Superhero cartoons have been a staple of many people’s childhoods. As superhero movies become more technical and realistic in their storytelling and CGI, sometimes people want to go back to the nostalgic feeling that cheesy cartoons give them. 

On March 20, Disney Plus released the “X-Men ‘97” which revisits the iconic 1990’s “X-Men” cartoon. The style, storyline and voice actors all feed into the ‘90s aesthetic and transform audiences back into that time. 

A few of the original voice actors came back like Chris Britton (“Locke and Key”) reprising his role as Mister Sinister, Adrian Hough (“Home Before Dark”) who plays Nightcrawler, George Buza returns as Beast among others. These original voice actors do a great job of adding that extra sense of comfort and nostalgia. 

Even though some of the voice actors are not from the original cast, they do a great job of giving audiences that feeling of a ‘90s classic superhero voice actor. Most notably, Ray Chase (“Baki Hanma: The Tale of Pickle and the Pickle War Saga”) takes on the role of the main character Cyclops and does a phenomenal job of adding great emotion and power to his voice. 

What most audiences love about these old cartoons is the animation style. “X-Men ‘97” wonderfully fulfills this  with bright colors and vintage styles by moving the mouths in one motion and having still shots of the characters reacting. 

The fight sequences are intense and have a lot of predictability and fun which is a staple in ‘90s cartoons. Storm, played by the original voice actress Alison Sealy-Smith (“Street Legal”), has the most amazing fight scenes. Her powers and the way the storm she creates are drawn add intensity and power to each scene she is in. 

The storyline is interesting and unique and keeps fans entertained. The witty humor is essential to the nostalgic factor, and “X-Men 97” adds to it perfectly. While there is still a lot more to come, the first two episodes leave fans excited and wanting more. Since “Avengers: Endgame” (2019) was released, Marvel has had a harder time making the transition into the next phase of their movies. “X-Men ‘97” is a perfect example of what Marvel should be doing. Playing into this nostalgia, while also introducing X-Men into the MCU in this fun way gets fans excited for what is to come. 

Although the plot points and humor can be cheesy, this is exactly what a kid’s cartoon is supposed to be. Marvel is taking the right steps in sticking to what the original series was all about without adding a new touch to it. The animation and voice actors are exactly like the original, and it gives audiences a sense of comfort. Marvel has had a lot of misses recently with their releases, but this is getting fans excited for what is to come with X-Men joining the MCU. 

Image from Marvel Entertainment via YouTube