X-Men '97 (Season 1)

[School of Everything Else 2026]

This is the best thing Marvel have ever made out of X-Men. That is not hyperbole. Stack up every comic, every animated series, every video game and every movie, and only a handful even come close to this level of both crafted quality and ferocious realisation of evolved central themes.

The original X-Men '92 show ran all the way up to September 1997 with the 76th episode "Graduation Day". The show had suddenly plummeted in quality after a really solid first four seasons when the budget was slashed and the animation switched to the lowest bidder studio possible. Marvel were broke and this was a sorry end to their flagship animated series which in the 90s was really only rivalled by Batman and Radioactive Spider-Man in terms of cultural footprint. That theme song lives in our head rent-free and the MCU have been teasing us with the jingle for years now.

However, this follow-up series that requires no prior knowledge to appreciate, hit the ground sprinting with a voice cast that were a mix of the familiar and powerful new performers, stunning hand-drawn animation and an uncompromising, fearless confrontation of the world that hates and fears mutants, holding up a black mirror to our own.

Guest:

Chris Finik @finmonster09