all, fictional characters. Second of all, they are both consenting adults. Third of all, It's not like he is treating her with disrespect. And I have seen fictional couples with uglier and more toxic relationships than these two, whom fans support. Lastly, seeing an older male character who is handsome, fit, AND a gentleman treating a young woman with respect and love is a HUGE breath of fresh air from the perverted-old-man-sexually-assaulting/groping-young-women-for-cheap-comedy-and-fanservice trope (yeah looking at you anime!). In the end, Magneto respects her decision when she ends their relationship for Gambit. He is a million times better than most fictional old male characters in anime. Heck, I am a huge Rogue fan and even I am jealous of her having not one, but TWO handsome men running after her!
I have just three disagreements though:
They killed Gambit!! I can’t believe they did that!! He was one of my favorites and one of the main characters! They killed him off way too soon! Even his voice actor is pissed off! I really hope they bring him back in season two. No one stays dead in X-Men, especially the main characters.
Unless you have watched the original show, you won’t get what’s happening sometimes. For example, you wouldn’t know why the Morlocks are hated by the X-Men unless you’ve watched the original show. Magneto’s trial feels unjustified if you didn’t see the atrocities he committed in the original show. You won’t understand why Professor Xavier is presumed dead but is later found engaged to a hot alien wife in another galaxy unless you watched the original show.
It’s bloody brilliant!
Like sweet heaven on a popsicle stick! Whoever animated Magneto should get all the riches in the world and then some! Everything about him, from his voice, his looks, his personality, the way he talks, the way he dresses, makes my heart soar! I have never felt a massive crush on any fictional male character over 30, but he is not making this easy for me! Some people say his relationship with Rogue is creepy. So again, to them I say…
They used three different types of animation for Scott alone! Unless you've studied animation, you wouldn't notice it. These animators deserve a million dollars each for masterfully making this scene perfect without it looking off or jarring.
What is the best way to get revenge on people who hurt you?
to terrorists,
People who say it’s just as good as the animation in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movies know nothing about animation. While the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movies are great, their action scenes could benefit from reducing their visual noise down three notches. Sure it has amazing action scenes but most of the time it’s not readable because so many things happen in a split second. After a while, it feels like watching a blender—everything happens too fast to follow. So if you want to discuss animation, don’t compare the two. X-Men ’97 has the superior action scene animations. The last time I saw such stunning action scene animations was in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
to good guys who would LITERALLY turn on you!
Why aren't you a Trump supporter?
As in, they de-sexualized her.
to racists,
At first, I was hesitant to watch it because some online critics on YouTube and Twitter (they know who they are) were giving Rogue a hard time saying she got “nerfed”.
Their words are more relevant now that mutants can be of any minority group, from sex, skin color, or beliefs, heck, even AI. Someone in the show mentioned that while it takes humans a week to do things, a mutant can do it in a day. I think the show is going for the “Thanos was right” excuse but with Magneto. This isn’t what the X-Men is about. X-Men has always been about fighting for a better tomorrow, about hope, and the dream of mutant-human coexistence. Hopefully, that’s just the plot of season 1, and when Xavier comes around in season two, the original X-Men motto will prevail.
And for that, I want to tell them...
I however, have watched the show and loved it, as do millions of other people, both who grew up with the original cartoon and newcomers. I will speak as an animator first, then as a fan.
The tone of the show is different from the original, and I love it. It’s like the producers know the fans who grew up with the original are all grown-ups now, so it’s okay to show some mature scenes here and there. It’s not too kid-friendly, but it’s not too mature either. It’s the perfect balance.
Secondly, they predicted it was going to flop because it might have some woke agenda in it. Of course, when the show became a huge success, half of them went silent, and the other half talked about how great the original was and the ’97 one was just nostalgic bait. I learned a very good lesson then: never follow any critic. If you want to know if a show or a movie is good or bad, watch it yourself. Don’t build your taste on what others say.
And don’t even get me started on the beautifully animated action scenes because I don’t know where to begin!
What is every dictators biggest fear?
another bad guy with a valid point.
This scene uses a technique called limited animation. Where a single drawing is copied/pasted in multiple layers (in this case, Scott’s head) to cut down on animation time. It's common in cartoons like Archer. Personally, I prefer drawing each layer from scratch because characters look more alive that way. But the reason limited animation works here is because they skillfully manage the FPS and in-betweens to avoid choppiness. They use limited animation for static scenes while letting loose in dynamic action scenes using traditional 2D animation. Making the animator's job and life a lot easier.
These are three of my favorite action scenes in episode 8, Tolerance is Extinction Pt. 1. In the third gif, this is the first time we ever see Kurt’s teleportation in POV. You can feel the gravitational force being sucked in—it’s really cool!
Now as a fan, I appreciate how every character, from mains to deuteragonists to tertiaries, gets equal amount of attention and care. From Scott being more than just a cookie-cutter leader to Wolverine's bad attitude masking his mature growth, Storm’s backstory, and Roberto who is the new audience surrogate. No character is left out or poorly created. Even Morph, who was barely in the original, gets enough screen time to be interesting. But my favorite character in this entire show has to be, hands down, Magneto.
even though he is a terrorist, he also has a point.
I love crispy, clean line art, and this show has it in spades! As an animator, I LOVE the animation. Not only does it feel like the original, but they have expertly used updated techniques and technologies to make it look like the original, right down to the style and color schemes. They used three different techniques masterfully (toon shading on 3D models, limited animation, and traditional 2D animation), which is one of this show's many strengths. Having studied animation for four years, I could spot them easily.