Marvel Studios Releases 'X-Men ‘97' Episode Titles And Schedule
Get ready for ten action-packed first season episodes and an exciting three-part season finale
It’s now only two weeks until the X-Men return to animation back as their Fox Kids series selves when Marvel Animation’s X-Men ‘97 premieres on Disney+. To mark it, Marvel Studios has released the schedule for the ten-episode first season, shared as the cover of a TV Guide-esque magazine. Weekly releases were confirmed shortly before the trailer originally dropped.
It starts with a two-episode premiere on March 20, with “To Me, My X-Men” and “Mutant Liberation Movement Begins” before the month finishes off the following week “Fire Made Flesh”. Being a streaming series there are no single week breaks or patterns, so April 3 brings “Motendo” or “Lifedeath” part 1. Yeah that’s a bit confusing. Especially as “Remember It” premieres April 10 before “Lifedeath” part 2 premieres on April 17. It adapts a story from the comics I’m not so privy to but seems to have caught the eyes of diehards. On April 24 we have “Bright Eyes”, leading up to a major Bigfoot (or more accurately a white whale) in the streaming era: a clear-cut multi-part episode. For the remaining three episodes, May 1, 8, and 15, it’s a three-parter titled “Tolerance is Extinction”.
Sure, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power opened and ended on two-parters, but three-parters (or greater) have been especially rare in the modern TV landscape. The last I can think of is “The Rise of Voltron” which opened Voltron: Legendary Defender in 2016. Coincidentally, AJ LoCascio, who has become the new voice of Gambit, voiced Prince Lotor on that series. No synopses have been made available. The original X-Men animated series had plenty of two-parters but did occasionally go beyond. The Phoenix Saga and the Dark Phoenix saga are five and four parts each, making up nine of the nineteen episodes of the third season. The season 4 finale, “Beyond Good and Evil” was four parts.
With a cast as wide as the X-Men it would be a lot to name everyone, but the X-Men ‘97 cast also includes Cal Dodd as Wolverine, JP Karliak as Morph, Lenore Zann as Rogue, Ray Chase as Cyclops, Jennifer Hale as Jean Grey, Alison Sealy-Smith as Storm, George Buza as Beast, Holly Chou as Jubilee, Isaac Robinson-Smith as Bishop, Matthew Waterson as Magneto, and Adrian Hough as Nightcrawler. Beau DeMayo serves as head writer and is an executive producer. The episodes are directed by Jake Castorena, Chase Conley and Emi Yonemura (which has which has not been disclosed) with music by The Newton Brothers. The series’ other executive producers are Brad Winderbaum, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, and Victoria Alonso, all current or former Marvel Studios higher-ups.
