X-Men 97

The late 90s were the twilight of the Saturday morning cartoon age. While most were made primarily to sell children's toys, there were many programs that strived to be more than that and the X-Men (94-97) was one of them. Complicated storylines that tackled topics like racism and heroism were the norm on that show. Flash forward nearly three decades and it looks like nothing has really changed. Maybe this is how you are create a sequel. Instead of going for something new and modern, the creators decided to remake the cartoon THEY loved as kids and they succeed in spectacular fashion. To do so they took the original cartoon and made cosmetic changes that created a remake for the the ages that is more sequel than an entirely new carton. I found the results to be very nostalgic and loving.

X-Men 97 comes out 27 years later with many of the same characters we remember and an art style that copied what we had come accustomed to. Even the original theme song is there. I watched the first 2 episodes in the new series today and was transported back to those days when getting up early on Saturday morning was rewarded by fans who didn't realize they missed the original so much. I don't  know if people would have taken to it as thy have if they didn't approach the project without the reverence for the original. Don't fix what isn't broken. That's what makes this version such a worthy tribute.

 

The creators made great choices to redesign things but nothing that wasn't broken and didn't need to be fixed wasn't touched. They added a few more characters and made the death of Charles Xavier's a key plot point to moving forward. They show picks up one year after Charles' death. To show this change they made Jean Grey pregnant with Nathan who would go onto become Cable.

Magneto always believed that to win his war he had to fight the humans. Xavier taught him their could  be a better way and he has taken Charles' advice to heart. He not only joins up with his former enemies but does so which a realization that to combine what both Xavier's and Magento brought to their conflict in the past was the only way to achieve both their goals.

I am just into it but you can be sure that I will be watching  the entire season on Disney +. If you are a fan of the original cartoon then you should be doing the same.