BY MATT TUCK
X-Men ’97 does more than continue X-Men: The Animated Series. Sure, it keeps the general vibe of the original show and continues the decades-old cliffhanger, but what truly separates it from many of Marvel’s (and Sony’s, for that matter) most recent entries is its clear admiration for the source material.
The MCU has been polarizing since Captain America rallied the troops in Avengers: Endgame. While some executives want to blame “superhero fatigue,” the more likely culprit is Marvel Studios’ open disdain for comic books, which has resulted in subpar movies and shows. In fact, producer Nate Moore is quoted with saying that he considers it a red flag if a screenwriter is a Marvel comics fan. And that, class, is what we call irony.
Bob Iger may have said it best. In a recent interview, the Disney CEO stated, “A lot of people think it’s audience fatigue; it’s not audience fatigue. They want great films, and if you build it great, they will come, and there are countless examples of that. Some are ours, and some are others’.” While Marvel is still capable of a hit, like its second season of Loki, Sony has been nothing but misses, at least in the live-action realm.
It’s true that sometimes deviating from the source material makes for a better adaptation. Besides Loki, Marvel Studios hit a homerun with Guardians of the Galaxy, which veered away from being comics-accurate. However, one size doesn’t fit all, and that approach doesn’t work more often than it does. Sony’s animated Into the Spider-Verse films is the blueprint for creating an original take on classic characters while staying true to the spirit of the comics. That’s precisely what X-Men ’97 has done in its first two episodes.
What Spider-Verse and X-Men ’97 proves is that hiring comic fans produces the best results. Rather than blatantly ignoring the source material, embracing it with style is what the audience wants.