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Starting my trip up Empire's top 20 TV shows of 2024
#20 : X-Men '97
With its electrifying synth intro, endlessly quotable catchphrases, and eye-popping Jim Lee-inspired aesthetic, X-Men: The Animated Series was peak ‘90s Saturday morning telly. And yet, thanks to its mature, serialised storytelling approach and complex character work, the show always felt ahead of its time. The arrival of X-Men ‘97 earlier this year saw the times finally catch up with our beloved mutants, and the results were beyond anybody’s wildest dreams. Neither remake nor reboot but rather a direct continuation of the OG show, this revival — bolstered by extended episode runtimes, claw-sharp animation, and ambitious plotlines carrying genuine stakes — transcends its forebear whilst honouring its roots. We may have come for the returning voice cast, the “Bwa-na-na-na naaaa na-na”, and the cereal-snaffling nostalgia, but we stayed for a trailblazing animated show that really spoke to the hot-button issues of our times while pushing the X-Men franchise in bold new directions.
I used to love the original, but I seem to recall it was shown at random times during Live & Kicking, which made it easy to miss. I'm intrigued to as to who was crying out for this though - these days, the cartoon landscape is a bit more crowded and the X-Men are much better known in live action form (but boy have those films been variable).
The animation is definitely sharper than it was back in the last century (which is lucky because it's being played on a much larger telly) but the style is otherwise the same - the jerky movement and poor lip syncing feel quite anachronistic to me, so quite what any kids that watched this made of it is unclear. Assuming any kids weren't scared off by the presence of '97 in the title, that is.
Provided you can ignore the fact that it's complete nonsense, it's mostly well written with episodes which stand on their own whilst also living within several bigger story arcs and it has some nice things to say about accepting differences in others. However, some of the plot twists are complete nonsense, even if you're willing to generally give them the benefit of the doubt and, although I watched it all, I'd have to say I was starting to not care by the end of it.
It's all adequately voice-acted - it's fair to say they're not going to be getting any Academy Awards, but it's all perfectly fine. One thing I did find interesting is that some of the actors are carried over from the original series but others have been replaced (often as a result of the original actor's death) which is somewhat confusing for those of us that remember that far back.
And that's all I've got to say really - I mostly enjoyed this from a nostalgic point of view but it all felt somewhat inessential and I struggle to imagine anyone under the age of 30 showing the slightest interest in any of it. Was it the twentieth best thing I saw on telly in this year? No, it was not - but if you fancy a trip down memory lane then it's on Apple TV+
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