X-Men ’97 trailer divides Marvel fans

The trailer for the upcoming X-Men: The Animated Series revival, X-Men ’97, has just dropped – but Marvel fans are divided in how they feel about it.

Based on Marvel Comics’ infamous mutant team, X-Men ’97 is a reboot of the ’90s animated series. It’s long been in development, with talks of Disney Plus picking up the series kicking off in 2019 before a formal announcement in 2021.

Although it’s not part of the MCU, its release date was pushed to 2024 amid the franchise’s rejigged slate following the Hollywood strikes. Thankfully, the wait is nearly over, with X-Men ’97 set to drop in March.

With the animated series just around the corner, the first X-Men ’97 trailer has been released, and it’s dividing opinion.

X-Men ’97 trailer divides Marvel fans

On February 15, Marvel dropped the first trailer for X-Men ’97, giving fans a taste of what it’s got in store while picking up where things left off at the end of the OG animated series. Check it out:

Paying homage to the source material, the opening scene shows a vintage TV set playing the original show’s finale, before cutting to the present day. Following on from the last episode, it shows Professor X is dead. Cyclops tells the team, “We have to say vigilant, the professor entrusted us with his dream.”

Ray Chase voices Cyclops, while the rest of the line-up includes Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, George Buza as Beast, AJ LoCascio as Gambit, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler.

The trailer has left plenty of fans feeling excited, with one writing on X: “Damn! This is fire.” “Early morning nostalgia hit like a ton of bricks,” said another, while a third added, “I am so excited about this!!!!! All of my friends in middle school all chose nicknames from X-Men. And in the halls that’s all we would call each other. Great times! Archangel reporting in!”

Others are a little more apprehensive, including this person who wrote, “Holy smokes I hope that Wolverine voice acting gets better.” Although another pointed out, “It’s the same guy doing his voice from the original series. He gotta be about 60 years old now. This is probably as good as it’s gonna get lol.”

A third, rather bluntly, said, “They made this sh*t f*cking 3D, no one wants this.” While a fourth chimed in, “They failed Storm so badly bruh wtf they do to her hair?!”

However, for some, the trailer has won them around – “Wait this looks actually really good… the initial CG screenshots were a little worrying but in motion it looks great,” said one.

X-Men ’97 premieres on Disney Plus on March 20.