“Previously on, X-Men…” was one of the trademark openings kids in the nineties heard every Saturday morning while watching the FOX Kids line up. It was during this time, in the midst of the networks third year (which also included Batman: The Animated Series), that FOX and Saban Entertainment teamed up to take on on yet another very popular and ambitious comic book property: Marvel Comics’ X-Men.
Also known as X-Men: The Animated Series, the American-Canadian production was actually the second attempt to give the X-Men their own show after the failed pilot, Pryde of the X-Men, in the late eighties.* This time, however, Marvel garnered much more resources and had the support of Saban Entertainment, who’d helped make successes out of numerous shows during the 90s including Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, and Spider-Man.
*Editor’s Note: Though the mighty mutants did make multiple animated appearances on shows like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and The Marvel Super Heroes, dating back to 1966.
The 1992 animated series was much more a contemporary vision for the mutant super team, all of whom experienced Jim Lee style redesigns with edgier attitudes. Rather than superheroes, the “X-Men” here are now outcasts fighting for the rights of mutants everywhere. In this reality, mutants are a minority, many of whom are granted amazing powers from a genetic defect at birth. The American public is horrified at what mutants can accomplish with their abilities, and are calling for a world wide registration, which would allow the government to keep tabs on powerful beings. Professor Xavier is a leader of the mutant movement, preaching for peace and co-existence in a world that fears the mutants. Meanwhile, there are a slew of other mutants that want war with humans, and refuse to be imprisoned or hated.
The two part pilot aired during the Saturday Morning line up on FOX in 1992, and did a darn good job of introducing the team for a new generation. This time, the team was comprised of Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Rogue, Gambit, Beast, Morph, and Storm, all of whom struggled with their day to day lives in a society that hated them. They also had to contend with giant robotic drones called Sentinels, which sought out mutants in order to murder or imprison them by order of the government.
We’re introduced to young Jubilee, a young character who’d become the central focus for a while, with the ability to shoot “sparks” from her hands similar to fireworks. She’s taken in by the group when she narrowly escapes an attack by the Sentinels. From there, the focus shifted on the dynamic between the group, and how they manage to deal with their own powers, while also trying to evade larger menaces in their world.
These larger menaces include their metal-controlling adversary Magneto, the megalomaniacal Apocalypse, and the utterly evil Mister Sinister. The 1992 iteration made no bones about tackling every corner of the X-Men universe and successfully filled the mutants from the team with much pathos and complexity. Wolverine is a bitter, angry warrior who is in love with team co-captain Jean Grey, but is no match for her love with Scott Summers (aka Cyclops). There’s also Rogue, the beautiful Southern Belle with massive power, incapable of touching people without hurting them, whose own self loathing becomes a major liability for the team time and time again. X-Men was action packed and conveyed very controversial themes about racism, homophobia, prejudice, and alienation, all the while exploring what made the Marvel title so appealing.
While it did tap in to the social consciousness, it was also exciting and action packed, progressing into a larger, more diverse universe filled with aliens, space time continuum bending mutants, and time traveling assassins. The show also introduced a gallery of obscure and notable characters from the roster including Maverick, Cable, Ka-Zar, Juggernaut, and Alpha Flight respectively. Late in its run, the show even crossed over with equally the successful Spider-Man series. In many ways, X-Men was a hit for FOX and for Marvel and renewed interest in the comic property, keeping Marvel above water for a short time. The ratings were huge and every episode was an event for fans. The series lasted for five seasons with almost a hundred episodes total, and even managed to sport a primetime slot when it aired its big event “Rise of the Phoenix” in 1995.
Similar to Pryde of the X-Men, the initial VHS releases of choice episodes were very coveted among comic book fans that appreciated the more serious approach to the X-Men that they’d asked for for years. It eventually spawned a line of young adult books, a comic based on the show entitled “X-Men Adventures,” and a slew of successful video games based on the style of the show. Sadly, X-Men was eventually cancelled in 1997 when Marvel ran out of money to continue producing the show, prompting Saban to directly fund the final six episodes of the show. They have a notable difference in animation quality and storytelling, but were a necessity to give fans a wrap up as Marvel fell in to hard times for half a decade before the big comic book movie boom of the aughts.
X-Men: The Animated Series surprisingly still holds up today (so much more than Spider-Man), and was a remarkable adaptation almost twenty five years later with sharp animation, brilliant voice work, and a depiction of the characters that would become the standard for comic fans for a very long time.
