For many of us growing up, it was our first experience of the X-Men. For others, it was among a wave of animated shows that did its source material justice. Whatever way you look at it, the 90s X-Men animated series sits up there with the likes of the ‘Timverse’ Batman as one of the best superhero-centered cartoons of its time.
The legacy of the series isn’t lost on its creators and producers. In fact, according to a recent report by The Hollywood Reporter, the team behind the series plan to approach Disney about a possible continuation. “The one thing we’d like to do more than anything else is to continue where we left off”, said longtime X-Men artist Larry Houston, who worked on the series back in 1992.
Even if the show doesn’t exactly follow the original series’ continuity, the team hopes it’ll at least follow its aesthetic. In other words, they presumably want it to follow the mature storytelling that the X-Men: The Animated Series is known for. Alongside Batman: The Animated Series (which started airing the same year of 1992), it really broke ground on that point when it came to children’s television.
The show was actually Marvel’s second attempt at kickstarting an X-Men cartoon. A pilot titled X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men was worked on initially, boasting such high-profile comic names such as John Byrne and Chris Claremont on the project. However, the show was never picked up for Marvel’s ‘Action Hour’. This might perhaps be for the best since the pilot turned Kitty Pryde into a whiny damsel-in-distress and gave Wolverine an Australian accent. It certainly didn’t touch on the themes of racism and intolerance prevalent in the comic books – something the series we (thankfully) got managed to nail down to a tee.
For your dose of X-Men animated action in the meantime, the show’s cast is due to appear at Los Angeles Comic Con on October 12th. It will be the first time the cast has appeared together in years.
Are you down for a continuation of this classic show? Spill your thoughts in the comments below.
