(Warning: Spoilers ahead for certain episodes from the recent season)
Now that X-Men ’97 has concluded it’s season, how did the series come out in the eyes of major media outlets?
A series of articles on Forbes has declared that X-Men 97 is one of the best Marvel projects since Avengers: Endgame and declared that it is comparable to prestige live-action TV series like Shogun. The first article released on March 21, 2024 notes X-Men 97 is one of the best-reviewed properties Marvel has released recently, noting that it has a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A follow-up article from Forbes released on May 17, 2024, notes that X-Men 97 has one of the highest Tomato ratings compared to most Marvel projects, tying with Ms. Marvel at 98%.
The second article published on Apr 11, 2024 deals with the fifth episode of season one, ‘’Remember It’’. In this episode, Magneto, Gambit and Rogue go to the mutant nation of Genosha, which is about to be allowed to join the UN. Genosha is presented as a flawed, but ultimately successful haven for mutants who wish to escape persecution from humans. This peace is shattered by the arrival of a giant kaiju-sized Sentinel, who begins to kill every mutant it can find on Genosha. The Sentinel is stopped, but the price is high, with Magneto seemingly to have died and Gambit dying trying to save his friends from the monstrous Sentinel. The Sentinel manages to kill thousands of mutants before it is stopped.
The author of the article, Paul Tassi, stated ‘’Remember It’’ almost made him cry. Tassi describes X-Men 97 as one of the best Marvel projects ever released. It’s easy to see why, the combination of the love triangle between Rogue, Magneto and Gambit and the devastation the Sentinel attack caused is very impactful. The stakes have been heightened since the original X-Men animated series, with characters dying on screen and heroes sacrificing themselves in the defense of others. I understand that this series would not please everyone. However, a lot of people will find this new direction to be daring and I am pleased by how far X-Men 97 is willing to push the envelope. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual to decide if they enjoy this direction or not.
The X-Men 97 series has also received praise from the Guardian. An article released by the Guardian noted that X-Men 97 could have been a cheap nostalgia-based cash grab, was instead of the best projects released by Marvel in a while. The Guardian article states that there was a real hunger for X-Men content, with the last couple of live X-Men projects being the disappointing Dark Phoenix and New Mutants movies released in 2019 and 2020. The last X-Men project that actually connected with audiences was the Logan film which was released in 2017.
The Guardian notes that X-Men 97 allows for more spectacle than would be possible in live-action. ?X-Men 97 seems like a breath of fresh air compared to the recent stale MCU outings, such as the Marvels and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, where the humor can be so prevalent that it undermines any sense of tension or stakes.? The Guardian found that X-Men 97 was willing to take on relevant topics like discrimination and fear of the other and states that the X-Men feel more haunted and conflicted than the straight-laced Avengers from the MCU movies. The Guardian article also found that while the MCU comes off as rather thin and toothless recently, while X-Men 97’s focus on soap opera drama stands out more, making it unique among the major superhero properties.
Meanwhile, the New York Times’ review (by writer Maya Phillips, published after the season ended on May 16th) says X-Men ’97 “not only meets but also surpasses that original series”. The review goes on to say “Somehow “X-Men ’97” also manages to be a time anomaly, in the best way ? both an artifact of the ’90s and a show for this moment, the perfect synthesis of then and now.”
It is rare for an animated series that is not a big comedic series like Simpson, Family Guy or South Park to receive this level of attention from mainstream publications like Forbes or the Guardian. Being compared to Shogun puts X-Men 97 in good company. The entire first season of X-Men 97 is currently streaming on Disney Plus.
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