This month, fans of the original animated X-Men series will finally get to see those same characters continue on new adventures in X-Men ‘97.
X-Men: The Animated Series was a turning point for both Marvel television and superhero shows in general. In previous decades most cartoons for children were heavily censored, the stories couldn’t be too dark, the villains couldn’t be too scary, etc. X-Men, along with Batman: The Animated Series marked the first time where writers for superhero shows tried to actually capture the more mature tone and themes from the original comics.
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With the revival due out in a few weeks, I thought it would be fitting to look back at some of the original series episodes. What better way to start than with the very first episode, “Night of the Sentinels: Part 1”.
Right off the bat you see why this series is still so fondly remembered with what is arguably one of the best openings for a cartoon. I mean the X-Men theme alone is so iconic. It’s no wonder why Marvel has already integrated it into the MCU. You can hear it subtly played in both Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Ms. Marvel!
I mentioned Batman: The Animated Series earlier, and if there’s one thing that show had over this one it’s the quality of the animation. The animation in that series was meant to be reminiscent of Golden Age animation. X-Men, on the other hand, very much looks and feels like a standard Saturday morning cartoon in that sense. That’s because its budget was a problem for the writers and producers of the series. Believe it or not, there was always a struggle, even until what was originally perceived to be its final season.
Still, whatever limitations the show may have had in their animation they made up for it in their writing. This episode works well as an introduction to the world for new fans. Using Jubilee as an avatar for the audience is a good choice. And showing the struggles of being a mutant in this world from the perspective of a teenager makes sense. The X-Men have always been a commentary on real life prejudices. Unfortunately, people being judged, harassed and even physically attacked because of the color of their skin or their sexuality or anything that they can’t control is a still a very real issue. To tell kids that they shouldn’t feel ashamed of who they are is a very important lesson and this episode does a good job of showing that.
Also, aside from Jubilee, this episode does a good job of balancing the team. We get to have little moments with Storm, Rogue, Beast and Gambit showing us enough to get a hint of their personalities.
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Watching this episode today you might be surprised by the fact that Wolverine isn’t introduced until halfway through. A major complaint of the films was always that they put too much focus on Logan over everybody else. This show does a good job of making him cool without completely taking over the show. The only character you can probably criticize is Morph, but that’s because it’s very obvious that he’s there just so that they have a character that can (SPOILER ALERT) be killed off.
Overall though, “Night of the Sentinels” is a strong start to this series. Be sure to follow The DisInsider for “Part II”!
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