X-Men ’97 Season 2’s huge costume switch-up is already getting backlash

After a stellar first season, X-Men ’97 has fans on tenterhooks for Season 2, though one costume update revealed at D23 is getting negative reactions already.

X-Men ’97 picked-up where the classic ’90s animated series abruptly ended, and managed to successfully pull off the nostalgia-laden, action-packed comeback it was hoping to achieve.

Now that X-Men ’97 Season 2 is on the way, fans are awaiting any piece of news about the superhero show they can get their hands on. D23 was there to deliver the goods this weekend, though one update didn’t sit so well with fans.

It was announced during the Disney event that X-Men ’97 Season 2 would feature the costumes from Grant Morrison’s era of the comics, which Frank Quitely designed. These costumes, first appearing in 2001, are a little different from their retro counterparts.

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For one, they’re a slicker, darker design, with black and yellow suits that took on a more brutalist style. Over the years, this particular design has become something of a joke among fans, with even the animated series making a reference to “black leather”.

This is a riff on the 2000 live-action X-Men movie costume-based joke, where Cyclops asks Wolverine: “What would you prefer, yellow spandex?”

The nostalgic appearance of the heroes in X-Men ’97 was a hit. So, safe to say, the decision to update the costumes in Season 2 has been met with some resistance. On Reddit, fans are voicing their disappointment in the change.

“As excited as I am for Season 2, I don’t like this idea for switching suits,” one user wrote. “I hope it’s temporary, as ’97 uses some of the greatest costumes ever made for comics.”

“I know everyone loves the Morrison run… but I hate these suits so much,” another added.

“Read the room. We just came to a pop culture realization to embrace the comic aesthetics through Deadpool and Wolverine. Why regress to this?”

On X, the sentiment is the same, with one comment pointing out: “If I had a nickel for every time an X-Men adaptation had really good designs and then immediately switched to the Morrison designs I’d have two nickels.

“It was a weird choice to get rid of the iconic designs for the nostalgia vehicle and it’s a weirder choice to circle all the way around to the black leather uniforms that were made for movie synergy,” said another.

While it’s clear that the 2000s costumes will be featured in Season 2, it remains to be seen just how permanent of a decision of the change-up actually is.

For more on Marvel, check out everything that’s going on in Marvel Phase 6. You can also keep tabs on all the upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows, as well as our Deadpool & Wolverine review.